WOW!
I mean WOW!
I wake up
and see this welcome and I am flabbergasted at such a nice and warm welcome. THANK YOU!
Now lets see, this is going to be a long response, so best to break it up into a few hundred pieces……
I think I will start with the personal side and group requests together to save space (Tree’s)
@Renegade Sewist @UttaRetch @Kenora The current boy in the avatar is “Simon Peter” who has a brother “Sunshine” (Called “Sunny” usually) who is a Marmalade tabby. I acquired the fellas last year just before Christmas, only 5 days old. Mom wanted me to have a Kitten for Christmas and these two rescue kittens just happened into the family on December 10. I had the joy of watching them open their eyes, ears, take their first steps, everything a momma cat would have to do to raise the kids. I am rather attached to them it seems. They are very precocious boys, and know how to test me… Sunshine is special though, requiring special attention to approach. He will go from ecstatic to rage in an instant. The vet has dubbed him with Autistic behaviour, and has the injury to prove it. Simon on the other hand is Velcro, so typing this is rather fun, fighting for the keyboard and all of my attention. They come from an abandoned litter at birth, on a concrete loading dock in the freezing weather. When found because of Sunshine’s last few whimpers, Simon had to be revived from frozen, and both carefully warmed. 4 brothers and sisters did not make it.
So that’s my special boys.
I spent the last 10 years living with my mom, taking care of her as she coped with the effects of dementia and the changes this meant for her. I believe she knew inside I would need these boys at this point to keep me company, as this year we had to move mom to assisted living. I will say this has been very hard to accept, even though is is the better choice for her.
@WendyW @riverchica @Sewingsue @b15erk @Greybird @fajita @Ellabella
@Ploshkin @Silver Rose
@Lilian @Ohsewsimple
@hernibs I accept the coffee and cake slices, feeling the warmth surround me from so many participants in this hobby and forum. I have never had such a beautiful welcome at a forum as this one, and I hope I have spelled everyones name properly.
@Sara-S Thank you for the suggestions, I will be taking them to heart. I am watching a video series on you tube for beginners, and learning a lot of little (BIG) things. I have a Viking Husqvarna 120,
and I do have the manual and have read it. I am referring to the manual as I go as well, to get a grip of what is being said, how it works and such.
“Next, some suggestions;1) Here’s a little drill to get used to the feel of the machine. Take a piece of white paper & a ruler. Mark several parallel lines on it. Without any thread in the machine, run the paper under it, trying to go straight along each line. When you’re done, hold the paper up to the light, to see the holes made by the needle. They will show you how accurately you sewed. I did this!! I used brown grocery bag paper and I shall not state how accurate I was… at this point.
2)Get some scrap fabric to experiment with. Open up the manual and go through it, testing the different stitches and presser feet.I am doing this, using dark thread on light scraps and vice a versa, to see how the tensions are working, and having issues yet with the tension aspect. It seems that the adjustment of tension does not do anything, yet I have no complaint to the stitch I am getting, looks like perfect tension. When I change weight of fabric though I will watch carefully to see if there is any issue here.
3) New sewists often forget to put the presser foot down. If you do, you will get a nasty tangle of thread on the underside. Remember to put it down before you sew! “YUP! Did that already! I already broke a needle too!
@HenriettaMaria I have 8 different feet with the machine, 3 of them I learned by research are Bias tape Binding feet of different sizes, a zipper foot, 2 straight feet, and a clear one with a small wheel and rod in it. Right now I am sticking to the standard straight foot, and probably will not change this unless I run into a procedure that would require it.
I will attach pictures of them here (Have to figure out how to subscribe)
I found a project that I should focus on first, and that is a cover for the sewing machine. I will now research the names of and types of fabric that would work best for this project, as I am sure silk would not be a good or durable choice. Old denim possibly.
I ordered a set of bobbins for the machine, since I only have 3 and I have to unload one to another that doesn’t fit the machine so is a pain in the foot right now.
Again thank you everyone for such a wonderful welcome
Tim