Late Thursday afternoon, I ordered some thread, needles, and oil from Atlanta Thread Supply. Friday morning at 10 A.M., the order was sitting on our porch! Aren’t they amazing? Everytime I’ve ordered from them, they’ve been that fast! After commenting on Westchester Sewing, tho, I felt the need to brag on Atlanta Thread as well! You might want to check them out. There is no minimum (altho, you might want to not order 10.00 at a time), they sell to indivduals as well as businesses, and the prices are very good - especially for the home sewer.

Since Friday, I’ve been messing around with different settings to try and get the machine to sew nice, pretty stitches. It’s been a harrowing ordeal, complete with tears, kicking, screaming, yelling, and a dinner out - compliments of Slobo - who was probably ready to divorce me. Alas, tho, Beauty is now sewing. Probably the best thing I ever did was make my sewing room downstairs, away from little ears! I also believe one of the reasons these machines are so heavy is to prevent them from being easily thrown through a window!

I finally realized the two big problems:

#1 - The bobbin case was up too high. I did not notice it with the smaller thread when I sewed her off on the first test. After lowering - raising again - then lowering it yet again, the bobbin nests finally stopped. The thicker topstitching thread was getting caught between the foot and case - around the little nodule that juts out.

#2 - The thread breakage was caused by the thread controller being set improperly. After tweaking for hours yesterday, I finally found the right combination that would hold the thread in the proper position. I thought at first, the new needles, 135×17 sz. 18’s were ‘cutting’ the thread, but switching out to the original ball point needle in the machine did not alleviate the trouble.

In addition, I discovered she wouldn’t tilt back because of the front lip on the new table cutout. So, I took coping saw in hand and had to cut out where the lip was touching the front legs - making them flush. Now, when I get my oil pan, I can install the peg behind the machine and tilt her back when I need to. Slobo has ordered me the oil pan from ebay and it should be here soon.

Much to my delight, last night, she sewed 8 pairs of pants, thread color changes and all, just fine! It’s amazing how much that thread controller actually controls how that machine will sew! But, Now Ya Know and So Do I!

More sewing will have to be put off for now, tho, because little Stetson Man became ill again list night. The usual culprit: sinus infection with 101 fever and vomiting. Slobo found pup’s prescription for stomach cramping, etc last night and it’s only been 2 1/2 months since the last bout with this mess! Once again, I suspect our outing on Wednesday to Walmart was the culprit. It’s unbelievable how often these guys get this stuff! I’m ready to sew up some hoodies with permanent respirators attached!

Slobo will get to spend his Sunday once again, trying to convince Walmart police to sell him more than two bottles of decongestant. Everytime he tries to buy enough so we don’t have to restock again in 2 days, the clerk calls over the police. He has to show them his ID, swear that it’s for sick little boys, miles away at home, and - IF the cop feels generous - Slobo gets to buy the 3 small bottles of Tylenol cold or Tussin. Apparently, druggies make meth or something out of decongestants and the state now frowns on parent’s purchasing more than two bottles at a time. If the officer is not feeling generous - which happened once - he will have to spend another 20$ in gas to go buy some more in 2 days. And we thought we lived in a free country - huh?

That’s a whole-nuther-post, I tell ya! Especially since hearing that the elementary schools are now going to try and require digital tags on the children to keep track of their movements. Must go tend sick children - I hope you have a glorious Sunday! And remember, kicking the machine hurts you more than the machine!

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