Hitting the Books
Reading a sewing machine manual can be *B*O*R*I*N*G*!…especially if you just want to sit down at your new machine and sew. With most appliance manuals you may skim the first couple pages, or go right to the “Quick Start†section. You might not ever return to the meat and potatoes of how to work your new machine. I know, I did this when I got a new cell phone.Â
I equate a sewing machine manual with a manual for a stove. The stove manual does not make me a better cook; it only guides me through the proper use of the stove and oven. Likewise, sewing machine manuals are meant to tell you how to operate the machine, the stitches, functions, and features.Â
Are you the type who likes to figure things out for yourself? After the newness wears off your new machine, and you have stumbled through its basic functions by pushing every button, you should promise yourself to return to the instruction manual and begin to peruse those helpful pages you passed over.Â
Do you like to be shown how to use something before you touch anything? Are you afraid you might break it by doing something wrong? Make sure to sign up for your Mastery Classes. I heard last week in my Serger Mastery class that “the manual just didn’t make any sense.†It was probably like a foreign language to this serger-newbie. After the class this same person said, “I think I will understand the manual now that I understand how a serger works.â€
It’s time to re-explore what came with your new sewing machine, embroidery machine, or serger as a fantastic refresher course! Now that you understand the basic operation of your machine and some of the functions and buttons, reading the manual will help you use them better as you learn more about the features.Â
Additionally, it is probably time to be reminded to clean your new (or older) sewing machine. Browse through the maintenance section to be sure you clean and oil the machine properly and in the right places.
Do you have an odd looking accessory that came with the machine for which you have no clue as to its use? Scan through the accessory list to find out what that mystery item can do for you!
Look over the trouble shooting section to see if you have encountered any of the listed problems. There might be a better solution than turning off the machine and calling it ugly names.
Some people look to their manuals to learn how to sew and feel let down. They think the information they are searching for, like inserting a zipper, sewing a quilt, or embellishing with piping, should be in the manual. Just as I need to refer to a cook book to learn how to successfully create a recipe, you, too, will need to look further than the sewing machine manual to become a better sewer. Look for specialty books and classes to teach you the many arts of sewing.
Sewing machine manufacturers, especially, want you to be passionate about your new machine. That is why they load the boxes with lots of extra helpful information. Look for specialty workbooks to create samples of various techniques, high-tech DVD’s that can be played on both a TV or computer, and inspirational booklets full of wonderful accessory information! And if that is not enough, visit the company’s website for your brand of machine for updates, projects, and new techniques. For that matter, explore other brands’ websites, too.Â
So, for starters, let’s “hit those instruction booksâ€. Find something about operating your machine that you learned, and post your findings with this tip. Who knows, maybe someone will read your post and you will help make their day!
© SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
Healthy Sewing Habit – July 2007
This is a perfect month to start thinking about sewn holiday gifts and decorations.
Proper Use of a Built-In Needle Threader
One of the best tools the engineers of the sewing machine world have given us is the built-in needle threader. We have found that not everyone uses this unique devise, but there are several reasons why everyone should use their built-in needle threader. For those with a “maturing eyesight” it is a God-send! But, even though I have been blessed so far in my short lifetime with healthy eyesight, and I can see to thread a needle, I have found that using the needle threader, when available, is invaluable.
The time that I did not properly insert a new needle high enough into the shaft, it was the needle threader that saved me from accidentally damaging or nicking the hook. When the needle threader did not line up with the needle hole, I knew instantly that something was wrong. I was able to correct the problem before causing any damage, and before becoming frustrated with my machine.
A needle threader is a time-saver in that you will never have to have a clean cut end on your thread, and you will never have to lick the end to get it to go through the needle.
Since the hook of the needle threader must be so small to fit through an eye of a needle, it can be bent easily, or damaged if used incorrectly. It is a very small crochet-like hook that comes through the needle eye from the back towards the front. This small hook must be perfectly centered when it comes through the eye of the needle for it to catch the thread. Should this hook become bent from improper use it will go to the side of the needle rather than through the eye. If you can see the hook, and it is very small, a gentle push with your finger nail or very small screw driver can realign the needle threader hook back to the center position. If you do not want to try this on your own, bring your machine into the store and we will align it for you.
Below are steps to have a successful needle-threading experience.
First, the needle must be in the proper position. On electronic sewing machines, touch the needle position up/down button, or tap the foot control to have the machine take one complete stitch. This will raise the needle to the correct position needed for the needle threader to properly align with the needle. If the hand wheel has been turned manually, the needle may not be in the correct position.
Next, lower the presser foot to the down position. This will allow more room for maneuvering the needle threader. Lowing the presser foot will also engage the tension disks to keep the thread from pulling freely through the machine while using the needle threader.
