Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Vivo – The Create and Repair Machine by Singer Review

My mom recently bought me a new sewing machine; The Vivo by Singer. This is the first time I’ve been able to check it out and see how it works. I figured I’d write a little review about it as I go through my first time winding the bobbin, threading the machine and doing a small sewing project. Really, I’m just going to adjust the elastic on my sleep mask, so it’s not a big deal at all, but it’s still a good way to see how this machine will stack up.




I plugged the power cord and foot pedal into the back and turned on the machine. First thing I thought was “No light?” In my experience all sewing machines have some sort of light on them to make it easier to see your work. However, that’s when I picked up the manual and did a little reading. And viola! There was a diagram that had a button for the light, so I looked on the left side of the machine, and sure enough, there was a little picture of a light bulb, and a button. PRESTO! Let there be light! :-) Now to wind the bobbin.



I read in the manual that the reason they use metal bobbins is because it’s magnetized to control the tension, so I have a handful of plastic bobbins that came with a sewing kit I picked up that are useless to me. Oh well…sticking with the metal bobbins.  Took me a couple of tries to get it to wind, but I read and re-read the instructions and got it done. :-) Now I have a nice bobbin full of black thread for whatever that needs black thread. Now to get the bobbin in the machine and thread it too. This is where I sometimes get into trouble, so we’ll see how I do!



Machine is threaded, now the fun part of raising the bobbin! So far, so good! :-) Bobbin is raised and now I need to try out the machine and make sure the tension is just right. And I need lighter colored material. I’m using some dark patterned material...duh! LOL

Big thing to watch out for that I just discovered! Watch out for the stitch selection dial! It comes off and if it’s loose you won’t get the stitch you’ve selected because while you’re turning the knob, you’re not turning the mechanism to change stitches. Make sure you push the knob all the way into the machine and you feel tension when you turn the dial to make sure you’re changing the stitch! I found out the hard way, but thankfully it didn’t mess anything up, just didn’t change the stitch as I was sewing. Taken care of and it seems to work just fine now. :-)



The foot pedal doesn’t give you the option to go all that slow. There’s stop and GO! LOL But there is a high and low and there is a noticeable difference between the two speeds. I’ll need some practice to get my lines straight, but I know I’ll get there. The machine isn’t quiet, but seeing as it’s a plastic body, it feels fairly sturdy and isn’t overly loud. I had my TV going while sewing at a medium volume and I could hear it for the most part. The light on it could stand to be a bit brighter, but it does the job. It’s a good machine for someone learning or someone that does basic sewing. It only has 12 stitches and a reverse, but I don’t think most things needs more than that unless you’re a seamstress. Oh, and there’s no way to do a buttonhole on this puppy, just so you know. So, if you do them you’ll need a different machine for sure. The instruction manual seems to be pretty well written and the photos are nice and clear. I haven’t gotten into things any farther, but perhaps as I get more practice I can share some more info about my new lil friend!

 


 

13 comments:

  1. My mom is strictly Brother. She won't by anything else.

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  2. The shape of this reminds me of the Singer Pixie Plus; however, this seems to have a lot more features than that machine. On the other hand, it appears to be basically a Walmart exclusive (Amazon had one at quadruple Walmart's price, so it doesn't count as far as I'm concerned). Any further thoughts, now that you've had this a couple of months? I'm in the market for a new sewing machine myself, but am only interested in the mini-sized ones (for mending & perhaps occasional doll clothes).

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  3. Hey there, thinking about buying this for my mom for Xmas. How did it turn out for you?

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  4. I bought this machine not even 4 months ago and it sewed beautifully. Now that Christmas is over I took it back out of the box to sew a new dress pattern for my daughter. Guess What? it won't work for me now... at least the fabric feeder isn't [thing under the pressure foot that grabs and advances the material]. I don't know what happened to this particular feature because I packed it up into its foam brackets etc that come with it to store it. no water no bugs or anything like that could get to it so this doesn't make sense why it suddenly stopped working. Everything else on the machine though works beautifully. Just this small area. Can't believe how bad this machine is after only sewing two outfits.

    Oh and before someone asks if it was the material ... I tried it with a few different materials ... satin, pollyester, cotton and even fleece to see if it would even attempt to grab it. It didn't and I'm pissed about having spent so much money on a machine that is supposed to be reliable but isn't.

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  5. Has anyone experienced it coming unthreaded while sewing? I'm super frustrated! What am I doing wrong??

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  6. Mine is also unthreading.. this is my first machine ever..and my first time really even sewing so if anyone has any tips or tricks on how to get more familiar with all different parts and how I use them that would be awesome! I YouTube'ed on how to thread the machine and how wind the bobbin..but past that I'm lost haha.. thx in advance!

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  7. I'm frustrated with mine because as many time as I've adjusted the tension and bobbin mine is still jamming!

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  8. Jamming? there should be a trouble-shooting guide for the machine, or look for solutions online. It usually has to do with not being threaded correctly on top.

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  9. Not feeding fabric through? You may have accidentally dropped the feed dogs down while packing up the machine - the jagged metal piece under the fabric while sewing, that pushes it along. Look for the feed dog switch.

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  10. Unthreading? Probably due to not leaving enough of a "tail" of thread when removing your project from the machine. Dont cut the thread off too short - leave at least 4" tail, coming out of the needle.

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  11. Please help my machine won't stitch at all. Everything is threaded properly and I've tried everything but it still won't work. What do I do

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