“Semi Industrial” vs Industrial Sewing Machines

Calculating the Power of a Sewing Machine

Very good article I came across analyzing sewing machine power.

I’m in a lot of various Facebook sewing groups and one thing I see posted all the time, particular those that have a lot of people sewing bags, is if someone should get a higher end domestic, “semi-industrial”, or industrial machine. I have one from each group: a computerized domestic (Janome Memory Craft 6500P), a semi industrial (Juki TL-2010Q), and industrial (Seiko STH-8BLD-3 compound walking foot). My point of this post is to give honest feedback from someone who is an experienced home sewer of 20+ years and has absolutely nothing to gain from someone buying one type or brand of sewing machine vs another.

I also want to add that my focus is on new machines, not vintage. Yes, vintage machines are often great but you’re often taking a chance on their condition, not to mention it can be hard to find exactly what you want depending on where you live and when you want to buy.

Domestic Machines

These are the machines everyone who is a home sewer is familiar with and I assume you already have, so I don’t need to elaborate much further. I just wanted to note here that my Janome Memory Craft 6500P, which was probably a midrange to higher end model at its time, can do about 1000 stitches a minute and the motor works out to about 1/10 horsepower. I’ve sewn some heavier stuff on this machine, but one occasion have also pushed it to its limits and knocked it out of time in the process of doing so. My mechanic was able to fix it, but it was still a pain to get repaired. Just because it can fit under the presser foot it doesn’t mean your machine can necessarily handle it without a lot of extra help in the form of jump jumpers, slow speed, or even just manually turning the wheel yourself. The higher end models are probably stronger, but are stupidly expensive (think $10-20k) and IMO you’re primarily paying for more capabilities (like the ability to embroider) and more throat space rather than strength. People make a big deal about having a free arm too, but I’ve never seen the use for one. (Haven’t they heard of turning it inside out and working from the inside??)

Semi Industrial Machines

The Juki TL series falls under this, along with the Janome HD-9. There is sometimes some controversy about the term “semi industrial” (particularly among the prior but I think it is a fairly accurate term. These machines retain the lighter weight and portability of domestics (along with creature comforts like automatic thread cutting) while taking some of the features of industrials like the reverse stitch lever (SUPER handy to not have to look for a button when wanting to backstitch) and ability to use industrial machine feet. Industrial machine feet can be found very cheap if you go generic and often perform better than domestic machine feet. I bought a bunch of compensating feet from Amazon and they just work so much better than the regular topstitching feet on my Janome.

Many of the semi industrials, like my Juki TL-2010Q, also have speed control. These machines tend to be a bit faster and able to better handle heavier projects. They do just one thing but they do it well. I LOVE sewing shirts on this machine.

The disadvantage is that unlike an ordinary domestic they are straight stitch only, and not as strong and durable as an actual industrial. You can technically do buttonholes on the TL series, but you need a separate attachment. Then official Juki buttonhole attachment is $500, which is why a lot of people end up buying a separate domestic just for buttonholes if they don’t already have one. Vintage Griest/Singer etc buttonhole attachments can be found much cheaper (under $50) but since you’re depending on the secondhand market, you never know about availability and if all the pieces are included. These vintage buttonholers also depend on separate metal templates so you’re also limited to whatever size you have on hand instead of being able to set whatever size you want, like with the Juki buttonhole attachment or a domestic.

After using it for a couple of months, I find that the Juki TL-2010Q is not as strong as some claim. It is stronger and faster for sure than my Janome, and I think the motor works out to 1/6 horsepower (vs the 1/10 of the Janome). But when I was sewing a tote bag made from a tightly woven medium weight 100% cotton twill and nylon webbing straps, it tripped up. When sewing the section where the strap goes over a lot of layers of the twill, it just stopped. It didn’t steady to struggle, it outright stalled and would not go. I had to do the hand wheel to get it through that particular section. I know my industrial would have gone through this section without all this extra effort. I’ve seen various videos of how the TL series can “sew through anything” and pretty much all of them are going slowly and you can hear the machine motor working harder. That doesn’t mean it isn’t strong, but I do feel like many people overstate its capabilities because they’re coming from having only used a domestic before.

