sewing 101

Hello. My name is Jill and I only found out the tension on my sewing machine was disgustingly low last night. I have owned my machine for almost a year.

I own a very rudimentary model – Singer 1507
– since all I wanted was to learn how to sew. And, a year later, I can safely say that sewing is HARD! Math is easy, if you just listen to the teacher and commit the formulas to memory (another thing I learned too late). But sewing… is really, like, hard.

I never even had the option to take home economics in school, even though my tough-as-nails 15-year-old self would never have elected to take it. The wifely arts and Home Ec were phased out in favor of things like “Robotics” and “Computers.” Keep in mind this was early 90s computing, in a NYC public school, so it was something like Oregon Trail on an Apple IIe. And don’t even get me started on Robotics, which consisted of creating a hydrolic arm out of wood and syringes. There was no actual metal or electricity involved, no. But I digress, per usual.

So last night, instead of watching the Golden Globes like everyone else in my office (I heard Jennifer Hudson’s speech was “from the heart,”) I tried to construct the skirt I had cut pieces out for a few days earlier. Half out of necessity, since I can’t afford to go clothes shopping until the spring, and half to finally learn how to work from a pattern. And I want to preface this by saying I do not own a tracing wheel.

I got as far as the back seam, which, yes, was the first instruction. Then it came to basting the zipper on. I used the absolutely brilliant Twelve22.org zipper tutorial to learn how to do it in the first place (I had no idea there was such a thing as a zipper foot!), but this was different as I would soon find out. I was instructed to loosen the tension on the machine. I needed the 1570 manual, eHow.com, and the patterns instruction to tell me that those two dials? On the top of the machine? With the numbers? Those are there for a reason. First I learned which one was stitch length, and then I learned the other was something I now forget. But I set that dial to the longest stitch, and then it was time to adjust the bobbin tension. I had seen the screw before, but I just figured it was all set when I bought it. eHow had a very informative test to determine how loose is your tension. You held the bobbin case up by the thread and see how far down it drops. Well, mine hit the floor. At least I was ready to baste!

I ended up doing a pretty crap job of the zipper, and then I realized I don’t even have any way to eyeball the darts, so I ripped what I had done so far out and plan to start anew this evening. Today it is back to Rag Shop, for a tracing wheel. Thank goodness for a 40% coupon.

I am thinking it might be worth it to take a class, or at least buy one of those "learn with photos" Singer books.