Catherine

I just recently bought a used Bernina..great machine..I'm wondering if you ladies and gents have a site to purchase a sewing cabinet that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I sure would love to work on a flat surface. i have the plexiglass table but it is not the same...to much drag. I thought i saw a site here at one time, but couldn't find it. Thought I might just have to make my own, with the help of dear ole' dad!! :-) But then i'm worried about the smoothness.

amma

You can make one out of any size table found at a garage sale, thriftstore or maybe a family member? Measure the bottom of your machine, cut the table the same size. The beauty of this is you get to choose where you want your machine to sit, totally customized lol. Then build a shallow box for the machine to sit in (make sure to cut a hole in the box for your machine cords, cut a little bigger than actually needed to make it easier to get to the plugins) and attatch the box to the bottom of the table. Most tables have a smooth surface, so just make sure to sand and seal the cut edges.

Carrie

Hi--I am actually looking into what Amma suggested. We were recently given an inexpensive farmhouse style table. My problem is the sewing machine insert to fill in with. Thinking of going to a glass company to see if they could cut a piece of plexiglass to our measurements. My local sewing machine stores tell me I can't purchase an insert unless I purchase a cabinet. Happy quilting!

amma

You could finish off the cut edges like the old style sewing cabinents. The hole is cut larger than the size of the machine. Out of the piece of table that you cut out, cut strips out slightly smaller than needed to fill in the gap between the table and the machine, hinge these pieces in. If these come up snug to your machine and you get the right type of hinges, you could get a fairly flat and flush surface from your machine to the table. You could also put countertopping on the surface of the table to make it slicker, too.

Catherine

thanks! great ideas!!! :lol:

amma

My brother was just here, (he is a woodworker, too) and he suggested that if you want the glass piece that are being sold, take your machine to a glass shop and ask them to cut a piece of tempered glass that will fit around your machine, request that they slightly burnish the rough edges for you, too. Then if you use a router around the hole in the table the same depth as the glass, you should get a good flush fit. As we were discussing this, the realization hit him that I was not so subtly drooling over the idea of wanting one too :lol: I can't wait till his employer gets him settled back in one place so I can have my customized sewing table, too :D Another suggestion that I seen on tv was while you have a "handy" man helping you with this, if the table is too tall to sit comfortably at, now would be a good time to shave some length off of the legs, or if it is too short there are end pieces you can install on the legs that adjust the height of the table, too :D

Carrie

Amma--You're a wonder! Thanks for all the suggestions and I hope you get your table soon!