I also feel like the Juki is not as solidly built as some claim. Sure it doesn’t have as much plastic, but some of the parts (like the thread guide) feel a little bit delicate. The good thing though is that these machines are generally more user serviceable than the domestics, and as you can see Juki Junkies sells a lot of replacement parts and has information on how to replace them yourself. You’d probably still need a mechanic for something like a timing issue, but at least some issues can be resolved yourself.

One last annoyance with the TL series is that you can’t stick a magnetic seam guide past the needle plate. With my industrial I can stick the seam guide anywhere on the machine.

While it has limitations my TL-2010Q is my favorite machine to sew on. I feel like I have the most control over it, and it feeds the fabric beautifully. I love the automatic needle position down and the ability to cut the thread from the foot pedal. It has a decent amount of speed and I have far less issues topstitching collar bands now. Even though I feel it is overrated for heavy projects, I can see why it has such a cult following. It is heavily marketers towards bag makers and quilters, but I also think it is a great machine for garment sewers in my position that want to step up their game but don’t have the room for an industrial.

Industrials

These machines are strong and powerful. They have a dedicated table (typically 48” x 20”) the machine head sits into, and the motor, which is around 1/2 horsepower, is bolted under the table on the side. I’m focusing on lockstitch machines (straight stitch) but there is also dedicated double needle, zig zag, etc industrials. They are not only for heavy materials! Plenty of them, like the Juki DDL-8700, are designed just for light to medium weight fabrics. (Think about it: the factories pushing out silk blouses and crisp buttondown shirts are using industrials, not domestic or Juki TLs.)

My Seiko STH-8BLD-3 is a compound walking foot machine. These machines are designed for medium to very heavy materials. The foot is actually a two section foot with a small inner foot and larger outer foot. The foot, needle, and bottom feed dogs all synchronize to feed the fabric through. It is awesome for thick layers and sewing things like canvas, multiple layers of foam, and cowhide leather. Unlike my Janome and Juki, I don’t have to baby it at all. It just sews through everything as fast as I want without needing hump jumpers or stopping and using the hand wheel. I’ve hemmed bull denim weight jeans for my dad with flat felled seams on this machine before and there was no need to slow down. It just punched right through even the flat felled section without any struggle at all. When I sewed my denim Jalie tote I was able to turn on a dime and fly through whatever section was being sewn without having to do anything special. I think it can do 2000-2500 stitches per minute, with that range depending on the stitch length.

While the Juki TL series maxes out at a size 18 needle, my Seiko can take up to a size 24 needle. I have to use at least 40 Tex weight thread (Gutermann Mara 70) because the tension simply isn’t made to handle lighter thread like Gutermann Mara 100/120. Unlike the Juki TL series or a domestic it excels at handling the really thick stuff like Gutermann Mara 30 (Tex 100 weight).

Another nice thing about industrials is that there’s none of the gatekeeping of domestics. You can tweak them however you want and can make it last a lifetime. My owners manual for the Seiko has sections on how to adjust the timing, adjust the height of the feed dogs (not just drop them but actually adjust how high they are), and all sorts of other stuff that a domestic manual would need, ever show you how to do. Check out the post by Wizcrafts for an example of just how much you can do to customize a machine like this for whatever it is you want to sew. There is a decent amount of information out there on maintaining and repairing industrials yourself, and parts are typically not difficult to get if you have one of the more common models.

My Seiko is around 14 years old now and uses the old fashioned clutch style motor. Clutch motors suck because speed control is difficult (though I’ve gotten better) and they are running whether you are sewing or not, which is noisy and energy consuming. I don’t think they even sell new machines with them anymore. Fortunately industrial motors are pretty easy to swap out. My plan in the next year or so is to swap out the current clutch motor for the Kinedyne 750SL. The Kinedyne 750SL, in addition to letting me sew more easily at a much slower pace while keeping the same torque, also has a needle position sensor option which would allow me to always stop with the needle up or down (a feature I love on my Juki and Janome).

