bits and bobbins

sewing machine blues

skinny jean pant clips tutorial 4

please tell me i am not the only one who gets really, REALLY sad when his/her sewing machine is broken!?

*sigh*

March 20 2008 | Posted in creative dabblings., it's personal.

Comments

27 total remarks on this post.

  1. March 20 2008 at 1:18 pm

    Becky

    That totally bums me out! The other night, I thought my machine was broken and almost burst into tears.


  2. March 20 2008 at 2:02 pm

    emily august

    AGAIN??? You have to be kidding!

    I do. I get very upset and yell things, and then go off and pout!


  3. March 20 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Maven

    My mom told me that when her previous, beloved machine finally gave up the ghost, she wept in the repair shop because she loved the machine so much. When she went to that same place to get a tune up for the machine she bought me last year, she told the repairman, “you probably don’t remember, but I once cried about my sewing machine in this very room.”


  4. March 20 2008 at 2:04 pm

    tricia

    emily: yes, AGAIN. i’m about to lose my friggin’ mind.


  5. March 20 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Darla

    my sewing machine has never been the same since it broke the first time. now the needle keeps hitting the plate. my mom took it for me to her sewing machine guy – but he hasn’t had a chance to look at it. i have hers…. which i hate. i’m so used to mine…..


  6. March 20 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Chloe Nightingale

    I get sad if my serger stops working, but I get mad — almost mental — when I have problems with my current sewing machine. I miss the sewing machines I had in the US. I haven’t had much luck finding ones from the 60s-70s (my favourite era for sewing machines) here. The one I have now is a recently made Toyota. I have to clean out the bobbin case, change the needle, and re-thread ALL THE TIME and it still has fatal jams and problems, even when I am only hemming jeans.
    I bought an old Husqvarna Viking for super cheap on ebay, but it doesn’t pull the cloth through the feed dogs, so I have to take it in and see if I can get it fixed. (This involves my husband helping me carry it on the bus and train, which is why I haven’t brought it in anywhere yet.) If I can get it fixed up, I know it will be a million times more reliable than the Toyota.
    /end rant (sorry!)


  7. March 20 2008 at 4:29 pm

    pamela

    Heh! That’s why I have two. One is a Bernina like the lovely model in the picture, and the other is a simple mechanical featherweight, which is a lot less persnickety than the electronic one.


  8. March 20 2008 at 4:35 pm

    pamela

    That’s why I have two. One is a B_____ rather like the lovely model in the picture, and the other is a simple mechanical featherweight, which is a lot less persnickety than the electronic one.

    I hope your repair won’t be too extensive. I’ve had very few problems with my B______ (other than my own stupidity in employing the knee lift inappropriatley, and breaking the cable. Twice.) but it is possible to have a “lemon” machine. If yours is breaking in the same way over and over, you might want to insist that it be dealt with directly by the manufacturer this time.


  9. March 20 2008 at 4:40 pm

    katherine

    SERIOUSLY! I have two my mom’s old Pfaff, that I acquired from her and had fixed…then my roommate broke the on button…It’s gone! and I dropped the one my grandmother gave me! My workhorse…my Singer. And fabric and alterations have been piling up…oh it just depresses me to type.

    I’m glad I’m not the only one, because my boyfriend was teasing me about being sad about them.


  10. March 20 2008 at 5:02 pm

    Marketa

    Reason number 785676347637289 why I have industrial machines. Really the best investment. I recommend buying one of those old black Singers. They last forever and will sew through just about everything. You can usually pick one up pretty cheap, too.


  11. March 20 2008 at 5:37 pm

    Tess

    My sewing machine came on a cross country trip with me, and my husband handled it a bit roughly and the little tiny screws that hold the springs that hold the throat plate broke. I burst into tears, and cursed, and cried some more. Then called every single sewing machine repair place in San Diego county to no avail. After more careful inspection, I realized I could just rest it there as long as I was careful not to bump it to hard. Fortunately when I got back to NC my local place had the screws and my sewing machine was saved.

    And that super sucks that it’s happened twice :( Do they have to send it back to the manufacturer?


