A tale of woe

I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise to never do
that to her again.
John
John

On 29/09/2010 21:11, John wrote:
I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise to never do
that to her again.
John
John

Oh, dear! What were you making them out of, boiled leather and mild
steel?

I have sewn tin cans with one of the 707's...

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

On Sep 29, 4:40*pm, Kate XXXXXX
wrote:
On 29/09/2010 21:11, John wrote:



I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise to never do
that to her again.
John
John

Oh, dear! *What were you making them out of, boiled leather and mild
steel? *

I have sewn tin cans with one of the 707's...

--
Kate *XXXXXX *R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttonshttp://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

No, they were layers of canvas/batting/quilted pattern/cotton
drill,doubled. and cotton drill liner. They just barely fit under the
pressure foot, when raised, and when the foot was lowered the lever at
the rear of the machine did not really make much movement, downward.
Suffice to say, it was a bit much, but while treadling slowly I could
just manage it. But the potential for disaster was lurking there all
the time and finally came to pass. The poor bobbin couldn't take it
any more and gave up the ghost. Pierced through the heart with a #16
needle. Even walking it over the worst of it with the handwheel was
problematical. I can understand how a compound walking foot would be
to my advantage, it is just that my pocket book just doesn't accept
the argument, nor does my wife.
John

On 29/09/2010 21:58, John wrote:
On Sep 29, 4:40 pm, Kate
wrote:
On 29/09/2010 21:11, John wrote:



I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise to never do
that to her again.
John
John

Oh, dear! What were you making them out of, boiled leather and mild
steel?

I have sewn tin cans with one of the 707's...

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttonshttp://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

No, they were layers of canvas/batting/quilted pattern/cotton
drill,doubled. and cotton drill liner. They just barely fit under the
pressure foot, when raised, and when the foot was lowered the lever at
the rear of the machine did not really make much movement, downward.
Suffice to say, it was a bit much, but while treadling slowly I could
just manage it. But the potential for disaster was lurking there all
the time and finally came to pass. The poor bobbin couldn't take it
any more and gave up the ghost. Pierced through the heart with a #16
needle. Even walking it over the worst of it with the handwheel was
problematical. I can understand how a compound walking foot would be
to my advantage, it is just that my pocket book just doesn't accept
the argument, nor does my wife.
John

Might be worth it if you were going into production with these things,
but not for a hobby.

You COULD look round for an old industrial treadle that would do the work...

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

On Sep 29, 5:02*pm, Kate XXXXXX
wrote:
On 29/09/2010 21:58, John wrote:



On Sep 29, 4:40 pm, Kate
wrote:
On 29/09/2010 21:11, John wrote:

I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise to never do
that to her again.
John
John

Oh, dear! *What were you making them out of, boiled leather and mild
steel? *

I have sewn tin cans with one of the 707's...

--
Kate *XXXXXX *R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttonshttp://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

No, they were layers of canvas/batting/quilted pattern/cotton
drill,doubled. and cotton drill liner. They just barely fit under the
pressure foot, when raised, and when the foot was lowered the lever at
the rear of the machine did not really make much movement, downward.
Suffice to say, it was a bit much, but while treadling slowly I could
just manage it. But the potential for disaster was lurking there all
the time and finally came to pass. *The poor bobbin couldn't take it
any more and gave up the ghost. Pierced through the heart with a #16
needle. Even walking it over the worst of it with the handwheel was
problematical. I can understand how a compound walking foot would be
to my advantage, it is just that my pocket book just doesn't accept
the argument, nor does my wife.
John

Might be worth it if you were going into production with these things,
but not for a hobby.

You COULD look round for an old industrial treadle that would do the work....

--
Kate *XXXXXX *R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttonshttp://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

I have been on the lookout for one from all the usual sources, but so
far no luck. I did find a 31-15 but it came with a motor and stand,
and they wouldn't sell just the head.
John

John, my Juki TL98q can handle stuff like this with no probleml; it
can apply over 10lbs of pressure on the foot. In fact the walking
foot that comes with this machine is a monster, truly 'industrial
strength' as Juki publices this machine to be a 'home industrial.'
Best part is there are not a lot of '0's' in the price. It is
straight stitch only, so may be something to consider unless you need
a machine with zig zag capabilities. I would hate to see you out of
the bag business

-Irene

On Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:11:47 -0700 (PDT), John
wrote:

I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise to never do
that to her again.
John
John

sorry to hear about your SM but those 3 bags are something
else! Are you sure you can't make a couple more...I'm sure
you'd have lots of takers here!