As far as price, it depends on the type of machine you get but in general they are not that much more than the Juki TL series, especially considering the table is usually included. However shipping costs push it up another $200-300 because they tend to be drop shipped by freight. The flipside is that depending on your market you can find these used for much less. Look around for tailors that are retiring or sewing factories going out of business.

The main disadvantage to industrials is the size and lack of portability and versatility.

As I mentioned before, the machine head sits into a dedicated table. The table top is custom cut to fit the machine head and can only be used for that machine. While you can get casters to help with moving it around, this is not a situation like with the Juki TL series or a domestic where you can easily bring it up or down stairs or travel to a class with it. And with a 48×20” table, you’re going to need to have a decent amount of space to put it in. Not something you can tuck away when it’s not being used. The machine heads are also VERY heavy compared to a domestic. My Seiko STH-8BLD-3 machine head is somewhere around 65 pounds. It is entirely metal and feels like a tank. The table is another 50 pounds and the clutch motor is another 40 pounds or so (though the newer servo motors are much lighter). Not easy to transport to the sewing machine mechanic. You’re probably going to have to have one come to your house.

These machines are made for very specific purposes. When I sewed the bag lining of my tote I had to switch to a domestic because between the heavier feed dogs and immense pressure and tension, I simply wouldn’t have gotten acceptable results on the Seiko. It would result in a puckered fabric with thread about to snap. For lighter stuff like that you’d need something like the Juki DDL-8700. Which means another machine with a 48×20” table. Not something that works in my current lifestyle. But with the Juki TL series you can sew a lining on the same machine as you’re sewing the rest of the bag on.

One particular machine that someone specializing in bag making may want to look into is an industrial cylinder bed machine with a flatbed attachment. They make getting into really tight areas much easier (they are kind of like the free arm of the industrial world). This is what they sew shoes, little wallets, etc on commercially. The downside is that they are not nearly as good at sewing big flat panels, even with the flatbed attachment. But some bagmakers have them and love them.

Conclusion

While I am very happy with my Juki TL-2010Q, if I had the space I would have bought the Juki DDL-8700 instead.

I would say go with an industrial if you:

have the space
don’t need portability
want a true “buy it for life” machine
want the ability to repair and customize it yourself
want to quickly and effortlessly sew medium heavy materials and/or do upholstery projects in addition to bag making (this is more specific to compound walking foot machines)
have a good local market of used machines – you can find one used for 1/2 or even 1/4 the price of a new TL series

Look into the TL series if you:

have limited space and/or need to stash the machine away in a separate space between projects
want to travel with the machine
work primarily with light to medium weight fabrics and want something more powerful and refined than a regular domestic

My Mum Makes Art Smock

My son, who will be turning three this summer, has always been a messy eater. When he was an infant, during the warmer months we would just strip him down to his diaper (suggested by our lactation consultant) and put on a bib and let him go to town. For the colder months I discovered these waterproof smocks. My husband and I have been suiting him up with a silicone catch-all bib and smock and it’s been working really well. We are at the point now where the smocks are too small and the Velcro has gone out. While the waterproof fabric is good in some ways, it also delaminated over time and tended to be very sweaty during the non-winter months. For this reason I wanted to make him some sturdy 100% cotton smocks in a larger size. I wanted to avoid Velcro this time around too because as I mentioned before, over time it lost its effectiveness and it made washing more of a pain because things would catch on it (and over time fuzzies got caught in it too).

I found it surprisingly difficult to find a sleeved smock pattern. The sleeves are pretty crucial because as I mentioned before he’s messy and always finds a way to get his arms into whatever yogurt or marinara sauce he happened to have in front of him.

After some searching on Etsy I found the My Mum Makes art smock. I chose it because it had the size range I was looking for, good reviews, and actual finished garment photos.

Pattern Background

This is a PDF only digital pattern. The two sizes included are 1-4 and 4-8. In addition to written instructions the seller has video instructions available as well. I love this trend because it makes sewing so much more accessible to younger people who may not an actual in-person mentor to help them out.

The smock has two pieces: front and back. They’re cut-on sleeves and just sewn together. The hems are finished with bias tape. Elastic is used to gather the neckline and sleeves.

Materials

For my first version (the blue one) I used a sturdy cotton Kaufman Oxford cloth shirting I got from the long gone fabric.com back in 2012. It is the weight of a lightweight denim shirting.

