| This page is dedicated to
those of you who have never sewn before. The only thing you know about
sewing is that you have to sit behind a machine. You may have the
desire to learn how to sew and create new things. You might just
love looking at different colors and textures of fabrics, and you can only
dream of making things, and that sewing machine sitting in the box in the
corner might scare you a little bit.
And rightly so, after all, it is a machine. But just remember that
you control the machine, it doesn't control you. And I promise
you...sewing is easy and once you learn, you will be hooked. So let's talk about
your very first step on learning to sew once you have taken the sewing
machine out of the box. Always read
the manual and watch a DVD if they were included with your machine. Don't
get overwhelmed and don't even worry about threading it at this point. The very first
thing you will want to do is to get acquainted with some features on it
and learn to control your fabric and stitch a straight line. This is how I
teach all of my students to start and where we are going to begin!
There are many parts to a machine, but to begin with, I only want you to
concentrate on knowing a couple of them. The following features you need
to know where they are, and what their functions are:
| photo |
The Foot Pedal
- The pedal is on the floor. This pedal is
where your foot controls how slow or fast you sew. Of course you
will want to sew very slow at first. Once you get the hang of
it, then and only then sew at a medium speed. |
| photo |
The Hand Wheel -
The hand wheel is normally on the right hand side of the machine.
This |
| photo |
The Pressure Foot
- This |
| photo |
The Pressure Foot
Handle - This handle lifts up and puts down your pressure foot.
Make sure you lift it and lower it gently. |
Now that you know how to turn it on, how to
make it move, and that you should always put the pressure foot down.
Let's learn to sew!
Take a plain piece of white computer
paper and draw lines down it every 3" apart just like in the photo.
photo
 |
