So there I am....

**TurboKittie** · 5th July 11, 07:52 PM

my husband trying desperately to teach me to learn how to use the beauty of a sewing machine I'd inherited from my grandmother and has sat, moldering in a corner low this many a long year.

I'm like the guy in Jurassic Park. I barely touch it, and stuff happens. Bad stuff. Stuff that's not supposed to happen.

Maybe I'll hem this kilt.

Maybe I'll just make him do it.

**madmacs** · 5th July 11, 08:06 PM

Last time I used a sewing machine was about 30 years ago in highschool... I had to fight it every step of the way... Was making a shirt which might have been over ambitious, but gotta think big...

Having just done hand sewing for the first time in about the same length of time, I can honestly say that I think it's easier than a machine...

**TurboKittie** · 5th July 11, 08:15 PM

Apparently I did okay....right up until about the first pleat. I think I'm trying to flatten it out, but somehow he tells me I was pushing. (I didn't mean too, I swearz)

I didn't even know I had goofed until I thought I was near the end....then I had issues. And they were lumpy issues.

Good thing thread is cheap.

Sigh.

**madmacs** · 5th July 11, 08:34 PM

Lumpy usually means add more milk in my experience... Not sure it will help in your case though...

**sydnie7** · 6th July 11, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by TurboKittie

Apparently I did okay....right up until about the first pleat. I think I'm trying to flatten it out, but somehow he tells me I was pushing. (I didn't mean too, I swearz)

I didn't even know I had goofed until I thought I was near the end....then I had issues. And they were lumpy issues.

Good thing thread is cheap.

Sigh.

Pushing is bad. Pulling ever so slightly can be good, just don't pull so much that your stitches get too long. But if the weight of material involved in a kilt needs some encouragement getting through the machine, pulling is best.

It does get easier with practice. Starting with a kilt as your first project may not be ideal, but have fun with it and invest in a good seam ripper!

**TurboKittie** · 6th July 11, 09:06 AM

I'm only hemming an acrylic kilt as my first project in...hmmm...about 30 years.

After that, maybe I'll make a nice little pillow for the cat.

Then a kilt. ;)