Frustrating Day
 

I attended our monthly sewing get together and took one of the featherweights we are refurbishing to show the "girls". DH had said this one was ready to use ... And let them try it out. I take it out of its box and set it on the table and it wobbled. Sure enough it needed all new feet. Then I sat down to sew. The tension was terrible! I took the bobbin out and the thread just spun out of it. Tried tightening the screws - no luck! We all determined I would need to take out the screws and bend the spring a little more. Take out the screws and promptly drop one on the floor. Carpet of course and you would not believe how little those things are. Friend crawls under the table and finds screw! Find rust and old thread under spring so I start to put it back together. But alas this was not the solution to the problem. So I start taking it apart again. Screw drops out of bobbin case; hits table and flies who knows where. Another friend speaks up and says I've heard when working with small screws its good to work inside a plastic bag. Then if you drop the screw it's in the bag. Now she tells me!!! Another friend who has absolutely everything imaginable in her travel sewing bag whips out a tiny telescoping magnet. After 20 minutes of sweeping the carpet with it I come up with the screw. I give a little more bend to the spring, borrow a Baggie from another friend and finally get the bobbin case together. Now it is simply a case of adjusting the bobbin case screws and the top tension, which took another 20 min or so. I didn't get much sewing done but I did get reminded what a great bunch of women these are. And I will NEVER leave home to sew without a Baggie and a little telescoping magnetic wand.

Wow! I'm amazed you were able to fix it! Some days are like tat.

Too bad your husband wasn't in your friend's travel sewing bag. Maybe he could have explained the condition of the machine!

Your narrative brightened my day, but I must admit it made me a little nervous also -- on Monday I am taking a FW to quilt guild for a friend to take home and try out. It worked perfectly when I put it in the case yesterday......

I admire your diligence. I have no patience with tools, small appliances, and electronics that do not work. I know I would have thrown the machine in the car and drove it right back home and DH would have a lot of 'splaining' to do.

I'm so impressed that you were able to fix the bobbin case! How fortunate that someone had the magnetic wand. It is wonderful that you found all the lost screws.

That's EXACTLY why I hand piece and hand quilt! Machines tend to instinctly know that I'm not good at fixing things. A machine can work just fine, but when I sit down the machine seems to say to itself "Aha, here is a good one for me!" Then it either jams, runs out of bobbin thread, bunches up under the material or does something else really "wonky". So, I just stick to a needle and thread! Much less frustrating for me!

My friend has a Bernina that absolutely hates me. I cannot sew on it without a serious problem. Then she will sit down and it will run perfectly. Hmmmmm.

Maybe you grabbed the wrong one. I love the new machines and they all work great for me. Maybe they know I don't have any patience for fooling with them.

Oh my goodness- for a minute I thought you were me. A similar thing happened to me a month or so ago. I had taken my FW to our quilting retreat and sewed all weekend with no issues whatsoever. When I got home I oiled it. Next quilting group, I sewed 1 seam. After that problems. The needle wouldn't go down - finally took the bottom off and there was fabric caught in the gears. Removed that and then couldn't get a good stitch. One of my friends asked if I had cleaned the feed dogs. No, so I took off the throat plate and cleaned. Then I couldn't get the boobin case in. I ended being so frustrated that I put it away and cut strips for our project quilts. Went to a Fw clinic and the man was talking about servicing these great little machines. He got to the part about the throat plate and the bobbin hook and I knew what had happened. I left him my machine to clean and check. He did an awesome job and it runs like a dream! I learned alot- about patience and about my FW. Also my friends were highly entertained! LOL. Sometimes it is just best to put things away and work on something else.

So does anyone know where to buy needle plate screws?? I lost one of mine (for Janome 6500), and despite looking everywhere -- several times -- I have not found it. Now when I sew, the needle plate rattles. Nervewracking!

Jory