  12. March 20 2008 at 8:05 pm

    Christelle

    It’s the WORST. Inspiration always strikes at the time when the machine is broken.


  13. March 21 2008 at 7:19 am

    Laura

    no, you’re not the only one….i’m depressed when it happens. I start trying to fix it myself but then i’m scared i’ll do a bigger damage so i suddenly call the man who sold it to me 4 years ago and ask him if he can fix it for me. He’s usually very kind and is always willing to do it.


  14. March 21 2008 at 8:33 am

    Casey

    nope! I tend to mope around, making things worse by coming up with all kinds of ideas of what I could be sewing, but can’t. :p hope it can get fixed up soon!!


  15. March 21 2008 at 11:31 am

    Deborah

    Oh I would cry.
    My serger quit and I cried a little.
    I’m so glad I have a great sewing machine that never lets me down…even if I do cry a little when it seems broken for even a min.


  16. March 21 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Maddy

    Who DOESN’T get sad when their sewing machine is broken? Sometimes mine gets all wonky with the bobbin… it’s hard to explain. Anyways, I get really frustrated and yell obcenities at her (yes my sewing machine is a girl) when this happens, then I storm off. And then I am sad and I apologize.


  17. March 21 2008 at 4:05 pm

    a.

    yes!
    you’ve got a bernina, right? me too. everyone always told me how un-breakable they were, so when I broke mine, I felt *extra* horrible about it. I had visions of it being irreparable.
    even though I don’t sew every single day the way I commute every day, having a broken sewing machine was almost as upsetting as having car problems.


  18. March 23 2008 at 3:30 am

    Nadine

    I totally understand you. After my first sewing machine broke I was so upset because I sew every single day in my free time.


  19. March 23 2008 at 7:38 am

    Kit

    I remember one night when i was working as a costume maker/assistant on a film in england……was sewing a piece of garment and somehow the machine stopped working and it was Friday the 13th!!!!! What a coincidence??? We managed to get it working on the next day. hahahahaha


  20. March 23 2008 at 4:56 pm

    Dahl

    I can empathise, although I get more frustrated than bummed out! I think my machine needs a service, I only learned how to use it during the summer and it was last used by my granny about a decade ago. The stitching gets ridiculously loose every.single.time I change the bobbin. I have to keep pieces of scrap and calico handy to do running stitches til it tightens itself up again, sometimes immediately and sometimes after half the bobbin is gone! I miss the Berninas I used during the summer when I did a pattern-drafting course.


  21. March 25 2008 at 12:21 am

    LC

    I don’t have my own sewing machine yet (I’m going shopping for it next week!), but already, I can feel the pain of it breaking down on me!

    Hopefully yours will get working soon! :)


  22. March 25 2008 at 3:20 pm

    laura

    of course you are not! that would make everyone sad.


  23. March 26 2008 at 4:51 am

    Tine

    I am so sad when my machine is even showing signs of needing service! I hate to be without it, even when I’m not using it much -these days it’s pretty much just collecting dust :-(


  24. March 26 2008 at 6:03 am

    gorgeoux

    Something to cheer you up. I came about it minutes ago and thought of you: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiepatches/2356495289/


  25. March 26 2008 at 7:30 pm

    meg

    Off to the doctor at once!! LOL


  26. March 26 2008 at 9:17 pm

    jillian

    I’m bummed that i dont have a sewing machine :(


  27. March 29 2008 at 6:30 pm

    tressie

    oh dear ! I can Soooo Feel Your Pain!
    I have the same Singer I bought in 1986, and recently had to replace the foot pedal …..going pretty strong. I’ve taken my machines on vacation with me, and to every house I’ve ever lived in…no matter how long the stay…even when all of my other stuff is in storage…..I am dedicated…..so if it breaks or i gotta get it fixed, I hand sew something anything…If it broke for good I would sell what ever, and I mean my vintage Betsey Johnsons, or my stash of vintage hawaiian,,,,what ever I had to …..to get a new machine because Sewing is Just Alright With Me!