Sew All The Things

You may have seen a bit on Instagram about my sewing machine break-down over the last month. I had been sewing almost daily, working on a year-long quilt-along. (so fun! I love the challenge of piecing these blocks.)

Then I started cutting and sewing denim with Chickadee for a skirt. It is next to impossible to find skirts to fit her, so we decided to cut up old jeans and make one to fit.

My machine gave out after about six inches of stitching the denim. Yes, I used a denim needle and denim thread. It should have worked. Instead, the needle jammed, the thread tangled from here to tomorrow, and the safety feature locked the machine.

For a mere $200 I could take my machine to an official sewing machine repair, for a cleaning. The repair, if any, would cost extra. By then, I’d have paid more than half the cost of a new, comparable machine. No, thank you. I chatted through a local group with a lady who said she could take a look, and she told me it would cost at least $100 to repair. Hmmm.

I thought about the repair, thought about a new machine, and thought about taking apart the machine myself. If we were willing to buy a new machine, why not risk taking apart the machine? Fence takes apart the washer and dryer, so how hard could a sewing machine be?

It was a bit tricky. Fence helped (thanks, Babe!), and we found…

Fuzz.

Dozens of fuzz balls, and a sticky bobbin gadget.

After a good, deep cleaning, we put the machine back together and gave it a test drive.

It worked! Only the stitch length was off. We took it apart again and adjusted some gears, and now she runs just like before the break-down.

So much for a broken part.

With my machine back in working order, I have taken advantage of spare minutes to piece together three more blocks, and begin again on the skirt. So far, so good.