Tag Archives: money

Machine cleaning basics

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Machine Maintenance

Did you know how important it is to have your machine regularly serviced? It’s like having your car serviced – vital, so as to insure good working order and to extend the life of your machine.
So this brief tutorial has a few things you can do to help your machine’s performance and your sewing stay true to your skills.
1. Use the right tools – Make sure you have the correct screwdriver, oil, tweezers, can of air and small brushes.
The right stuff - Can of air from Officeworks $2.50

The right stuff – Can of air from Officeworks $2.50

2. Turn all the power off and unplug all the cords. Safety first.


3. Unthread the machine and remove the bobbin.
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4. Take your time and make sure you don’t lose any screws you remove, making sure you keep an eye on what screw came from where and the various sizes.

5. Don’t use oil on your machine unless you know that it needs it. Many machines these days don’t require oiling as they are made from different materials/parts than machines that do need a bit of oil.

6. Make sure that the dust and other particles you clean out of your machine are thrown out. A common bit of debris found inside machines are broken needle tips, which can be a hazard.

7. Put the machine back together and test sew to make sure everything is okay. Adjust tensions and rethread as necessary.

8. To prevent any disasters with your machine plug it into a power board with a surge protector. And when travelling with your machine make sure it’s stored in a suitable box/bag/trolley and that your machine’s pressure foot is in the down position.

Take off the storage tray.

Take off the storage tray.

Remove the needle and foot including the shank.

Remove the needle and foot including the shank.

Unscrew the faceplate.

Unscrew the faceplate.

Remove faceplate.

Remove faceplate.

Remove bobbin case.

Remove bobbin case.

Lie machine on its back.

Lie machine on its back.

Unscrew the cover plate.

Unscrew the cover plate.

Remove cover plate.

Remove cover plate.

Attach the nozzle on your can of air and blow the dust away!

Attach the nozzle on your can of air and blow the dust away!

Use tweezers to remove any clumps of dust that are stuck.

Use tweezers to remove any clumps of dust that are stuck.

Dust!

Dust!

Turn the machine back up and use a small brush to remove any more dust you can see.

Turn the machine back up and use a small brush to remove any more dust you can see.

Oil any spots that require it or that your machine manual advises to. DO NOT oil if your machine doesn't need it.

Oil any spots that require it or that your machine manual advises to.
DO NOT oil if your machine doesn’t need it.

Lie the machine back down and reattach the cover plate.

Lie the machine back down and reattach the cover plate.

Put the machine back up. Dust out the bobbin case (front and back)

Put the machine back up. Dust out the bobbin case (front and back)

Put the bobbin case back into position.

Put the bobbin case back into position.

Screw the faceplate back on, return the needle and foot/shank back to their rightful homes.

Screw the faceplate back on, return the needle and foot/shank
back to their rightful homes.

Pop the storage tray back on. Rethread the machine, power up and test your stitches and tension. Then back to work!

Pop the storage tray back on. Rethread the machine, power up and
test your stitches and tension.
Then back to work!

NOTE: This tip in no way replaces the need for you to have your machine serviced yearly. There are things that a mechanic will check that you cannot do yourself.

Wearing two hats…an auction and a custom order…

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I know, I know most women wear half a dozen hats at any given time. But in my life my hats are only my work hats – I don’t count my ‘home’ hats. And there’s a heap of hats that I won’t be wearing for many years and some I don’t think I will ever wear. 🙂

So back to the hats – I wear a shop hat and a magazine editor hat. Today is the last day that I am ‘in design’ for the issue that will be on sale in May. We run about 3 months ahead with magazines. On my days off and at night I work on the magazine. So by day I am Marni, shop owner at Frankenstein’s Fabrics and by night I am Marni, Editor for EMG’s beading series. It could almost be a double life except for the fact that my lives overlap so much that it really is just one.

For those of you out there in Blogland who do a bit of jewellery making on the side, this is what I do –

 

I do all the paperwork ‘behind the scenes’ and a graphic designer does all the fancy computer stuff. We have stylists and photographers who do all the images. I work with a talented group of people. Each issue has a different title in the series.

So after today it’s back to the shop and more sewing.

Then in about a week’s time I’ll have to check the colour proofs, make sure everything is correct and then it gets sent off to be printed.

Last night the auction hosted by the Handmade Craft Market closed. The bidders were generous, the items were gorgeous and now all have new homes. We raised $600 towards Walk for Zoe, so that Brodie can complete her aim of participating in the London Marathon.

Bec picked up her custom order on Saturday.

This is how it started.

One cartoon character and some fabric….

Then …

Didn’t take any step shots of piecing so we then skip to ….

Close up of the stippling…

 

And finally the front…

and the back…

Am now down to the last order for a baby quilt. So that’s on the cutting mat this week.

If anyone would like to order a custom quilt please email me frankensteinsfabrics@hotmail.com, come and see me in store or ring (02) 4325 2638.

Marni