Donna
in WA


"John" wrote in message
...
I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have
dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to
Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up
the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity
auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to
make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going
to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has
come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was
trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double
walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking
foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle
travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment
with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort
of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is
just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think
there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price
tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my
life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare
collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to
my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one
would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become
nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough
for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise
to never do
that to her again.
John
John

On Sep 29, 7:59*pm, "Irondale" wrote:
sorry to hear about your SM but those 3 bags are something
else! *Are you sure you can't make a couple more...I'm sure
you'd have lots of takers here!

Donna
in WA

"John" wrote in message

...

I just got back from the Bernina Dealer where I have
dropped off my
favorite Bernina 1008 Mechanical, which I converted to
Treadle use.
The reason I dropped it off, is that I managed to botch up
the innards
trying to complete some bags for my wife's charity
auction. I got most
of them complete, about 10, but the last one caused me to
make a grand
boo-boo of the innards on my favorite machine. It is going
to be fixed
but I think my career as a "Bag Man", so to speak, has
come to a
crashing halt. It seems that to accomplish what I was
trying to do
with my simple little Bernina should be done on a double
walking foot
industrial machine. This is a machine that has a walking
foot on the
top and bottom of the item being sewn and the needle
travels back and
forth along with the feet so as to remain in alignment
with all those
layers of canvas and cotton drill and batting. This sort
of machine is
rather dedicated and special purpose and something that is
just not on
the acquisition list anywhere that I can find it. I think
there are
too many zeros in front of the decimal point in the price
tag, for me
to get that serious about making bags at this stage of my
life. So
there you have it. Now all 10 of those bags are now rare
collectors
items, and should be worth untold amounts of money due to
my premature
withdrawal from the purse making industry. Or at least one
would hope
that would be the case. Possibly they will just become
nice purses
that somebody will enjoy and that is satisfaction enough
for me. Now
if my poor little Bernina 1008 will forgive me, I promise
to never do
that to her again.
John
John

I'm working out some ideas on the assembly. Changing some of the ways
that they are put together. I have graded the seams and other things
that lessen the overall thickness, of the seam area. My problem was I
wanted to use really nice heavy weight cotton drill and cotton/canvas
for the strap, with a padded center of the strap. When you start
layering all of those things together and then fold them into a strong
weight-baring seam, it does present a height problem to get under that
pressure foot. Not impossible, but certainly troublesome. Anyway.
Research continues, and that is half the fun of this whole thing. I
was fortunate in that I had another Bernina 1008 as a spare, and I
threw it into the breach and so was able to finish the project. I even
have another Bernina 1008, a new one, that is used for making clothes.
My thought is that you can never have too many Bernina 1008
mechanicals. Or enough of whatever is your machine of choice.
John

So sorry to hear that! We all have made mistakes. When I was first learning to sew, I took my machine in because it just wasn't stitching correctly - very uneven and the thread was all gunged up as it sewed. When I went to pick it up from the repair place, I was informed I had the needle backwards.

John, at least you have something to show for your damage. I injured
the innards of my Janome 5700 horribly by accidentally using a Singer
bobbin. Ouch. I was sewing along (jerkily) and BANG, the bobbin yanked
up so hard that it yanked the needle down and bent it inside the feed
dogs. I cut the piece I was quilting away. Total loss. I took it to
the shop and was lectured rudely about never using the wrong bobbin
again. Cost? $150 for fixing the machine -- including a new bobbin
race cuz I totally broke the old one, $15 that I'd invested in what I
was quilting that was ruined beyond belief, priceless humiliation.

I know you love Bernina machines, but I think Irene is quite right
that a Juki TL98q would handle your bags with ease. My new Janome 6600
probably could, but the Juki would do it without breaking a sweat.
Perhaps not as elegant as a Bernina, but consider the humble mule and
the work it can do that would destroy an aristocratic thoroughbred.

Sunny
butting in as usual with my opinion.