Elettaria

I bought a Husqvarna Emerald 118 in December, but so far I've only dared try it once. Unfortunately, both the manual and my quilting books assume you already know how to use a sewing machine. I made a pathetic phone call to the shop I bought it from, where a quilter on the staff walked me through a few basic things such as threading the machine and got me started. I practised for a while on my own, and was completely puzzled as to why most of the stitches didn't come out as they should, despite following the chart carefully in all ways. The straight stitch and zigzag were OK at least.

I then left it for ages because I was a bit scared of the thing, and so dopey from an M.E. relapse that I couldn't hit the bin with a teabag, as we say in this place. ghost_of_a_flea is away on a training course from this morning until Friday evening, giving me an ideal oppportunity to have my sewing stuff out for a few days, so I was brave and had another try. This time I ignored Presser Foot J and so forth, fished out a quilting book and leftover fabric and wadding scraps, and tried doing some proper quarter-inch seams. I'm veering off a bit at the start and end of pieces, but since I'm planning to keep piecing by hand anyway I'm not too bothered about that, I can practise. I successfully shortened my pyjama bottoms. The line is a bit wonky in places but it's black on black, no one will notice. Next I need to work out how to sew on stretchy fabrics so that I can shorten all those sleeves which are too long (the joys of being a short-arse).

After that I decided to try quilting, the main reason I bought the machine. ( Read more... )