How to thread a sewing machine

In order to be able to sew using your sewing machine you must run the thread through the machine. We learned on my previous post that the bobbin provides the thread for the bottom stitch. The spool of thread provides the thread needed for the top stitch.

These are the steps I personally follow when setting my machine ready to sew.

Once we have wound our bobbin, place it into the bobbin case. If you do not know how to wind the bobbin go to my tutorial  here.

bobbin inside the bobbin case and ready 
to be inserted into the shuttle assembly
This is where we left off on my previous tutorial.

Let's begin by setting the bobbin into place, just to get it out of your way.

Insert the bobbin case with the bobbin inside it 

into the shuttle assembly.

Make sure the hole in the bobbin and bobbin case 

go rightinto the shaft on the shuttle assembly.

Also, make sure the handle aligns with the groove.

Press until you hear it click.

You are done with this part!

Once you have completed the bobbin part, let's move on to threading the top thread.

Place the spool of thread on the spool holder and secure it with the attachment.

1. First, run the thread through the top thread guide.

2. Then run the thread through the tension disc.

Pull the thread through the thinner groove to the right in 

the direction indicated by the arrows.

Pull the thread around the round thing at the bottom.

Pull the thread up through the larger groove on the left,

 again following the arrows.

Loop the thread up and around the metal bar 

at the top of the larger groove.

Pull the thread down and feed it through the bottom thread guide, as shown above.

Thread the needle from the front.

Pass the thread below the presser foot, 

pulling about 4 inches of thread through. 

You are all done with the top thread!

Now pull the bottom thread from the bobbin to the needle plate.

While pulling on the top thread with your left hand, with your right hand turn the wheel clockwise to move the needle all the way down. Keep turning the wheel and bring the needle back up. When the needle moves up again, it brings the bottom 

thread with it.

See how the two threads are intertwined

Pull the threads so they are both on the needle plate. Leave at least 4 inches of thread free.

DONE! You are ready to sew!

How to change a sewing machine presser foot

Every machine and presser foot is different, but there are some main things to know on how to install a presser foot and how to change a snap on foot. This is how I do it.

Switching a Snap-on presser feet

snap-on presser feet

low shank snap-on presser foot ready to be installed

slide it in between the screw and the presser bar

Tighten the screw, and you are done!

pull on the foot release handle to release the snap-on presserfoot

slide in the new snap-on presser foot

pull on the handle as you snap it in
you are done!

Switching a presser foot by unscrewing

Walking foot

My first time using a walking foot, I could not figure out why it wasn't properly feeding all those layers of fabric through. I realized I did not put this little handle in the right position. I hope this helps you to avoid making the same mistake as me.

walking foot with handle

handle must go over the needle clamp screw
(bar) as shown

press the slant part and tighten the screw

I hope you learned with me today. These are the two kinds of presser feet I own. One where you must change the whole piece and this usually has a handle that must be placed over the needle bar. The other one is just changing the snap on part.

How to make ruffles, gathers & pleats

These are the ways I've learned to do this.

Using a ruffler presser foot

make sure they fit in their positions properly

 

installed ruffler

This sewing machine attachment is not expensive and very easy to use. I bought this generic low shank ruffler at Joann's fabric store for about $10 with a 40% coupon. At the time, I was interested in making a ruffled apron, but couldn't figure out how to make them without this attachment. I enjoyed very much experimenting with it. 

You can see at the top it has a star and three different numbers. These are the three settings this ruffler has.
Set it at the star if you wish to sew in a straight line without having to change the presser foot. The 12, 6, 1 refers to how many ruffles per stitch. So, if positioned at 12 this means every 12 stitches it will create a ruffle, thus making ruffles 12 stitches apart. We have 6 stitches apart and 1 for every stitch. to select simply lift the plate and position the marker on whichever number you'd like.

Slide your piece of fabric following the arrow I drew.  The order should be, over, under, over and straight through. You might need to use tweezers or some pointy object to slide it in all the way through.

Now that you have mastered how to set your project through the ruffler, make sure you have the number of stitches per ruffles set and you may start sewing!

There are two ways you could do this. 

One, start by feeding the piece of fabric you want to sew your ruffles to at the bottom and independent from the ruffler. Then set the fabric that will become the ruflfes like shown on the picture below.

Now you may begin your sewing!

You can see here how the black plate is pushing the fabric in.

Now You can see how the ruffles look with the different setting. 

The above were done sewing the ruffles to the fabric at the same time. Now, let see how to do it separately.

First you sew your one strip of fabric into a ruffle of your desired length.

Then you pin it in place to the other fabric. and sew with 1/4" seam.

You are done! Your finished product should look like this.

So this is how I made my apron. I found this second method more useful for me, as I've mention I am still learning and once you figure a thing out a certain way you can break apart from the habits. It is hard for me to determine how much fabric I will need for each level. So, I sew a strip and then cut it to fit my need.

If you do not have access to a ruffler there are other easy and fun ways to make them.

Make pleats as you go 

I used an 8" square and a 4" by 22 " long piece of scrap for demonstration purposes.

Fold the strap into three sections and press with an iron. I fold it all the way until they overlap at least a 1/4". 

Start sewing and manually feed the ruffles. You can stop the footer presser, lift it, arrange the ruffle, and then stitch over it and repeat. This takes patience, but it is so fun and rewarding!

This is what I ended up with. I like to use a longer strap than needed for the ruffles, this way I am not limited on the amount of fabric I can feed through.

Trim the excess fabric off using either with a rotary cutter or with scissors. 

All done!

Another option is to sew along the sides, forming pleats.

Pulling thread to gather

Sew a line across the length of the fabric you wish to gather together with the longest setting your machine has. I used a 4. 

Leave a long thread and pull the bottom one with one hand and gather the fabric through with the other.

Gather the fabric until you get the ruffles you want or the size you need.

All done!