January is very often taken up with organization of papers, and preparation of taxes, and it usually leaves me little time for sewing. I have a number of projects that I have been working on that I want to finish. (So I can start NEW projects, of course!) To that end, I managed to steal two or three afternoons to work on a tote bag for Frankie, my youngest sis.
I made the mistake of not choosing pre-quilted fabrics for this project. I let Frankie choose three Batiks that are quite beautiful, so I had to layer them with batting, and quilt them before I completed the project. A friend who quilts helped me with a problem I was having with skipped stitches (I needed a lower number needle, a thinner one), and that helped me move through part of the quilting. Once I had the strips for the handle quilted, I decided to finish making the handle. Imagine a strip four inches wide by 110 inches long. I had to turn the long unfinished edges to meet in the center, and then fold the strip in half one more time, to enclose those raw edges. Then I had to sew them together parallel to each edge and down the middle.
Apparently, my machine can stitch through four thicknesses of batting and eight thicknesses of Batik, but I forgot a rule you learn early on in sewing: Do not PULL the fabric through the needle. I changed the foot. I changed the needle, I tried re-threading the machine, to no avail. I had messed up the timing, and it had to go to the sewing machine doctor.
He’s a good kid. Before him, his dad worked on this machine. I sew on a Singer 301A which is almost as old as I am, and I love it. I’ve told them that they have to make this machine last as long as I do, and so far, they have. He had it a day and a half, before the called to tell me it was ready to pick up.
This weekend I have a little more time to work on the tote, so I’ll share a picture when it’s done. Thank goodness for good sewing machine doctors!
Arrrgh!!!
It's just my state of mind!
Oh, boy – I feel bad. I made your poor little Singer go to the sewing machine doctor! And, just for my bag. I promise to treasure the bag forever and ever!!!
Awww…come on Frankie. We all know that you would treasure the bag forever and ever even had the poor little Singer NOT had to go to the sewing machine doctor. You are that sort of person!
Not to worry, little sissy…..all is well! This actually led to a great conversation with Chris at quilting bee, who thinks I may need to consider bobbin tension. She knows how to make the adjustment, and suggested I call her if I should ever have a problem with my little Singer. It seems she is publishing manual on older machines, and really knows how they work.
Cop Car, you are totally right. I know she would treasure anything I make for her, so I wasn’t flapped at all about having to get the machine adjusted. Besides….it was my fault that it needed repair. Any beginner learns not to pull the fabric through!
I know that “a poor carpenter blames his tools”; but, I must tell you that, having been frustrated over the years by sewing with a couple of Singers (well, four, if you include the treadle machines on which I learned) and a Kenmore machine, I am totally awed by the simplicity of sewing with my Bernina. HH purchased it “used” (it had been used in a high school sewing class) for me 10-15 years ago and I have virtually never had to worry about tension–or anything else. It is very forgiving.
As I recall, bobbin tension is controlled by the teeny-tiny screw on the bobbin casing????
Cop Car, I plan to buy a new sewing machine to use when I retire. I don’t have the time to adequately learn a new machine at the moment/ My plan is to try several brands that have been recommended to me, including Bernina, Pfaff and Janome.
There’s nothing wrong with my 301A Singer. In fact, it’s an amazing machine. I very rarely have ANY trouble with it. I was surprised to find that it would sew the number of thicknesses necessary to make the tote bag. But, it is a straight stitch only. I’d like to have a zig zag, and a blanket stitch at the very least, a walking foot (preferably a built-in one), and one of those new-fangled knee thingies for starting and stopping.
My sisters have used newer Singers than mine, without a lot of success. I think what you and I like about our machines may be that they are made of metal, and not plastic.
At least in my case (and you know that I don’t do much sewing) there was no “getting used to” the Bernina. A sewing machine is a sewing machine is a…unless it is computerized. And, nope, my Bernina is NOT metal, but plastic. (I assume that you are talking about the housing. I see no reason that the housing would affect the workings–which are metal, of course.)
BTW: I am not a proponent of a walking foot. Mine was expensive and, even on the Bernina, does not really keep the layers together. Of course…you gotta consider the user!)
Cop Car, some of the newer machines have plastic parts, not just the casing (I think). I’ve heard a lot of women complain about parts breaking when they are trying to work with multiple layers as I am.
I’ve tried to use a universal walking foot on my machine, but I really don’t like what it does to the stitch. I think that if I really want to machine quilt, I am going to have to look into one of the mid-arm quilting machines and stands, and that’s the second thing on my list before retirement! *G* I don’t care to work on pieces any larger than this tote bag on my stationary machine. Stippling is not so bad, but straight stitching is much more difficult unless you learn how to feed the layers into the walking foot.
Ya know….this should have been an entry, not a reply. We both have a lot of thoughts on machine quilting! lol
Buffy–I’ve never used a “universal” version of a walking foot. Mine is the specific foot that was made for my model of Bernina. My big problem (and it is surely yourse since you say that stippling isn’t too bad) is that I have no reference to tell where the needle will pierce the fabric sandwich.
OK (on making an entry), you may give us a lesson here, Coach!