OK, so I do not have a project right now. In fact, I am thinking that I am a little too scattered to ever HAVE a project again…painting/printing on fabric, art work, piecing, cards, small landscapes….even I tire of myself and my activities.
So, it occurred to me that I have never explored the full features of my Kenmore machine. I bought it at Sears about six years ago, not sure what I wanted to sew or was able to sew. It is a Model 385, and it has served me well. (It did say something about ‘quilting’ when I bought it, but I had no idea at the time what that meant). But although I have quilted, pieced, appliqued, made bags and wallets and art work, I did not know what else this machine could do.
I knew I could zig-zag, put in a zipper, use my walking foot, topstitch, and also (in theory, although I have never tried this) I could sew on stretch fabric. I knew how to topstich and understitch, as well as use the 1/4 inch foot.
So I took out my trusty manual, and here’s what I found…..
I learned that doing these other stitches was harder than it appeared in the manual.
I learned how to satin stitch (barely):
I learned the basics of machine applique, although I am not skillful at it yet:
I tried to do machine embroidery, but let me tell you, this is much harder than it looks in the instruction manual! See the evidence below:
Then I learned to use the overcast stitch, which made me feel somewhat successful:
I also learned how to do a blind hem stitch, a feature I did not know my machine possessed:
And I also learned how to blind hem lace on my machine:
Finally, I learned the multiple zig-zag stitch, which I like much better than the heavy-handed applique stitch (I would use this in machine applique):
Tomorrow, if I have time, I will try the Box Stitch, the Shell Stitch, the Fagoting Stitch, the Two-Point Box Stitch, the Overedge stitch, and other Decorative Stitch patterns. I also have the capacity to do twin-needle stitching, although I do not know what that is used for.
Maybe by tomorrow night I will know!
Hey! I thought you were preparing a sewing room?! Nag. Nag. LOL.
Ugh. Guilty as charged. I work an hour in my study, moving things/throwing things out, then drift upstairs….I am participating in a neighborhood yard sale on September 7, so I am boxing things up to sell….I donated several speech and language books to a colleague at work, have a box of books on special ed that a friend of Micaela’s (who is going to be a sped assistant this year) is going to review, and Neal took three boxes of papers to the city’s shredder….So I am making tiny little steps toward that….but it’s a job I hate! Maybe I should blog about those steps I am taking!
Maybe by 2015?
I can relate, I have a embroidery/sewing machine by Brother that I don’t know most of what it can do and thought of exploring . . . . . . . . . . . someday. I think I will put that on my “to do” list for this week of goals! Thank you for the idea and happy sewing!
It was unexpectedly fun! And I thought machine embroidery would be easy! It’s not….but it was fun.