For my beige versions I used a Robert Kaufman 100% cotton fine line twill from Fabric Mart.

Construction

I changed a few things from the instructions.

I didn’t use binding for finishing the back and hem. Instead I did a 1/4” rolled hem. For my blue version I used a rolled hem foot on my Juki TL-2010Q. For my beige version I used the paper hem method.

I wanted to use a tie in the back instead of the elasticized bias binding as it isn’t important to me that he get it on and off independently. (In fact I want him to need help because I want to get a chance to wipe off his hands before he touches his hair/clothes!) So I ended up cutting out some self fabric bias binding, making it long enough to tie in the back. I then threaded the elastic through the casing made by the binding and secured it where the back ends. It was tedious. For subsequent versions I used 1/4” elastic, stretching it as much as it could go to fit and stitched it down in the middle. Then I applied the binding, stretching the elastic out as I went along so it wasn’t gathered. Then once I was done I carefully steamed it so it shrunk back into shape.

The cuffs called for 1/4” elastic with a 1” casing. Like what?? The cuff is quite small so I ended up cutting a piece of 3/8” elastic, overlapped and sewed the ends, tacked it down at the seams, then stitched it in place to the wrong side down the middle, stretching to fit. Then I flipped it over twice so that the raw edge was fully enclosed and stitched along the edge very closely. Much neater and the elastic won’t roll during washing.

Conclusion

This pattern is not really professionally done pattern like you’d get from Jalie, Style Arc, Ottobre, Burda, etc. The drafting IMO should be cleaned up a bit more (it is literally just hand drawn lines) and I noticed some errors. There’s no grainlines drawn and both pieces are labeled “front.” This didn’t give me a ton of confidence However, it fits my son well, keeps his clothes clean, and is very easy to wash.

Ottobre 1/2024 #17: Toddler Wide Leg Pants

Another winner from the Ottobre 1/2024 issue. He’s been wearing them all fall, winter, and spring!

Pattern Background

This is a wide leg pants pattern with back and front pockets, faux front fly, and a partially elasticized waistband. It has a wide range of sizes. #17 is European 92-122, and #22 is 128-170.

As I mentioned above, these pants start at 92 and go all the way to 170. I made a size 92. I do find the waist is a bit on the low side with these pants, especially since he wears cloth diapers, so in the future I may extend the rise a bit to help with coverage. I did my usual adding 1/2″ length to the top of the center back seam to help with coverage and and honestly it could have been more.

Fit/Sizing

When I first made these they were a bit too long and needed to be cuffed, but not long after he had a growth spurt and now they’re totally fine as long as he’s wearing shoes with them.

Materials

Any sort of woven with a bit of stretch will work for these pants – denim, corduroy, twill, etc.

I used a slightly stretchy fine wale corduroy, purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics last year.

Construction

These pants are fairly straightforward. As I mentioned in the description its a faux front fly, so you just turn back the inside pieces and topstitch and then sew a button onto the front. The waistband is elasticized except for a small section in the front between the pockets.

Conclusion

I’ve made my son a couple of pairs of woven pants for the fall and this is my favorite pattern. He really likes the wide cut (easier for playing). I was unsure at first about how it would look on him since he has a slim, muscular build for a toddler but I really like them on him. They have a modern look and go well with looser fitting sweatshirts as well as slimmer fitting t-shirts.

Jalie 4131 Laurent Sweatshirt

The boys in their matching Easter shirts!

I made this several times so far for both my husband and son. The latest version, which is shown in the photos, were matching Easter sweatshirts. I embroidered both of them on the ancient Janome 300e my mom gave me last fall (another new obsession of mine). The machine is ancient and was sitting in a closet completely untouched for about 20 years. I oiled the bobbin and needle bar and have been using it ever since. I had to hunt on Amazon for memory cards that would actually work and designs often require me to do some rotation and size adjustment in Ink/Stitch, but I’m making it work.

Another one I made for my husband, freshly embroidered! You can see how much nicer the neck looks.

