music to my ears

Here's a gentle reminder to clean your machine...

But before you have to clean, learn your machine.  

Listen to it while you're stitching.

Become familiar with the sound of the needle passing through the fabric.

Take note of how the feed dogs move the fabric. Feel it.

Listen to the song your machine sings.

My machine hums, the needle passing thru the fabric is like a melody.

I am the conductor. I signal the downbeat by dropping the presser foot.

My foot taps the beat/tempo on the power pedal.

The song is the colorful chain of pieces sewn together falling behind my machine.

All combined it's sweet soothing music to my soul....

... until I start hearing a "cluck, cluck, cluck..."

it's really "ka-clunk, ka-clunk, ka-clunk..."

This is after I had been ignoring that the seams have started to be slightly off.  The difference is enough to mess up the perfect 2.5" HSTs I've been stitching for weeks! Err to the wrong side. Meaning it's making a bigger seam. Resulting in a half square triangle that's too small, so not even a quick trim can fix it!

I had also been ignoring that the stitching line was feeling thicker than usual.  I tried swapping to a finer thread. Still the stitching was chunky.

A thought echoed in my brain, "It's suggested to clean your machine with every bobbin change."

oh my! I think I had reloaded the bobbin 3 or 4 times since the last good cleaning!

Yep, this chunk of lint was from underneath the bobbin case!

It wasn't a chunk like that. It was a thin layer across the bottom and up the sides of the bobbin case holder. But it was enough to throw the entire performance off.

My machine does not require oiling. I checked the manual (once again) to make sure this is correct.

I finished cleaning, swiping the brush behind and around the bobbin case holder. I dusted out the feed dogs, replaced the bobbin case, and put everything back together.

Once again, I started stitching,

the dropped presser foot signaled the downbeat...

"hummmm..."

the music is so sweet.

It's my symphony! 🎵♪♩
My machine and I could be composing a masterpiece!! 😉😁