Short Title: Sewing

Long Title: My Sewing Machine and the Most Learning I've Done in a Really Long Time

I got a sewing machine for Christmas.  I asked for one actually, after being frustrated by having to get rid of items of clothing because they were too big or because a hem was loose, and also after being inspired by some really cool sewing blogs such as New Dress a Day.

I haven't had an opportunity to really try the sewing machine until this weekend, but I finally got it out.  I decided to start by reading the manual but quickly realized that's a bad idea.  I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.  So I pulled the machine out and tried to refer to the actual machine while reading the manual.  I'm pretty sure at one point I was so deep in concentration that my brow was furrowed and I was all hunched over.  It was intense.  DH kept making fun of me.

My first bobbin

"This is seriously the most learning that I've done in a long, long time," I declared.  Probably since I took a Spanish class at CMU a few years ago.

But I wasn't kidding. Sewing machines are intensely complicated, and from what I can tell, unnecessarily so.  Let me review.

In order to "thread the machine" you have to take the thread from the top of the machine, wind it around a little metal piece, down a slot in the front of the machine, under a loop, up a another slot back towards the top, around a metal loop and then back down again.  Now you're finally at the needle.  But first you have to hook the thread around this little piece of metal and then only do you get to put the thread through the needle using yet another contraption.  Ridiculous, I tell you.  I'd like someone to explain to my why exactly the thread needs to go up, down and around so many different times and places.  It seems to me like going straight from the spool to the needle would work just as good.  This, I tell you, is why young people today don't have any interest in sewing.  Too damn complicated.

Anyway, if you're just learning how to thread your sewing machine I would suggest skipping the users manual completely - if you're not family with a sewing machine it will make absolutely no sense.  Instead, I recommend going straight to YouTube and searching for "How to thread a YOUR MODEL HERE sewing machine" and you're sure to get a half dozen step by step videos.  After wasting about 3 hours trying to figure it out from the manual, YouTube had me up and running in less than 20 minutes.

 But now that the machine is threaded, what's next?  I tried just playing around with it, but I was clearly doing something wrong, since I kept getting these little loopy things on the back on the old t-shirt I was playing around with.  Still not sure how to fix that, and YouTube hasn't been much help.  But I have 4 spools of thread and not a lot else to do, so I'm sure I'll be showcasing my first project in no time!