IKEA TIVED Sewing Machine Light

Who would have thought that IKEA would have the perfect light for quilters!

Not me, that's for sure!

I love my JUKI TL-2010Q.

But one downfall is the light.  There is one tiny light that is located slightly to the left of the needle, so there is always a shadow to the right of the foot.  It's not a real problem for general sewing and piecing, but it's a real pain when I'm trying to Stitch-In-The-Ditch with my walking foot.  I need to have a good view of the seam I'm trying to stitch in, and that darned shadow blocks my view.

A couple of years ago I found a clamp-on LED Grill Light that worked great.  (You can read my blog post about it by clicking here.)  While the light itself does a good job, the downfall is that it runs on batteries.  With fresh batteries, the lighting was perfect - but as the batteries wore out, the light got continually dimmer and dimmer.  The light never stayed consistent.  Not to mention the small fortune I was shelling out for batteries!

So I went on a search for something similar that was electric.

I found several options, but the flexible gooseneck was always too short.  I needed to be able to position the lamp out of the way. where it wouldn't obstruct the movement of my quilt.

After much searching, I finally found one.

Let me introduce you to the TIVED lamp from IKEA.

Here is a little demonstration of just how much light this gives off.

First, with no lights on the sewing machine - just my standard room lighting...

(isn't that scrap of Kaffe Fassett just gorgeous?)

 Next, with just the standard issue light that came installed on the JUKI.  See how most of the light falls to the left of the needle?

 And this is with the IKEA light added.  Isn't that a HUGE difference?  And because the lamp is on a flexible gooseneck, I can position it anywhere I need, based on what I'm doing.  Ripping out stitches?  No problem - just swing it over and point the spot right on my work.  Left, right, front, back - so much adjustment makes it perfect for practically any brand of machine.

Plus it has the added bonus of being an LED light so it gives of very little heat.  I can wrap my hand comfortably around the conical metal shade when the light is on, and it's just slightly warm to the touch.

 I have mine mounted to the front right corner of my table using the sturdy clamp that came with it.  And see that knurled piece just above the clamp?  I can loosen that and raise the lamp post up or down as I like, then re-tighten to secure it in place.  So there is LOTS of adjustment in this lamp.  (It also came with a mounting plate that allows it to be screwed to the wall, if that works better in your space.)

It also has an ON/OFF switch conveniently located on the cord, several inches from the end of the lamp post.  It's the white rectangle you see under my table.  I could even fasten the switch to the table with double-sided tape if I want to.  The cord is probably 5-6' long (I forgot to measure, sorry) so I had no problem plugging it in to an outlet on the wall.

I'm sure you're now wondering - How Much???  The lamp was $34.99 and since I don't live near an IKEA, I had to order on-line, but with tax and shipping included it was still under $50.

If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.

Cheers!

Let There Be Light

If you're like me, you are always looking for ways to add more light to your work space.  My new Juki TL-2010Q has a new improved light over my previous model, the TL-98Q, but all the light is on the left side of the needle, which throws shadows to the right of the needle.  I don't like shadows...

From what I've found, all of the specialty add-on lights for sewing machines are expensive.  So this blog post by Lori at The Inbox Jaunt caught my eye... Lori shows us a clamp-on LED desk light she found at Lowes, on sale for under $20!  It looked familiar when I saw it, and I remembered that my husband has a Grill Light that looks very similar to Lori's find.

Sure enough, I tried it, and it works great!

It has a screw-clamp base that attachs firmly to my table, and it's also magnetic, if you have any exposed metal on your table, but the clamp works great for me.  And the flexible goose-neck allows me to position it right where I need it without getting in my way.  In fact, I realized after quilting for a short while, that I actually forget that it's there.  Whereas every other lamp I've tried always seemed to be in the way of my quilt.

This has lots of bright LED lights so it's bright and stays cool to the touch.  It takes 3 AA batteries, and so far, I haven't had to change them.  I'm still waiting to see how long they last, but that also eliminates the tangle of adding one more power cord to my table.

So far, I'm loving this light!  Hope my husband doesn't decide to grill after dark any time soon...

Cheers!