"That's Not "Sew" bad Using My Machine for the First Time in 5 Years

 Originally published: 6/24/17

Just A "Sew - Sew" Job...But Practice Makes Perfect!

My grandmother, who passed away in 2012, was a master seamstress. There was nothing she couldn't put together. I've got at least 3-4 handmade quilts that I've inherited, beauty, that. However this is not one skill I inherited. It could be that I haven't put that much thought into learning to sew, or it could be the recurring fears I have about needles. (One time growing up, I had one of those "learn needlepoint" kits for kids that came with a plastic yellow needle that was about 3" long which is why I was able to give that a chance.)

Regardless of the reason, I know it's a skill I should master; at least for the purpose of clothing alterations. It's cheaper and smarter, right? to take an article of something you're tired of and do something to make it a little different and more appealing.

Case in point, these past few weeks. Summer is here and I want to take a few long-sleeved shirts (cotton-poly blend jersey style) and make them into short-sleeve shirts. Nothing super ambitious here. I like the cute "cap" sleeve that's a little bit shorter than the standard T-shirt; but I digress a little. Time to crank out my machine which has been in the closet the past 5 years.

This sewing machine I have is only about 10 years old and in gently used condition. It is a Brother, yep, same company that made my 4-in-one-printer. When I say "gently used" I mean the last thing I worked on was a set of curtains, and I think I hemmed up the legs of some too-long pants.

This is a Brother LS-2125i which is labeled as a "beginner friendly" machine too by the way. Yeah, I haven't studied sewing machines in depth but I have seen some more modern that are actually computerized and all. I believe I neglected to tell you that my Brother was a gift I received for Christmas 2007; so this model has been around awhile.

So here I am, re-learning again, naturally. From last set-up, the bobbin has been wound and fitted into the bottom loading area (sorry, as an amateur, I know that place has a name) I don't have to fool with that part. But apparently when it went into the closet, the threading area and spool must have gotten jostled around, as I had to re-fit it in that slot again correctly; which took a few tries, and I'm embarrassed to say, I had to consult YouTube for a little direction. When I didn't know exactly where the thread should loop around, I had a few stallings.

Did I mention I hate needle threading? Yep, somewhere towards the beginning, so I won't drag that out long. Had to do a tittle self-talk there. But when I got that part squared away, happy day. My work went on like silk on glass. Except that the stitches resulting do not match what an experienced seamstress would call "a great job" But that's OK....the sleeves are hemmed as they should and if you're standing a few feet away you wouldn't notice.

Now about the machine itself? This is not a review post and because of the "gently used" thing going, I can't give a full-out appraisal right now. Heck, there's probably some anatomy I'm not sure I can identify yet. One thing I do notice that I have to be careful of is to tempo the foot pedal as it tends to get away from me quickly unless I go very lightly with my foot. But do I want to keep on using this machine as needed to do things like I stated in the second paragraph? You betcha.

So if you gained one thing of importance from reading this post, it is that I will certainly tell you upfront what I have yet to master. This technique is like anything else out there; practice makes perfect!