A Day in My Sewing Room

I had to work yesterday at the LYS. All day I thought about my Baby Lock. Last night and this morning I spent some time in my sewing room, going through my patterns, doing some minor rearranging and dusting. I removed my old DSL modem and my Netgear WiFi router along with all the network and power cables. My rat's nest under my table is gone. So is the dust.

This afternoon, I finally got the chance to sit and "play" with my new CS. I rethreaded the machine and attempted to practice more triple cover stitching. Well, as you can see in the picture, I had some issues with tension which resulted in a lot of test samples scattered around the machine. The topside of the test fabric stitched fine. The underside was where I was having problems. After a few tries, I decided that part of my problem was how I threaded the machine. So, I started over making sure the threads were going between the tension discs and then into the appropriate thread guide above the needles. I sewed a few more test samples and it was looking much better. I ended up tweaking the tensions a bit so that less needle threads were showing on the underside. I also noticed that the cover stitch tail that's left on the machine is stitched out versus showing single strands of thread. That's how I know the machine is fine and threaded correctly. I'm also getting the hang of listening to how the machine sews. :)

The only area of my sewing room that's organized & picture worthy. My two Baby Locks side by side. I'm calling this table, my finishing area. My neglected Platinum SM is now sitting in the back


Here are the accessories that came with the machine:
Package one: Organ ELx705 needle pack, extra needle clamp screws, tweezer, allen screwdriver, needle threader, accessory adapter, guide fixing screws for table, and lint brush/needle insert tool


Package two: thread nets, mounting bolt/screw, screw driver, vinyl cover, looper threading wire, cone holders, sponge disks, and spool caps

I love this CS machine. It stitches beautifully. It's a solid machine. Just like my serger.

Next up is to practice the wide and narrow cover stitches. Practice removing the needles and more practice rethreading the machine. I'm looking forward to having less test samples, since I know what I'm doing now.

I mentioned that I went through my patterns. I actually reorganized my drawers. I seem to favor Vogue, Butterick, & Kwik Sew patterns along with a few Stretch & Sew and Burda. Those went into the drawers. My McCalls, New Look, and Simplicity patterns are now in bins to be stored elsewhere. In the lower right hand corner, you'll see a red tin basket containing patterns that I'm thinking about sewing.

A few of my patterns. Not shown are my many Kwik Sew patterns, Jalie, Stretch & Sew, Burda, and Lazy Girl patterns

Last count, I had over 490 patterns I've accumulated over the last 4 years. How do I know I have that many? I've kept a record of all my patterns over the years in MS Excel.