If you have trouble using your needle threader, try these six steps. Each step needs to be done in order, and without combining the steps. Until the flow of using a needle threader becomes a single fluid motion, do it by the numbers. Be patient with yourself at first.
1. Lower the presser foot.
2. Hold the thread to the left of the needle. Place the thread around the left prong of the needle threader and press, or pull, the needle threader straight down. Do not press the devise sideways.
3. Rotate the needle threader head to cup around the needle’s eye from the backside. Some machines do the rotation motion automatically as you press down firmly.
4. While holding the thread with your right hand with a gentle tension, cross the thread from left to right in front of the needle and into the needle threader hook. Hold the thread at a slight angle upward, about a “2 o’clock” angle. Keep the thread parallel to your body. Do not push it toward the back of the sewing machine.
5. Continue to hold the thread gently, then release, or gently turn the needle thread assembly with your left hand away from the needle eye. If you hold onto the thread too tight, the needle threader’s hook will not be able to pull the thread freely through the eye of the needle. Apply just enough pressure to the thread so that the needle threader can gently pull it out of your fingers.
6. Pull the loop of thread from the back of the needle with your fingers, tweezers or stiletto.
Please note that needle threaders do not normally work with double needles, wing needles, or a very small needle size 65/9 or smaller.
When using the needle threader becomes a single fluid motion for you, you will always want to use this wonderful invention. If you are having difficulty using your needle threader, please come in and let us check the hook to make sure it is aligning properly, and let us guide you visibly through these steps. Take the time to learn the proper technique, and save precious sewing time in the future!
© SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
You Know Sewing is Your Passion When…
This week’s tip is more of a commentary on the lives we lead if our passion is sewing. When I looked at what I was doing just 24 hours before leaving on a trip, besides needing to write this tip of the week, I started jotting down various thoughts while I was…you guessed it…sewing something new for the wedding. While thoughts came to mind about my own passion for sewing, I also thought about people I’ve known who are so impassioned, people who have inspired me, the camaraderie that comes when people share their thoughts and inspiration. When we are passionate about anything, we in turn inspire others. Look now at your own passions, who helped develop them, and who you might in turn inspire. Then take a moment to poke a little fun at the subject’s theme by adding your comments below.
24 hours before a trip or vacation you whip up something new to wear.
You shop at fabric stores while on vacation.
You take a sewing machine with you on vacation.
You have asked a friend or family member to bring home fabric from a foreign country.
You think of someone who will love the sewn item, just so you have an excuse to make one!
You have a designated room in your house for sewing, even if it is the dining room.
You need a daily sewing “fixâ€.
You try to shop at a ready-made clothing shop, but with every thing you see that you like, you say to yourself you can make it either cheaper, in my size, in the color I like, with the fabric I like, or all the above.
You buy something ready-made and know exactly how you will alter it. Or, for the amount of time you just spent trying things on and the alterations you do, you know you could have made it yourself in less time.
You have favorite patterns that you reuse multiple times in different fabrics and colors.
You make your own patterns, and you don’t know your store dress size.
You know that a bodkin has nothing to do with relatives, a stiletto has nothing to do with heels, and hemostats are as useful in sewing rooms as operating rooms.
You have a scissor collection with multiple pairs for many uses, and you keep separate pairs by each machine, at the cutting table, and on the ironing board.
Your wrath will be incurred faster than anything if you find out someone has used your scissors for something other than fabric or paper.Â
You wake up in the morning of you day off and say, “Oh darn, only 16 hours to sew!â€
You now have a hands-free phone so you can talk and sew at the same time – no more neck cramps!
You have been known to make 10 or more of the same item to give as gifts for birthdays or Christmas.
You have more fabric than humanly possible for any one person to use in a lifetime.
You think up more projects than humanly possible to sew in a lifetime.
You found a fabric many years ago, and it is your absolute favorite, but you have been looking for more of it in every fabric store ever since.
You file your fabric in file boxes sorted by the type of fabric and color.Â
You “weed out†your fabric collection by resorting it and making more of it fit in a smaller space.
Your scrap collection is 20% of your fabric collection because you know you are going to need just a little of just the right color someday, or it is for all the scrappy quilts you intend to make….someday!
You devise clever ways to conceal your fabric collection so family members won’t suspect just how much fabric you actually have.
You wait until family members are not around when you unload the car from a major event at the fabric/sewing machine store.
You quietly substitute the new machine for the old one when no one is looking. If someone thinks they notice something different, you say nonchalantly that it is the same one you have had for a while.
Your collection of sewing machines exceeds one sewing/embroidery machine, and one serger.
You have a machine just for when you travel or take classes.
You have returned home to find that you already own the book or pattern you just bought.
You celebrate your sewing machine’s birthday by taking it in for its yearly service.
