Sew what?

After several weeks of mulling the idea of purchasing a sewing machine, but hesitating because my meagre budget wouldn’t allow for anything decent, I lucked out and sourced a used Toyota 8002 through FreeCycle. The woman who gave it to me said that the tension needed a bit of work but I figured that if I couldn’t make it work I could either take it to a machine shop or pass it on to someone else.

Of course, it also didn’t come with a users’ manual which meant that I needed to consult YouTube for some quick lessons in threading the machine and the bobbin. Then I got to work.

I managed the bobbin-loading on the first try.

I thought I managed the machine threading, too, but after my first attempt the thread was bunching up underneath (something called birdnesting, apparently) so I took to Facebook to explain to my friends what was happening. I wondered if I had threaded the machine wrong or if this was the tension issue. At the same time, I re-watched some videos.

Anyhow, my friends were able to give some great feedback. One friend even found a link to a user’s manual for a similar machine which was the biggest help because it had diagrams! (Yay for diagrams!)

So this morning, I took all the various bits apart (with a slight fear that I’d never get it put back together!) and cleaned everything. Then I reassembled and oiled the machine and tried threading it again – using the manual as my guide. And it worked!

To test things out, I experimented with the various stitches on a scrap of paper before sewing together the arms and tail for my latest sock monkey. (Wow! It’s a lot faster with the machine!)

Anyhow, now I have this fantastic (free!) sewing machine, but I have nothing to sew. My original plan had been to take some sewing lessons from the Edinburgh Council’s Adult Education Programme, however, the times and locations of the classes are a bit difficult when I live so far from town and rely on public transportation. Plus, the cost of the classes isn’t something I want to take on at the moment.

So, what will I sew now that I have a machine? I guess I’ll have to hit the charity shops next week to see what they have that I can salvage.

I am *sew* excited about this!