katydid

My husband is making me a quick sewing table and I'm trying to figure out what distance to make my machine drop down and back to from the front.

For those of you with sewing tables, like Koala, Horn, etc. What is the distance from the front edge of the table to your needle in inches????
help!

momto5

Hi,
I have the Horne cabinet and it measures 9.25 inches from the front of the cabinet to the needle...I have a Janome 6600P in the cabinet and it has a plexiglas surround to make it fit well. Hope this helps.

Prism99

Mine is not a name-brand cabinet, and the distance is 7.5". I do think you benefit from having the needle somewhat further back than this, so I'm thinking the 9.25" of the Horne is better.

katydid

thanks so much it doesn't have to be name brand i'm just curious what a good distance is! this so helpful.

irishrose

My Singer 301 in a Kenmore cabinet is exactly 8 inches. The Elna in an Elna table is 9 1/2 inches. Vintage Universal in the cabinet it came in is 9 1/4.

miss_ticky2

Hubby made mine for my 7700...the needle is 11" back from the front edge. I find this comfortable for me with my elbows relaxed and slightly out from my body and resting near the edge of the table and my fingers near the needle to guide whatever I'm sewing. I am 5'6" tall and tend to have longer arms, I think, so these measurements might not suit a shorter person.

It also gives me a better line of vision as the 7700 has a somewhat bulky 'head' above the needle and I don't have to crane my neck to look under it to see the needle.

katydid

wow everyone thanks so much! I'm only 5'4" but i have very long arms! and a pfaff 7570. I've been using the extension table and trying to do fmq on that is frustrating me to no end b/c the quilt gets caught on it constantly so he's building a quick simple table to drop down the machine to flush. I just didn't know how far to put the machine back from the front. This board is great for info!!!

aborning

I had the same problem when I was doing fmq on my sewing machine tha was in a small cabinet. It drove me crazy!Then I bought a dining room table on a furniture store closeout auction and my husband made a hole for the sewing machine to sit down in. I'd have to measure how far the needle is from the front of the table but this table works perfect and it was only $120. Far cheaper than a smaller sewing cabinet/table which cost alot of $. (The things we do to save money for material)! lol !

joyce888

I have a Horne cabinet and a Pfaff Quilt Expressions 4 machine. Mine measures 8 inches. But one of the other important measurements is where the needle aligns with your body. I like to sit right in front of the needle. I had to have a custom insert made for my cabinet because of the length of my machine caused me to have to lean to the left and was very uncomfortable. (Hope this made sense)

Prism99

Joyce's point about position of your body in relation to the needle is very important too. You do not want to sit with the machine in front of you; you want to sit with the needle in front of you!