Can you relate? Please add to this list! I am sure everyone reading this list could add their own personal “sewing passion†quote. To add your comment, locate the Register or Login section along the right side of this website. Thanks!
© SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
Heirloom Creations Top 10 Machine Quilting Tools
We have compiled the Top 10 most commonly purchased and used machine quilting tools. These tools will help improve your stitching, posture and ease of fabric movement. Even if you just try one new item in addition to your current machine quilting style, you are guaranteed to see improvements.
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Walking Foot
The ultimate tool for straight stitch machine quilting, a walking foot is designed to feed a layered quilt (top, batting, and backing) evenly through the sewing machine. Want to use a decorative stitch to quilt a quilt top? No problem! Buy a walking foot with an open toe presser foot to see the needle easier for stitch-in-the-ditch quilting.
Price Range: $19.95 – $150 depending on the machine. Wonder why there is such a price difference? Higher priced walking feet are made to exactly match the feed dogs’ motion of the machine for which they are made resulting in a more accurate outcome.
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Open Toe Free Motion Foot
An open toe free motion foot performs exactly like a darning or regular quilting foot except the front part of the foot is cut away. This allows easier viewing while free motion quilting, either simple or intricate patterns.
Price Range: $9.95 – $40.00
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Quilting Gloves
Gloves with “non-skid” allows for better grip on the fabric as you move it! Look for “breathable†gloves that will be comfortable to use in both the winter and summer.
Price: $8 – $12
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Free Motion Slider
National award-winning quilter Pat LaPierre developed the free-motion slider to make machine quilting easy and fun! This Teflon sheet adheres without any tape to the bed of the sewing machine allowing fabric to slide effortlessly across this zero friction product.
Price: $27.95
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The Right Needles
Topstitch or Microtex (also called Sharps) needles are made with an extra sharp points. This helps to make a very straight stitch even when stitching through multiple layers of seam allowances at block corners and intricate intersections. Select the proper size of Topstitch or Microtex needle depending on the type of thread used. Use Topstitch needles for heavier threads (40wt or bigger) and Microtex for finer threads (silk or any 60wt or smaller threads). We also prefer the Schmetz brand of needles because the quality is unbeatable. Do remember to start with a new needle at the beginning of each machine quilting project!
Price Range: $5 – $6 for a pack of five
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Quality Thread
Quilting makes the quilt! Take time in selecting a thread color that will enhance the quilt and not detract from the quilt pattern. The right color may come in cotton, polyester or even silk. If it is a quality thread, it won’t matter if the thread content is not cotton. Go ahead quilt something daring!
Price Range: $5.00 – $24.95 a spool
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505 Spray
Perfect for basting top fabrics, batting and backing together without safety pines, this particular spray has no oder and will not gum up the needle. Price: $11.99
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Practice Piece
A warm-up piece is essential for setting tensions, practicing patterns and testing thread color. It is recommended to use left over fabrics from the quilt project and some of the same backing and batting in a practice piece. Take time to “warm up†each time you sit down to free motion machine quilt. Remember to take regular breaks every 15-20 minutes. If your quilting starts to get erratic or sloppy, its time to stop. Try to allow enough time so you are not in a hurry to quilt the quilt.
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Workstation
The best work area has three main components:
Chair – Fully adjustable and fitted to your body and adjusted for your height. There is a huge difference in quality in chairs. We recommend the Ergonomic Advantage chairs that are designed for women that sew! Price Range: $300 – $600
Table Area - Preferably a cabinet with enough space for your quilt to be supported in the front, side and back. This also gives the best ergonomic position allowing you to relax when you quilt and take the strain off the shoulders and back.
Lighting – As a rule most sewers don’t have enough and need to add more! How much depends on the type of lighting being used and what time of day that you normally sew. If you sew late into the night more is better.
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Stitch Regulator
A stitch regulator is one of our favorite tools but limited to certain machines. This specialized foot or accessory is excellent for both new and experienced quilters. It is designed to keep the stitch length consistant when doing free motion quilting. This allows the user to focus more on the quilting designs and less on keeping the machine’s running speed even with the fabric movement. A stitch regulator foot is available for the Bernina 200, 430, 440, 630, 640, 730. The Fabric Mover with Stitch Regular accessory is an attachment for the Husqvarna Viking Freesia’s, Lilly’s, Rose’s, Platinum’s, Scandinavia 300 & 400, Quilt Designer, Quilt Designer II, Designer II, Designer 1, Designer 1 USB and the Designer SE as an attachment!
Need help deciphering some of these items? Come in and tell us what is holding you back from being a successful machine quilter. We can help customize the proper tools for your exact needs.
What is your favorite machine quilting tool? Login and leave your comments!
© SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.