Sewing Machine: Things That Are Not in the Manual

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this. I've learned a lot in the last year, including a few things that don't make it in the manual, probably because they are so obvious no one really thinks they need saying.

Well, looking at an earlier post, I think I've learned and relearned some of them!

1) Hand-sewing quilting thread is just that. Do not put it in the machine. It will not thank you.

2) Ironing is important; very important (Actually, one or two people probably told me this; I just had to learn it the hard way--my last bag is a bit rumpled because I skimped).

3) If you get cross; stop. If you do not stop, Bad Things Will Happen. (Ok, I know this one, too, but I'm a slow learner).

4) Straight Lines Happen. If you just let the feed dogs take care of it, you will get a straight line.

This, to me, is an amazing event. I mean, I don't really resemble any Pratchett character much(1), and I don't think I'm very much like Bloody Stupid Johnson, but I do tend to share his belief that straight lines are things that happen to other people.

5) You know, this sewing thing . . . it's actually kind of fun.

And I'd better be doing some!

(1)Which is sort of a pity. I mean, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to be a bit like Granny Weatherwax.

What I Learned Today

In three hours spent sewing:

1) If you set the stitch length at 0 for a satin stitch, the feed dogs won't advance the cloth, you'll have to pull on it, and the thread will snap.

2) If you use a regular foot while trying to satin stitch, the channel will be too narrow, the cloth won't advance, and the thread will snap.

3) If you use the wrong needle with denim, the thread will snap.

4) If you use a thread that is too heavy for the needle, the needle will snap.

5) When the manual says bobbin tension doesn't need adjusting, the authors are using what is known as boundless optimism. See also groundless optimism.

6) If the bobbin tension is too high, the thread will snarl up, and the needle will snap.

7) If the top tension is too high, the thread will snarl up, and the needle will snap; if the needle doesn't snap, the thread will.

Also, there are some very nice, patient people willing to spend a lot of time explaining these things and helping one fish needle and thread ends out of odd crevices in the machine.

And, yes, I actually did make some progress on my project.

Instructions

Things my sewing machine manual tells me:

1) How to thread the needle.

2) How to wind the bobbin.

3) How to plug the machine in.

4) How to call an expert if I cannot plug the machine in.

5) Never to use the machine under water.

Things my sewing machine manual does not tell me:

1) What to do if the thread gets into a really humongous snarl all of the sudden and nothing will move and the needle is in the down position so there is no way to just pull the cloth out and start all over again.

2) What to do if there are no stitches at all, just a needle full of thread moving up and down to no effect whatsoever.

Brain in a Jar

My latest stuffed critter. To understand this one you need to know that:

1) It was a birthday present for my brother.

2) My brother is a philosophy major.

3) Philosophy majors spend a lot of their time wondering whether or not they are brains kept in jars.

Blues Be Gone!

I posted a few days ago about the post project blues.

Turns out the cure and a Christmas present for a friend was only one brightly striped pair of socks away.

Blue has now gone to her new home where I hope she will continue to help banish the blues and the blahs.

Doll Making

I just finished a long-term project I've been working on--making a doll for a friend, based on her gaia avatar.

I'm rather pleased with the way she turned out, though of course there are many things I learned while I was making her and somethings I'll do differently "next time" (that is, next doll, not next iteration of this doll. This one is done). Wish I had thought to photograph her standing up so's to avoid the bigfoot syndrome.

One project down, I'm-n0t-really-sure-how-many yet to go.

The pattern, by the way, comes from Dolls Puppedolls and Teddy Bears by Estelle Ansley-Worrell, by far the most sensible doll-making book I've ever come across.

I've adapted it, of course, to fit my purposes, but the body is the same.