Obstacles

I can't work my sewing machine. Does that sound daft? Well maybe, but hear me out... Last October my mother-in-law's sister, whom I have never met, gave me her old sewing machine. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just surplus to requirements since she upgraded. The only catch was that she had lost the instruction manual. "Not a problem; I'll just look it up online" I said to my mother-in-law. Unfortunately, it is not available as a free download, the cheap downloads are on dodgy-looking sites and the manufacturer to date has not replied to my email. "That's ok," I thought, "I'll have a play with it and see if I can just work it out; it does look fairly straightforward". Again I am eating my words. All geared up and motivated to sew up a laundry bag I have cut out and pinned, I got the sewing machine out of its case and put it on the kitchen table. I plugged it in and switched it on and pressed a few buttons, turned a few dials and flicked a few levers. Unfortunately I can't find how to uncouple the needle so that I can wind a bobbin (I don't want to break the needle while winding a bobbin after all!). On top of that, having got the bobbin out of its home, I can't thread it or get it back in again. What a calamity. I really am at a loss as to what to do. I'm dragging my husband into the local sewing machine centre today to order the manual through them (I hope they have better luck than I do!) and until that arrives I really am a sitting duck where the sewing machine is concerned.

It's not that I'm stupid or a technophobe or anything, I just haven't seen a sewing machine like this before. For example, the bobbin casing isn't accessed from above, but from the side, so although you are still looking at the top (or the bottom?) of the bobbin, it's actually sitting on its side in there. There is no obvious way to work it out. Once I have passed the hurdle of winding, threading and replacing the bobbin in its casing, the machine itself really does seem quite straightforward with tension, stitch length and width and different stitches - there is even a handy button on the right which, depending on whether it is depressed or released, highlights the stitch types you can select with their individual buttons in red or orange. Up is one set of stitches and down is another. Quite simple, really. The pedal even folds away and slots in under the bobbin casing for easy storage, and the bobbin box (I'm not sure if that's its technical name, because it also holds the feet etc) slots in next to it. I am so pleased to have such a wonderful, fairly straightforward sewing machine that has been lovingly cared for over the thirty years or so of its life, but why does the coupling and bobbin casing/winding have to be so complicated?

Anyway, the mountain of inspiring things to sew is growing to unfathomable proportions. I picked up Sew magazine yesterday as it had so many inspiring projects in there that I could adapt for my own purposes, and then remembered that I couldn't work the sewing machine... But I enjoyed a good read last night! I even stumbled across a "Sewing Machine Basics" book from Crafts Covered, which I am rather intrigued by. It has a good review and, if I remember correctly, has been highly recommended by other institutions and magazines as well. Time to start bugging the husband again....

So for now, until I can pass the obstacles involved with the preparation of the machine, I am content with cutting, pinning and tacking fabric ready to sew together at a later date. I hope it doesn't take too long to sort out; I want to make a new bag!