Tools of the Trade
Day Twenty-Seven: Sewing Machine
A few years ago, I spent each day in January writing about a different tool I use in my maskmaking. As I am currently redesigning my entire website in the new year, I thought it might be nice to revisit this project. Each day in January 2021, I’ll share a different item that I use in my studio. I hope some of these can help other people who are interested in making wrestling masks.
I first started making masks on my mom’s old Kenmore home machine. As I got more interested in the craft, my grandmother bought me my own Necchi machine. It proved difficult to maintain, being a modern plastic machine, so I ended up getting a used vintage Morse machine which was a real workhorse. When I decided to get serious about making masks, I decided I needed an industrial machine. I first got a Consew 226R walking foot machine off of Craigslist, but decided it was a bit brutish for masks, so I bought a new Juki DDL5500N from the fine folks at Keystone Sewing. I chose this machine because I knew Juki had a great reputation, and this model is made in Japan. It runs like a dream, and is self-lubricating, which is excellent.
The Juki came with a two-cone thread stand, which I upgraded to a three-cone stand so that I could always have black and white at the ready, and just change out other colours on the third stand. I worked with this for a while before I found this excellent FIVE cone stand at GoldStar Tool. Now I have black, white, and silver grey always on the stand, and can swap out the other two as needed. This stand has a great thread guidance system, with one guide directly above each cone, and then a second guide bar that extends out over the machine. This really helps to prevent thread tangles.
Can you tell I love mask stickers and pins?
