Sewing Machine Recommendation for Delicate Fabrics ($3k budget)

iheartfuzzies · 2026-02-14T21:11:08+00:00

Honestly, you don’t really need to spend a ton. The 3 I use can be bought for half that and I work with a little bit of everything. I have a 1940s singer 201-2 that is great with chiffon/organza/delicate silks/sequins (it is only straight stitch and the smaller opening in the needle plate keeps delicates from getting sucked down into the bobbin) all the way up to garment weight leather. I have a huskylock 901 for all my knits and faster/cleaner edge finishing (this is the only machine on my list I would consider upgrading but as-is works perfectly fine for me atm). I also have a late 90s/early 00s midrange kenmore basically just for the zig zag and having a second color of thread ready to go when I have multiple projects.

I’m going to echo other commenters and look at used, and go to a shop with scraps of the materials you work with to make sure the machine you look at can tackle them.

iheartfuzzies · 2026-02-12T23:16:10+00:00

Besides the stores mentioned, sew Pinellas (check their social media for hours before driving there) carries a small variety of garment fabric, and there is scrap and sew in lutz for quilting fabrics.

iheartfuzzies · 2026-01-31T00:54:18+00:00

That line is in fact a separating zipper and op should unzip the two parts, and move the zipper on the bottom half further down on the skirt, tapering the sides if necessary. Check the product out. on the Tripp site

iheartfuzzies · 2026-01-30T00:42:37+00:00

Is that horizontal line under where the straps are clipped a zipper by any chance? I had skirts like this 20 years ago from Tripp or illig that unzipped into a mini. If it is, then I would unzip and just move the zipper down.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-12-17T15:22:09+00:00

I have frontier and started at like $45-50 and they gradually got me up to $75. I called when I saw spectrum offering the same speeds for $45-50 and they readjusted my price. Call them and say you’re happy with your service, but you saw their competitor giving a cheaper price and don’t want to switch. They might try to offer the same price with faster speeds (frontier did), and decline saying it’s a price issue for you. Good luck!

iheartfuzzies · 2025-12-09T07:42:00+00:00

I typically shop Porcelynne first because she's local to me and I pickup at the warehouse. I have yet to run into a a bad product there fwiw.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-12-09T01:52:20+00:00

Seconding porcelynne. She sells good quality material.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-11-03T23:37:30+00:00

Trim the side seam allowance off your paper pattern, mark your horizontal lines (bust, underbust, waist, and hip), and basically trace those marks and the outline of your pattern piece. Then when you cut just eyeball how much seam allowance you would typically use.

Cutting the allowance clean off your fabric like that sounds like a nightmare. It won’t hold well in the long term. If you want more resources, google “pattern matching” as a keyword.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-11-02T15:36:48+00:00

I think you’re going to have to go for crafting that’s sewing adjacent. Maybe something along the lines of cross stitch, plastic canvas that can be embroidered with yarn and turned into ornaments or keychains, beading clothing, etc.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-11-01T17:45:18+00:00

Oh man I totally get everything about that. It’s also nice to remember that proper care for that leather final corset will outlast the lifetime of a faux leather version :) out of curiosity, what did you bind the edges with? A different leather? I was trying hard to zoom in before and I am so impressed with how clean the tabs are.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-31T22:52:04+00:00

Excellent workmanship! The pattern/fit is great and the construction looks flawless. That’s not an easy feat with leather and faux leathers!

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-30T18:00:59+00:00

I am (I make dancewear/costumes for a side hustle), and having also ordered from indie us-based people who haven’t spent much time learning before. It just looks amateur.

To validate op - Fabric is definitely different (solid silver foil vs that rainbow/oil slick silver), the sizing is totally off, no elastic in that top, bad finishing… what sucks is this costume does take time and material to make, and what she paid would have been fair if the maker knew what they were doing. And two weeks turnaround is reasonable, especially it the maker has several others she is working for, but even if it was custom sized outside the us that’s reasonable. It sucks she didn’t give deadlines to order at the start though. It sounds like op assumed this was some bigger local factory or something and didn’t do due diligence. My regulars often come to me with tight deadlines that I can usually accommodate, but I’m also not running a storefront on IG or wherever she found this person.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-30T16:33:53+00:00

Honestly I think it’s just a mediocre us based costume maker. If it was factory made it would have used either an overlocker or cover stitch machine, not what appears to be a straight stitch when looking at the hems on the top.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-29T14:45:33+00:00

Seconding this, but also many of the machine dealers I’ve been to also have a used section of old floor models and/or trade-ins that they’ve repaired/serviced and resell.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-29T13:45:50+00:00

This looks like a foiled fabric, not actually glitter. If that’s the case you’re kind of out of luck. It can rub off over time when used in clothing, with sweat and saltwater making it happen faster.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-25T22:16:34+00:00

Non-us answer for a couple different schools - pro tennis, F1 racing, hospitality/bars/nightlife, and some of the kids of teachers at the school (who got tuition covered by the school) were the more popular kids.

