So today I sat down at my industrial to sew a couple of hems. Yes, overkill but I like to exercise my machines a little sometimes. 😉 Immediately after sitting down, I noticed tension and stitch length problems.
Strangely, this photo doesn’t really show that there are 2 hems here. Stitch lines 2 and 4 are the problem hems. The bottom one is the most obvious, you can see loops and the stitch length kept changing. Continue reading PSA: Sometimes it’s not what it seems with your seams
A personal diary/ accountability type of post today folks.
Please note: there are a lot of links in this post but none are affiliate links. They are all informational and to support what I’m saying in the post
For years, I’ve dealt with food allergies and gaining or having difficulty losing weight. It never got out of hand but I could feel how the extra weight made sports harder and I was a lot more tired than I should be after relatively little exercise. And getting the energy up TO exercise? Yeah, that becomes a vicious circle. Add to this a couple of compressed disks in my back and it’s a recipe for a sedentary lifestyle.
Lately even lifting a vintage sewing machine has become cumbersome. Continue reading Learning how to fly with a broken wing – Taking care of myself after the damage is done
A short note tonight everyone! About a month ago, I posted some new videos to YouTube and forgot to tell you all! 🙂
These three videos are on the slant machines but the bobbin maintenance one is applicable for pretty much any of the horizontal bobbin machines. Heck, I’ve used the process on my embroidery machine. 😉
First: I’ve had a few people say that the Slant upper tensioner is a little different to rebuild than the black machines. Continue reading The show must go on! Videos for you while I’m writing posts.
Last week, support for the operating system on the computer that brings you ArchaicArcane.com was discontinued. This is not unlike when Microsoft said no more XP.
What this means for AA is that I need to do some behind the curtain maintenance before I can do the on-stage updates. I’m working on many things at once and you’ll start to see some posts hopefully this month.
The server and a quilt I was working on last month were the top priorities keeping me away from the site. Now though, I have lots to say, I just need to take care of the server first so you can read about it when I tell it! 🙂 Continue reading A little wizardry – overdue maintenance on Archaic Arcane
“The only thing better than a good thing is more of it.”
Happy New Year Everyone! As we go into 2015, I haven’t exactly made any resolutions but I have decided that I’m going to finish some projects that I’ve been working on and start the ones I’ve been thinking of. What this means is that I’m planning on taking on only a couple of very focused projects this year which is a huge departure from previous years because last year left me pretty burned out.
I’m still going to be making posts – it’s one of the main things on my list of things both started and in contemplation. I would really like to see the 34 drafts finished and out to you all to read.
In the effort to get an early start on the projects, I started 5 projects at once in the past week. LOL! Typical for me, overkill, right?
It’s OK – these projects are easy to stagger and it’s actually not as overwhelming as it sounds. 🙂 Continue reading More of it – Happy New Year!
One of the things that a lot of new Long Arm Quilters hear / learn is: Don’t rip it! Or “Leave it over night and look at it again in the morning. If it still offends you, then rip it.”
I’m going to be a little controversial here.
I have to say there have been a few projects on my frame in the last little bit that have not inspired me. I can’t really say why. Maybe it’s just the stress in my every day life seeping in or maybe it’s just a lack of practice lately. Sometimes I’ll quilt something that makes me think I forgot I was quilting for a few minutes.
You know what I do then? Continue reading Not inspired by it? Rip it.
It’s OK, read to the end. 🙂
I apologize for the huge absence. I’m still working on posts slowly but I thought I’d update the blog on why I’ve been away. (I have been posting a little on the facebook page if you’re a FB’er.)
I won’t be sad to see 2014 go. It started out great. A great trip to Willam’s Lake to teach. Certification as a Brother technician for Sparrow Studioz.
The summer though….
The summer in particular was beyond “character building” for both Ryan and I. Continue reading Message to myself
Just a quick note tonight folks! Really.
One the the biggest problems I find that people have with “newer” sewing machines is a terminology problem.
“Automatic”
In the car world, an automatic transmission shifts for you. It automatically does what you would have to do manually otherwise.
Automatic as far as your tensioner is concerned is Continue reading Automatic Tension isn’t.
In the last post, we talked about ways that thread nests can be solved from a user point of view. Today, I’m getting into the slightly more technical ways that the nests happen and how to deal with them, or when to take it in for service.
Continue reading Out of the nest – Ditching the Thread nests part 2
One of the most common issues that people bring machines to me for is tension.
The thing about it is that – in most cases – the tension issues are really not something that I need to address as a technician . Don’t get me wrong, there are some legitimate issues – mis-assembled tensioners or severely clogged up tensioners – to name a couple. Continue reading Fly little nestling – Ditching the Thread nests part 1
