We woke this morning to the ground covered with beautiful snow…
I was so sure that when I set up my Bernina I would be sewing within a few hours. Ha! Was I fooled! Here it is a week later and I am still figuring out how to set up my machine properly. I needed to go over the basics of this new machine… never realizing it was like trying to fly a plane when you have only driven a horse and buggy. Plus, it’s been a few years since I ran a sewing machine of any kind.
Well, I wanted to be very careful with this new machine because after all, it is a high-end sewing machine with its own set of unique rules. So I went to YouTube. First I needed to set up the accessories box. You would think that would be an easy task. Maybe if my vision was not limited it would be easier, but I watched that YouTube video over and over to figure out how to put in different shelves for presser feet. Then I needed to discover how to release the screw driver needed for releasing the needle on the machine. And that was just the accessories box.
Next I knew I needed to know how to clean this machine. Because sewing machines in general need to be cleaned regularly and this machine needs to be cleaned after you use each bobbin or at least every two bobbins. Knowing I planned to do a lot of sewing I wanted to make sure I had the cleaning aspect of my machine under control.
First I needed to fill a bobbin. That’s pretty basic on all machines but I did watch a video just to make sure I was doing it correctly. I was and the bobbin was filled in rapid time. Whew! One step down, a bunch to go…
Then I needed to know how to oil my machine. This is where it got very interesting. I watched the video. I needed to remove the needle and the presser foot first. Well, I had the special screwdriver for the needle so that was completed lickety-split, but the presser foot? That is a different story.
I watched a video on how to remove a presser foot. There was a lever I was supposed to lift… a simple lever… Try as I might, I could not find that lever. Not because the lever wasn’t there, but because of my limited vision. So I went around to the back of the machine and I found the lever. Excited, I returned to the front of the machine, but feeling right… feeling left… I could not find the lever. I went to the back of the machine again… studied its position carefully… positive I knew where its position was this time I returned to the front of the machine. I looked… I bent… I felt… no lever… At this point I was feeling somewhat helpless. I knew the lever was there, but I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find it from the front of the machine. Determined to not let this lever beat me, I went to the back and studied the position of that lever one more time. Then, I leaned my head from the back of the machine around to the front… leaning over the sewing table… inches from the lever, I learned where the lever was positioned. Going back to the front of the machine, the pressure foot was released…
