Introduction

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Not everyone comes with a budget to start a slave labour factory in Indo-China, many people who make clothing are of modest means with families, kids, bills to pay and so on but often are patient and skilled in what they make. The tools of the trade are not status symbols but a means to get the results you need. Decent scissors or shears are very useful once you know how to use them but you don't have to hold out for rare antiques that have been fully restored when there are often high quality tools available if you know what to look for.

Much the same comment with sewing machines and overlockers, it may be useful to own a 3000 stitch per minute industrial straight sewer if you are into production but then you also need a dedicated zig zag machine, an embroidery machine and a number of others just to do what a reasonable domestic sewing machine will do. A 5 thread Yamato or similar overlocker is a sight to behold and run like a skyrocket until you have to learn how to configure it, change threads and adjust tensions and here you almost need a university degree to do all of this. A reasonable domestic overlocker is far easier to adjust and better ones are fast enough to scare you if you run them at full speed and 4 thread machines are common these days.

You don't always have to go out and buy expensive new machines, often if you have an eye for value you can pick up a very good sewing machine or overlocker on eBay  and similar online venues. When you hit the big time you can splurge on some expensive toys.