I picked up my sewing machine from the repair shop yesterday. It's been serviced and has a new foot control. I'm looking forward to testing it out. Nick, who I've mentioned is crazy keen about old sewing machines, was his usual enthusiastic self. I took the opportunity to ask him about a clever presser foot I'd seen one of my students using. She called it a "ditch foot" but that didn't ring any bells. Rather than just a straight "no" though, the conversation continued. I grabbed a pen and paper to sketch out how I thought the thing worked. Then Nick grabbed several drawers full of presser feet and started rattling through them, picking up one foot after the other until he came up with this:
It's a blind hem foot--as it turns out, I had one a lot like it in my work box which I'd never used. The relevant detail is the little vertical ridge which you can just see in the lower right of the pic. That works as a guide to keep the stitch line straight against a fold of fabric. In my case, I'm hoping it will keep the stitch line along the ditch where the seam allowances are folded away. I'll have to try it out. My blind hem foot had an extra little horizontal piece which, though fine for blind hemming, would probably get in the way of my quilting, so we swapped. Since I wasn't using mine anyway, I'll either be in the same boat as before and keep looking for the elusive "ditch foot", or my problem will be solved and I'll have a new tool to help me with my quilting. I guess that means I'm going to have to do some quilting today.
On the strength of that reassurance I was willing to part with my usual sewing machine and see what the mechanic could do for me. That was also good news. They had just cleared a backlog of work and could look at my machine as soon as I could get it to them. So yesterday turned out to be an out and about day. I took the Elna to Footscray to the sewing machine shop; had a coffee and read the paper while waiting for them to do their thing and learned a bit more about my machine along the way. There was a bit of stuff caught in the bobbin case which was neutralising the bobbin tension--hence my inability to properly balance the top tension--ah ha! Also the bobbin case needed some maintenance. While it was there the whole machine got a good clean, lubrication and tweaking. I'm looking forward to stitching with it.
It's not working too well. The problem is that when I put my foot down, not a lot happens, until it suddenly goes flat out. It's been like that for quite a while, gradually getting worse. It's the sort of problem I can adjust for in a way, but not a lot of fun. I'm afraid there are a few of those in my life and I find it hard to get a perspective on them.
Due to a series of circumstances, the machines hadn't made an appearance last week, but this week they were in full swing.
