Tag Archives: Sewing Machines

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

Highway Star – Full speed from a Singer button controller

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Back in April and May of 2012, I wrote the two posts that would become the most popular posts on this site.   These are the posts on how to adjust the Singer button controllers.  I’ve yet to find another brand’s pedals with so much adjustment which is why I advocate keeping them.

Today, I’m going to add a little tidbit of information.   Previously, we took care of a pedal that had been badly adjusted and was creating too much heat or was maybe not as responsive as you wanted – or a little too responsive and likely making noise.

What I didn’t cover at the time was how to adjust the pedal to get full speed. Continue reading Highway Star – Full speed from a Singer button controller →

Sewing Machines, Site News

Scope and Archaic Arcane

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When I started posting about sewing machines, the intention was to cover what I was doing along with some of the maintenance we should all be doing and some of the basic repairs that nearly everyone could do.

Eventually, I started to get requests for certain posts and videos which is extremely flattering.  It told me that people were enjoying – and learning from – what I was doing.  Some of the requests have been excellent suggestions and often form the basis of the posts you’ve seen on this site. Continue reading Scope and Archaic Arcane →

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

A search for things that you can’t see – Singer motor lube replacement

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A “controversial” post today folks.

Motor Lube for Singer motors.

This one causes a lot of sometimes heated discussion on forums.  Many people have done tests and lots of opinions have been stated.  Today, I’m going to state my opinion, back it up with my reasoning and testing and then you can decide what you want to do with your own machines.

A couple years back, I mentioned that I could still get Singer Lube that was still suitable for use in Singer motors.  In February of this year, that changed.  I spent some time posting about it on Facebook.

Because I still get requests for Singer Lube, I thought I’d discuss what happened to make the Singer Lube no longer suitable for motors and what I recommend to replace it. Continue reading A search for things that you can’t see – Singer motor lube replacement →

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

Motorin’ – Electric motor theory

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Electric Motor theory – why and how we lubricate

There have been a lot of discussions about sewing machine motor lubricants over the years and I thought I’d take a step further back and discuss why we do this, how we do this and why some of the information “out there” is sort of F.U.D. (<- Wikipedia Link)

First off:  Why do we lube or oil a motor?  (I’m a why person, have you noticed this yet?? I’m quite sure I drive some people nuts with my “whys?”… )

Continue reading Motorin’ – Electric motor theory →

Bikes, Home, Life, Sewing Machines

Finish what you started – cars and sewing machines

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It seems like summer always brings lots of household projects. This year, it’s a leaking woodstove flashing (fixed – and the painting of the ceiling to go with it – not fixed), window frames needing to be painted (again – pending) and then the vehicles landed on my radar. They haven’t seen a good detailing in well,.. ever in the case of the truck and the car probably hasn’t seen a comprehensive detailing since 2008.

Yeah, I’m not proud of that. When the August long weekend hit, we started cleaning and cleaning and… uh oh. Rust. We went from prepping and painting a few spots to some fairly major repair and painting.  This is what we (former) business analysts call “scope creep”.

Great.  Spraying base and clear.  I’ve done this before.  Last time (2007), it was a 1999 CBR 600.  I’ll post that “throwback” post one day soon.  Yeah, I haven’t sprayed automotive paint in 9 years – I did do some major bodywork on a truck since then but I rolled that paint instead of doing it with a paint gun.

Speaking of rusty things – I am as well and my body sure has a lot more to say about it this time around.

I also swore that time that I’d never spray clear again.  Awesome. 😉

Since I’m going to be shooting clear anyway, I thought I’d try to do the touch-ups, and wet sand the sags in the paint on the “Wee One” and give her a final coat of clear too. If it doesn’t work – well, she was going to be repainted anyway.

Continue reading Finish what you started – cars and sewing machines →

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

Quick Note: Why I don’t recommend…

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simply re-threading your machine when you have problems with it.

A quick note today folks! I’m inside waiting for the anti-inflammatories to kick in before I go back outside to do some bodywork on the truck so I thought I’d jot down a little note for you.

The traditional advice when you start to have tension problems with a machine seems to be “Re-thread it.  Everything, the bobbin case and the top”.

Most of the time that usually means that people yank the thread out from the back – or some will cut it and remove from the front – then they re-thread and…. it doesn’t fix it.  Sometimes it will but often it doesn’t.

Why? Continue reading Quick Note: Why I don’t recommend… →

Patterns, Sewing Machines

Did she call me a bag lady?

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For years I’ve told people not to trust the handles, joints or latches on vintage sewing machine cases.  The glue is old and brittle.  The nails and fasteners may be weak or loose.  Often the case has been compromised by moisture.  The damage to person and property can be significant.  A case and machine landing on the floor or table WILL do damage.  A case and machine landing on YOU is likely to result in an emergency room visit and possibly a plaster accessory for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

This holds true of a featherweight as well.  It’s easy to think “eh, it’s 11lbs.”  True, the machine is 11lbs – plus the weight of the accessories, the pedal and the case.  Typically, this tops 20lbs.  Continue reading Did she call me a bag lady? →

Longarm Quilting, Quilting, Sewing Machines

Bring me some water – the importance of humidity in a quilting studio

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Note:  I talk mainly about long arm quilting in this post and how humidity affects it because it’s so much more quickly noticed with the speed of the machines but this post is relevant to anyone with a crafting space that uses thread and other fibers that can change for the worse with humidity changes.

Living on the prairies in Central Alberta, we seem to get a lot of weather extremes.  Normally, this doesn’t affect the inside of the house or my studio much – thankfully now that the roof thing has been taken care of! – but there’s one particular situation that I do have to manage – humidity.  With plummeting temperatures and the liberal use of a forced air furnace, the air becomes extremely dry down here.   I ignored it for the first winter that I had Lucey – not really recognizing it as a problem.

Last year – around this time – I started having major problems with thread breakage on Lucey.  No amount of pleading or bargaining or whining helped.  Continue reading Bring me some water – the importance of humidity in a quilting studio →

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

PSA: Sometimes it’s not what it seems with your seams

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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 →

Life, Quilting, Sewing Machines

More of it – Happy New Year!

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“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! →