well I have a temporary machine right now. But the problem with it is the tension keeps going out on it. It was my moms machine. She hardly uses it because it is always messing up and she just isn't a sewer. She is more of a weird project crafter. It took me 2 hours to get it working. then I sewed a a 12 1/2 square. It was great. Haven't sewn a thing in about a week. I think that I might need to find a quilters anonymous group. hehe. :mrgreen: I am sooooo happy. I know that this is probably bad to say but I can't wait for nap time and bed time tonight so that I can sew again. I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to not mess with my cords and fabric while I try to sew.

Welcome to the wold world of Quilting :lol:

As for the machine what kind is it ? Did you give it a good cleaning ? maybe oil, but if you have the manual read it first to make sure you can/should oil it . Sometimes machines can be cranky and you just have to keep trying things until it works. Try rethreading the machine, rewinding the bobbin, new needle.

But most of all have fun :thumbup:

I haven't sewed in a few days and I feel like the withdrawals are hitting bad, maybe that is why I have been cranky. Maybe it has nothing to do with little man being sick.?
I had a machine that would throw a fit and after I would talk it back into submission it would work for a while.

With that cranky machine, check really well around the bobbin housing and the flywheel, could be that some errant threads have been messing the little beauty up all along. I am fixing up an old featherweight right now for someone else, and there was YARDS of thread in the bobbin area.

wow. I just can't imagine having a ton of thread in the bobbin area. I am always taking that part apart and redoing it for my mom or SIL. I am hoping to have the machine working either till I can get mine fixed or get a new one. I wish there was a magic machine fairy that can wave her magic wand over the machine once every 10 years and make it run better than new for another 10 years. I am thinking about getting my mom a new bobbin metal thingy for her machine because I am getting tired of having to constantly go in and tighten the little bugger.

I haven't sewn either, but have been cutting.

I was sucked into the mechanism of the machine, down into the parts, not just in the bobbin case. A real mess, took me about an hour of REALLY careful unwinding to get it all out. The thread was oil/grease soaked and fragile after all of those years.

Dang!!!! You are one patient lady. After about 20 min I would have been ready to throw it out a ten story window, along with the owner of the machine for not realizing what they were doing. And how this owner was able to sew on it for more than a second is beyond me.

No, my Mom is starting a Featherweight business, going to vend at quilt shows. It is one that she bought to resell. I would rather pick at that stuff than clean off all of the accumulated gunk that covers these old beauties, but I sure do like to see them shine!

Good for you taking on the "fixing" yourself. Over the many years, Ive learned to do a lot of repairs on my own. When I bought my Featherweight in 1958, the old man that sold it to me took the time to show me a lot of things to do to keep it in good shape.