Weekend of No Crafting

I did not get any crafting done this weekend. My plans were thwarted by a f*#%ing bobbin.

My mom got a new sewing machine. Seeing as I've used various sewing machines in the past and always been able to figure them out, I wasn't too worried about it even though she specifically said there are a couple of differences with this machine.

On Saturday I drew up my ideas, figured out my measurements and then cut all my pieces. I left my progress there because I have this thing about wanting a very clear 'finish' point at the end of the day--it irks me to stop at an unnatural part of the process--so I figured I'd do all the stitching on Sunday.

I spent Saturday evening experiencing the joy of having a cable again (I got to watch Murdoch Mysteries and it made me so happy) and having a friend who lived in the area come around for a cup of tea and a chat.

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early at a reasonable time, enjoyed a cup of tea, then set about setting up the sewing machine. It had white thread and I wanted black. I got the spool loaded with very little fuss then turned my attention to the bobbin.

There was no sliding door for the bobbin compartment.

Out came the instructions and I figured out how to get into the bobbin compartment without a screwdriver.

Then came the hard part. Instead of popping the bobbin into its spot and then looping the thread through until it catches, you removed the bobbin holder, secure the bobbin in it and then replace it in the machine (with the bobbin totally hidden). I couldn't get the holder to stay in the machine. It kept falling out.

I read and reread the picture instructions which must have been drawn by the same guy who does the Ikea instructions. I stared at the instructions to remove the holder. I stared at the instructions to insert the bobbin in the holder. I looked through the entire manual for how to replace the bobbin holder. When that failed, I went back to experimenting. Then back to staring.

I was starting to feel like a bit of a idiot.

When I swore at the machine, I knew it was time to walk about for a cup of tea. I'd try again after I had calmed down. I could stare at the pictures with fresh eyes as it were.

I went to take a picture of the problem. My camera took the picture... except it over-exposed the whole thing and it washed out. I played with camera settings, location, everything. The end result was either almost black or almost white photos. I resent factory settings but that just made it worse. Now the pictures are all white.

After I ranted on facebook and then had a cup of tea, I returned to the machine.

"I never had this many problems with the old machine," I explained to it. "I could have threaded the old machine with my eyes closed."

I looked at the instructions again and saw the tiny (seemingly insignificant) step I had missed. I retried the bobbin holder and, hallelujah, it went in and held in place! I did a happy dance.

I took some scraps of the fabric I was using to play around with the new-to-me machine. No matter how I tried--pushing, pulling, pushing and pulling--the fabric would not feed through the foot evenly. After 10 minutes, I gave up. I had just reached a point where I couldn't be bothered to stare at picture instructions any more.

So my pieces are cut, now I just await the return of my mom who will (as always) have all the answers.