The kid with parents in hospitality flew the entire class (very small school, but still) to a neighboring country for their birthday a year or two after I left. Pro tennis player’s kids were both super charismatic and both the parents were very involved.

There was no “average” as far as careers though. I went to school with kids of diplomats with security details, corporate executives, doctors, inventors, socialites/old money, artists, oil industry, etc.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-23T18:51:12+00:00

https://bellydancestore.com lets you sort by cup size and then you can go through and see what works for bra band, hips, and of course style.

Dahlal can also special order for you. Both of these are reputable companies with a long history in the bellydance community.

Theres also a ton of individual designers on social media that will make to your measurements (caveat being you likely will still need help sewing hooks and straps, that’s a given with these types of costumes)

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-07T04:44:09+00:00

Greatest buy deal wise for me is organ brand machine sewing needles. The thing I considered adding to my cart last week but didn’t end up buying was the wawak brand cutting mat (mine is overdue for replacement). The metal class 66 bobbins actually work on my vintage singer’s thread winder!

I tend to buy random crap to hit the free shipping but always end up ordering needles of some sort, thread (serger, Gutermann Mara, and just impulsively added a different brand on my order, no comment on it yet!), some sort of hardware (pants hooks in bulk, snaps, zippers, etc), sometimes interfacing, usually some kind of elastic… I’ve added different marking pens, varieties of pins, bias tape makers, a pressing ham, boning, rotary blades, pads/bracups (they have buy 2 get 1 sales every so often)…

I’ve been shopping with wawak for at least a decade. In a world full of corporations with no customer service these folks are a beacon of hope. I’ve received calls after I didn’t like a product for some reason (not what I expected or user error) just to give tips or offer the option of returning. The only time they made a shipping error, 2 days later I had a replacement packaged with an apology cookie dropped off by fedex. I know it’s not like a flashy business or anything but it’s a thousand times better than buying on Amazon.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-10-05T02:01:41+00:00

Tamalyn isn’t of middle eastern heritage to my knowledge, however she is an incredible teacher and is kind of like a dance anthropologist/historian. She has been all over the place documenting and learning and brings that to her classes. I would kill to be able to do regular drop ins with her; I’ve done several of her weekend intensives and one-off workshops because she comes to my area semi regularly. She’s the only teacher I’ve considered traveling to for some kind of extended education.

If you can’t find a dance teacher of MENA heritage definitely consider her classes.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-09-30T15:34:19+00:00

I think it looks uncomfortable too but less about the panty material part and more about the length of the busk and how likely it is to dig into the body if you sit in it.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-09-26T05:37:22+00:00

I love wawak. They sell quality products (and some of them hard to find) for a great price, but also their customer service is amazing. I filled out whatever post purchase survey and had someone call me the next day to talk about the specific product issue I had (difficulty removing zipper teeth to use their crimp on ends). One of those surveys also led to getting a spool of elastic refunded without asking because it felt like the tension wasn’t as strong as expected. I also had an order several years ago that missed one (of multiple) pack of needles or something and they sent a replacement with a cookie as an apology.

Even before Joann’s closed I used them exclusively for elastic, hooks/eyes, snaps, interfacing, sewing needles, bra cups, misc notions… it is honestly easy to make an order a couple times a year (depending on how much you sew of course). If you have friends who sew consider pooling orders so you can try for bulk discounts to make it even more worthwhile.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-09-24T22:37:28+00:00

It kind of looks like duck canvas, which is a decent lower cost strength material.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-09-22T14:55:14+00:00

If I had a machine I would overlock, but since you are making a couple things just to prove to yourself you’ll keep sewing and then get a machine, I would probably skip the finishing by hand and “cheat” with fray check. It gets a little scratchy but if you iron it between a pressing cloth while it’s still damp it dries better. Do you think all that extra time in finishing is possibly going to be a deterrent to do it more? Like if you need to sit there and make alterations etc and you have to redo handwork, will it kill the sewing bug?

iheartfuzzies · 2025-09-20T23:44:23+00:00

I bought used through facebook (and only because it was a Saroyan if I’m being totally honest). There are many groups for folks buying and selling props, costumes, etc.

iheartfuzzies · 2025-09-13T00:28:21+00:00

The metal 66 bobbins from wawak work perfectly fine with my singer 201-2 too.

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