Pattern Background

This pattern is for crewneck and hoodie sweatshirts as well as a tshirt. The size range goes from size 2T to 2X. Th suggested fabric is sweatshirt fleece with a minimum of 10% stretch and ribbing for the neck, cuffs, and waistband. You can also use self fabric if your fabric has at least 30% stretch.

Materials

I used a cotton/polyester sweatshirt fleece I found on Amazon. It is not great quality but for something like this which is worn only a few weeks it is fine.

The ribbing is a cotton/lycra rib knit from Nature’s Fabrics. I’m not really happy with it. It seems like the recovery isn’t great (which caused some gaping at the neckline) and the hand suggests there’s some polyester content hidden in it.

Fit and Alterations

For my husband I used size Y, which is on the larger side of Medium.

I found the collar ribbing rather wide and removed 3/8” from the width, bringing down the finished width to 3/4”.

He also found the collar was too tight. I added another couple of inches to the length.

My husband is 5’4” so I shortened the sleeves 3”. For the first version I shortened the length 3” but he found it too short, so I reverted back to the originally drafted length.

For my son, I just added a couple of inches around the hips because he still uses cloth diapers when out and about. I may have to take it in next year because he keeps getting taller and slimmer!

Construction

This is a super easy make. You can do it almost entirely on a serger. I did cut out the fronts and embroidered them before sewing it up because it’s just easier to hoop that way.

Conclusion

I use this all the time for sweatshirts for my “boys.” It is a classic style and one of the few knit Jalie patterns that doesn’t require a lot of stretch. Highly recommend!

First Jelly Roll Rug

Something totally different for me. I happened to see videos of people making them on Facebook and decided to try it for myself. I wanted something to go under my recliner so that’s why I chose to make a circular one.

Materials

I used Craftido’s Timeless Blue jelly roll. One jelly roll made a circular quilt about 3 feet wide.

For the batting I used HexaHive 2 1/2” jelly roll batting. I used an entire roll and then some of a second roll.

The thread was Gutermann Mara 100, one of the big spools from Wawak. I can’t believe how much thread jelly roll rugs require! I changed my bobbin at least twice on my Juki when I was sewing the strips and batting together and 4-5 times on my Janome when sewing the rug.

Construction

I found this YouTube video very helpful for getting started. She gets to the point and moves along unlike so many others that just talk talk talk.

I constructed the strips on my Juki TL-2010Q with the help of the Clover fabric tube maker. I found the big piece of the fabric tube maker really helpful but struggled getting the edges even with the smaller one. I would consider not using the smaller section next time.

I sewed the strips together on my Janome 6500P using a 6mm width and 1.5mm length and 100/16 jeans needle. Many people use a walking foot but I found it wasn’t necessary. My machine had no issues feeding the fabric despite going at top speed sometimes.

By far the hardest part was getting the middle started. I had to try a few times and what worked was just standing there with my iron working it in a circle at the ironing board. It still looks a bit rough to my eye but I guess it’s a good first attempt. You can see how my stitching improved more as the project went on and I got the feel for what to do.

At a certain point I realized I really needed an extension table in order to continuing making the rug. I technically have an extension table for this machine but some of the legs broke on it years ago, and I have no idea what happened to the remaining ones after we bought our house a few years ago. I ended up propping up the table with a bunch of books and magazines on the larger end, and cut a couple of pieces from a sturdy cardboard tube for the section that wraps around the machine. It is not a long term solution for sure but it got me through this project.

There is a bit of curling around the outermost edges. I admit I was rushing the final few laps because I was almost done and my toddler needed to be fed lunch. I should have done this at my dining room table because the table I was working at in my sewing room isn’t super wide and in the final stages of the project it started hitting the wall. I also should have stopped and pressed more like I did in the beginning, and been a bit more aggressive about easing in the strip being sewn in to the rest of the rug like I was earlier on.

Conclusion

When I started on this project last night I was like what have I done?? It seemed like the sewing would never end, and my wrist is a bit sore from manipulating the fabric round and round into the circle. I also struggled a LOT getting the circle started. But on the other hand as time went on I almost felt like the constant sewing was rather soothing. I also like the practicality of being able to make whatever size, shape, and color rug I want in the future.