Sewing Notions 12 - Bobbins

My brother machine NV50 came with 3 bobbins.   This is of course inconvenient as we are likely to use more than  3 colours of threads.  However, being cost conscious, I didn't buy more bobbins from the original seller of the machine thinking that I could buy them from other places at cheaper price.   I ended buying 3 wrong types of bobbins.  :(   Looks like I am penny wise and pound foolish...

I was annoyed by this, so I did some research on this:

1) Found a list of different type of bobbins in the following link..   didn't realise there are so many different types:

- http://www.sewingmachineoutlet.com/ibobbins.htm

Brother NV 50 uses SA156 (Class 15 plastic).  Does anyone know if NV50 uses the metal version of class 15 ok?

Even for Brother's machines, there are different types of Bobbins:

http://www.brothersewingmachinesdirect.co.uk/brother-accessories_category-130

2)  Here is a good guide on how to thread the bobbin correctly for top loading:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/BSC/public/eu/gb/en/faq/faqh/000000/000000/000002/faqh000002_000.html?reg=eu&c=gb&lang=en&prod=hf_star230e240eeuk&Cat= 

(A picture of thread not inserted correctly through tension adjusting spring)

While looking, I found this useful Brother website with Manuals & troubleshooting information.   Though I have the hardcopy of the manual, it is easier sometime referring it online:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/Model_list.aspx?reg=as&c=as_ot&lang=en&titleid=36

Recording my findings for my own convenience and sharing them with you....

Sewing Notions 11 - Kam Snaps & Cloth Pads

I sewed 5 cloth pads last weekend so that I could use my new Kam snap pliers..  :)    I have friends in mind who I can give them too.  

These are panty liners, the left 2 are tops with flannels and the right most with designer cotton.  :)   The backing is microfleece like below right. 

Normal flow day pads with Zorb as core and the top is from suede cloth.   The backings were made from pink colour Sandwich PUL (as above left) and I have a feeling that these pads may make the users sweat.
(These snaps are size 20.)









There are 4 parts in one complete set of Snap:

What do we do with the parts?   You need to poke a hole in the fabric, and then put the stud or socket on top of the cap, like this:

Then centre everything nicely on the pliers and close the pliers and press.
hooray..  the snap is fixed onto the fabric.   The centre sharp bit of the cap will become flatten like this:

I have borrowed Serena's & another blogger's pictures.  I tried to take photos of my own but I don't know how to take good close up views.

My pliers will apply snaps for size 20 (12.4mm), 16 (10.7 mm), 14 (9.74 mm) & 24 (bigger than 12.4mm, don't know the diameter).

I bought 200 sets of snaps of size 16 but found them a bit too small for normal size cloth pads.  200 sets will give 400 caps, 200 studs & 200 sockets.

Generally, I read that size 16 is recommended for cloth pads, and size 20 for diapers.   But size 20 is really not that big, I suggest you go for size 20, good all rounder.   Size 16 looks a bit small on normal size cloth pads.  They are ok for panty liners.

Originally, I wanted to buy a mixture of size 16 & size 20 of 200 sets from the seller, but she wasn't able to do the mix, however she was kind enough to give me some samples of size 14 & size 20.   Size 14 & 16 use the same studs & sockets, only the caps are smaller for size 14.

For cloth pads tutorials - please see:
http://anic-lohas.blogspot.com/2010/07/diy-cloth-pad-part-3.html

Hope this help.

Bye now..
Anic

Sewing Notions 10 - Kam Snap Pliers (From Tiny Tapir)

Hi everybody....

Great news, Tiny Tapir now sells Kam Snap Pliers...   Cheaper than the one I bought.  RM39.90...   

Check out their website:

http://www.tinytapir.com/item/KAM-Plastic-Snap-Pliers-DK001/1536/c130

Sewing Notions 9 - Kam Snap Pliers

Dear all,

Finally after many days of waiting, today I managed to collect my Kam snap pliers from the post office.    I bought it from Serena of Notion Supply Yahoo Group.   The standard set without snaps is USD20 including postage which allow you to apply Kam snaps of size 16, 20, 24 (I added USD1 to get the snap die for size 14).  I also bought 200 snaps of 8 colours at USD10.   You could also buy the snaps from www.tinytapir.com.

Updated 20 Sept: Please note that Tiny Tapir now sells Snap Pliers at RM39.9 per set.

I couldn't wait and tested the pliers with the cloth pads I have sewn.   It works!   :)  Very please that I can now apply resin snaps on the many cloth pads I am going to sew.

To get more information on buying the pliers, join the Notion Supply group, you will then be able to access all the information there...

Bye now,
Anic