Why are new sewing machines scary? In my case, it has everything to do with the new technology. You can refer to this post when I received the machine. While I am waiting on the muslin to arrive, I am just playing around with the machine.
The first thing you need to do is turn on the machine. That is when you say "Oh, why did I do this?". Yep even though I had read the manuals and thought I was prepared, when I actually turning the machine on made me it realize I did not know how to raise the pressure foot. Fiddling around I figured out two ways to raise the pressure foot. One being the presser foot up/down button on the front of the machine and the other being the knee lift of free hand system, which is amazing. I discovered that if you lightly press the knee lift that the presser foot will hoover and if you push it all the way to the right the presser foot rises and the tensions are released.
The second thing that I did was thread related. Winding the bobbin was an adventure and required getting my computer out to read the manual. After two attempts, I finally got a bobbin to wind correctly. Right now, I thinking that a bobbin winder sounds pretty good. My featherweight is easier to wind a bobbin. Threading the machine was really not an issue. Inserting the bobbin did not appear to be an issue but I had tension issues from the moment I put in the new bobbin. The bobbin thread was being pulled to the top. I stopped at this point and visited the Bernette Facebook page to see if anyone else had had this issue and what the fix was. You know it is a simple fix, right? Take the bobbin out and insert it correctly. Once I did that, the tension issues disappeared.
Now, I am playing with the different menus. I think I need to create little cards that will be cheat sheets showing the various menus and stitches. Maybe I will be able to incorporate that into the stitch bible. That would be much better I think. Here is a few pages of the stitch bible:
This will be the first page of the stitch bible. It is the very basic stitches. If you zoom in you can see the various stitches along with the adjustments. It is also very easy to see which stitches require a heavier stabilizer than what I'm using.
This is the second page of the stitch bible. It is dedicated to darning stitches, various types of buttonholes, eyelets, and the stitch for sewing on the button. These stitches I did not really play with. They are just straight programmed from the machine. Some of the buttonholes look better than others. I am not sure what the really decorative buttonholes would be used for but they sure are pretty.
This is the start of what I think are the stitches for quilting. This page is more or less the various straight stitches, joining stitches, and applique stitches. I will probably play around more with the applique stitches as that is something I do from time to time.
This page is also part of the quilting menu. The stitches are getting more decorative. It is rather surprising at how much some of these stitches change when you move away from the default settings. I can see doing decorative stitching on tops and such using some of these.
Well that is all I have accomplished toward my stitch bible in the past month. I know it seems slow but my awake hours at home are very limited. Occasionally, I will get a day to myself. I am getting more comfortable with the machine and the oddities that go with it. The machine has not earned a name yet and it might not. More pages will show up as time allows.
I have completed a pillow case with the machine. Okay the serger did the seams and the machine did the hem and you know I had to play with the decorative stitches. You can find the post here. Pillow cases are simple to make. Especially when you have been in a funk like I have. Easy projects get you going again. I am ready to go. I have done several muslins but not really completed anything since February.
I am ready to sew.
Happy Stitching!
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