Originally Posted by
klswift
Whenever I sell a machine I tell the person that they need to take a day, a bit of fabric, a large pot of coffee and just play with the machine. Just like when you get a new car and take it out for a drive - do that, learn the buttons and dials, see what it can do. Even play with the stitches and using a sharpie, mark down what stitch, length and width next to the stitch line and keep it in the drawer as a cheat sheet. Folks are so anxious to jump into making a project, they do not realize how much they will benefit from learning their tool first. AND IT'S FUN!!!
Such good advice! I've been leading some "learn to sew" classes at our local library, and some of the people bring in their own machines. When they look at a special foot or need to know how to adjust something, they can't believe it's in the owners manual - when I get them to look it up, they're amazed at what's in the manual....