Saturday 9 June 2018

Oops I forgot the maintenance

Today I had the house to myself, well except for Scamp and Picasso.  I rushed round to get the chores done, feed the washing machine, sweep and clean the kitchen floor and clean the bathroom so that I was free to do some sewing. My plan for the first part of the day was to finish my dress that I started last weekend so that once that I was done I could make some blocks towards my OMG. The first task on the dress was to overlock the seams to give a good finish. I do own an overlocker but it's a bit of a pain to get it out and even more of a pain to make it behave and produce beautifully finished seams so I decided I'd use the overlock stitch on my sewing machine. I was more than half way down the first seam when the machine started making the most awful noise so I decided to nurse it along to the end  before investigating. The noise seemed to be coming from the bobbin so I started there and discovered the compartment had a lot of fluff in it. That's when I remembered that I hadn't cleaned the machine after finishing quilting the compass quilt. I couldn't get all the fluff from the top of the bobbin compartment so I tipped the machine over and took the screws out of the bottom. Well I was horrified at how much fluff I discovered. It was at this point that I tried to think when I last cleaned it and just couldn't remember. My poor machine was being choked to death with this mountain of fluff.



I gave the poor love a thorough clean and having done that booked her in for a stay at the spa next month. I'm not sure what happened as I usually give her a good clean before I start a new project but obviously that hasn't happened recently. When I'd finished, I re- threaded  and had a test run. She stitched beautifully with no whining and we have spent a great day sewing.

The dress is all finished but since there was no one around I couldn't take a photo. I'll do that when I wear it. Having finished the dress I decided to start on the blocks for my June goal. In the end I only got one made as Katy phoned for a chat and after that I decided I needed a cup of tea and some time catching up on my blog reading. Anyway here's the block I made.


I have the fabrics organised for the next block but didn't get as far as cutting the pieces. Instead I found myself cutting strips of fabric to make a trip around the world block. I was about to piece it together when John arrived home. John needed some bits from the shops so I went with him and when we got home I packed my sewing away for the day as I was feeling tired. Never mind only another 5 blocks to go to complete my goal.

Tomorrow I'm taking Rainbows (5 to & year old guides) to a circus skills day with Lucy so there won't be much opportunity for sewing. I might take some hand sewing with me as there's a show in the afternoon so the girls will be fully occupied watching it and I can add some stitches to Earlene.

I'm off to bed in a few minutes as I've stayed up later than I meant to. I've been reading this evening and I really got into the story.

Lyndsey

2 comments:

  1. I’ve done that with my sewing machine before and found the level of dust appalling. I’m surprised the thing still worked with all the fluff stuffed inside. Your quilt block is very pretty. I love pinwheels of all kinds.

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  2. Its amazing how much dust collects in the bobbin area, must check out my machine now.

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