Dear Princess YellowBelly,
Help, my husband has my sewing machines!
My dear, dear husband is a jack-of-all-trades meets shade-tree-mechanic country charmer, and for 26 years I’ve never had to deal with the plumbing, the car, or even screw in a light bulb.
However, since we’ve both retired and I’ve taken up quilting as my hobby, he’s taken up sewing machine tinkering as his.
I have a high dollar Bernina and a Singer workhorse machine to handle all my different projects, and they both occasionally need tuning up – but he absolutely refuses to take either one in for an expert checkup. And, as the laws of Fate or maybe even Murphy would have it, they always break down at the exact same time.
Sometimes my machines are on his workbench for months (we’re talking four or five at a time) while I twiddle my thumbs, feeling like an addict gone cold turkey.
I don’t want to waste money because he does eventually fix them, or hurt his feelings, because he’s doing it out of love, but I swear I’m about to start having withdrawal seizures.
What would you do?
Sincerely,
Sewing Machine Withdrawal
Dear Withdrawal,
Wow! 4-5 months without your sewing machine. If I see someone crawling up the wall I will assume it’s you, not Spiderman.
That being said – please give your man a kiss from us. Those hard-working, shade-tree mechanic types are few and far between, and they’re worth their weight in gold. I should know – I’ve got one of my own.
My darling Prince BlueShoe isn’t such a creative guy, but he takes good care of all of us here, and most importantly – he makes sure that we get what we need to continue being creative. And yes, I’ve seen the guts of my sewing machines spilled out all over his table more than once.
The Truth About Sewing Machine Trouble
We are all quite sure that there will be no sewing machine engineers – at least not any from the last century – in heaven.
Sewing machines, sadly, have a limited life, and they are created with components that break down over time.
This is especially true of the really fancy and expensive quilting machines from companies like Bernina and Janome. (They make great machines, don’t get me wrong, but maintenance is a nightmare!)
Here’s some tips to help you out with your problem:
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Professional grade sewing machines aren’t supposed to be privately maintained
This standard is pretty regular. Bernina and Janome both have their own certified technical repairmen for maintenance.
You can take this advice with about a tablespoon of salt, however.
Prince BlueShoe hates taking my Bernina in because it is very expensive, and he’s been doing it so long that he actually does a better job than the repairman – he’s just very, very slow at it.
This is a balance of love and necessity.
Your guy is probably right, constant professional repair is a rip off. And once you’ve let him dig into your machine once, odds are you’ll never get him to quit.
Besides, who are we kidding? Is our sewing ever going to trump loving our men?
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Allow your guy to regularly maintain your machines
This is something I struggle with. I love to sew, not wait to sew.
But I’ve found that if I can conquer myself enough and allow Prince BlueShoe to do some basic maintenance after every two or three projects (on one machine at a time) I still get to sew on the other machine, and the sewing machine is back in service a lot faster.
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Do non-sewing stuff in the meantime
Your machines will always have the occasional sick day. And there’s no reason for you to stop your projects cold turkey.
There’s a whole bunch of things you can do that won’t require a sewing machine.
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You can clean your workspace
This will probably only take a day or two, but it’s always helpful to get your notions, fabric, thread, and other paraphernalia cleaned up whenever the machines are on the blink.
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Prepare your next project
While your machine is on the workbench you can always do other sewing stuff. Picking out fabric for a new project, ironing, cutting, or hand sewing.
For those of us who do big quilts without a long-arm machine, for instance, sewing machine woes might be a good time to finish a big quilt that was quilted in sections and needs to be stitch by hand to finish the backing.
Or you can cut out applique shapes for another projects.
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Have a “I’m putting my foot down” deadline
Your guy is wonderful, as is mine. But they will take every inch and multiply it with hours.
Eventually – particularly if he’s messed up one of the computerized components – you may just have to say:
“You’ve had five months, and I want my machine back next week!”
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Make your own patterns
Sewing machine trouble time might be a really good time to look over what you’ve accomplished, what you would like to do, and learn how to make a project from scratch.
At the very least it’s a creative challenge – which is what your sewer’s mind is truly missing while your machines are fritzing out.
You’re not alone! Sewing machine trouble gets to us all sooner or later. I’ve seen my sewing machines’ guts spilled out across Prince BlueShoe’s worktable more times than I care to admit.
Don’t believe me? Here’s photographic evidence…
Something’s wrong with the tension. Off comes the cover, out comes the screwdriver, a couple of months down!
The needle won’t go down – off comes the cover, out come the little wooden shims and magnifying glass. Lovely man – give me my machines back NOW!
Ahh! The agony. My poor, poor needle driver is completely dismantled. No sewing for a little while.
This has something to do with something known as “timing.” For those of you who own a professional grade machine and have a shade-tree mechanic working on it, you will learn about timing – and all the horrible circles of “H-E-double-toothpicks” reserved for the person who linked the timing to (I honestly stopped listening at this point, but it was very complicated).
Icky – more guts.
Hmm… That one was almost pretty. Oh, I forgot – I have no sewing machine!
Almost there! Oops, famous last words. Another month and I still don’t have a machine.
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Read Princess YellowBelly!
You can always come and catch up with the great content on our website.
Finally: you’re not alone!
Everyone has slack periods, busy periods, dead periods, and purely frustrating periods in both life and creativity.
You’re not alone in it – and there’s always something else to be creative about.
With a hug for you and your man from your magically creative friends, and best wishes on getting your sewing machines, trouble free, soon!
Cordially & Sincerely Yours,
Her Serene Highness
Princess YellowBelly