If you don’t already have a sewing machine you can use, you’ll need to find one. Maybe someone in your family or a friend has a machine you can borrow. If you have to buy a machine, used machines are easy to find.
There are also new machines for sale at very affordable prices. Ask a grown-up to help you find one that fits your budget and is suitable for your needs. Look for a real (not toy) sewing machine that is simple and easy to operate. While there are a lot of cute toy sewing machines available, you will need a real machine to successfully complete the projects in this book. If you’re a first-time machine sewer, and you’re looking for a small, affordable sewing machine, check out the Janome Sew Mini. We recommend this machine because it is portable and very easy for a kid to use and understand.
Since cabinetmaker Thomas Saint invented the sewing machine in England during the Industrial Revolution, thousands of brands and models have come on the market. Just make sure that your sewing machine has a drop-in bobbin mechanism (not a side-loading bobbin) because it is easier for beginning sewers to operate. Whether you buy a new or used machine, make sure the operating manual is with it. Avoid purchasing a sewing machine without a manual. If you can’t find a manual, or just for extra help, you can ask a grown-up to search Google or YouTube for helpful videos that show you how to perform important tasks like loading the bobbin or threading your machine.
All sewing machines are a bit different, but they all have the same important parts. Each part plays an important role. Here is an example of a basic sewing machine. You might also need to refer to your manual to locate some of the parts on your particular machine.
Feed dogs – These rough-feeling teeth are located below the presser foot, on the needle plate of your sewing machine. Feed dogs will gently pull the fabric through the machine.
Foot pedal – A sewing machine foot pedal works just like the accelerator of a car. Push down to go fast, and ease up to slow down. Some models of sewing machines also have a speed control. Always take your foot off the pedal and put it flat on the floor before you make adjustments on your sewing machine, such as raising or lowering the needle.
Hand Wheel – Use the hand wheel to slowly operate your sewing machine needle. Turn the wheel toward you to raise or lower the needle.
Needle plate – Located under the sewing machine’s presser foot and over the bobbin casing, the needle plate surrounds the point of your needle and the feed dogs. Look closely at the needle plate on most machines, and you’ll see a seam guide that will help you keep your seam allowances at the right width. Most needle plates are removable to replace a drop-in bobbin or to clean lint and loose threads from underneath.
Presser foot – This sewing machine part works like an extra pair of fingers that help guide the fabric as it moves under the needle. You can raise and lower the presser foot using a lever on the back of your machine. Many sewing machines come with extra presser foots that can be switched according to the task at hand, like making buttonholes or sewing in a zipper. We recommend that beginning sewers stick with an all-purpose presser foot.
Stitch selector – This control knob on your sewing machine will determine what kind of stitch you might make. On basic sewing machines, you can choose between straight or zigzag stitches. Fancier machines have many more varieties of stitches.
Take-up lever – This arm is a very important part of threading the sewing machine. It moves up and down as the needle moves up and down in and out of your fabric. Use the hand wheel to move the take-up lever to its highest position whenever you’re about to thread it. If your thread is clumping and making a mess when you sew, you might have forgotten to guide the thread through the take-up lever.
Tension control – This knob controls the delicate relationship between your sewing thread and your bobbin thread. You should not have to adjust it often. If necessary, refer to your sewing machine manual to make sure that you maintain the perfect tension level — you don’t want one thread looser or tighter than the other one. Be very careful when adjusting the tension control. If it gets too unbalanced, you might have to take your sewing machine to a repair shop to get it rebalanced.
Thread guides – These are little locks, levers, and loops that you must direct the thread through on its way from the spool to your machine’s needle. Many sewing machines use arrows or numbered or lettered labels to remind you how to guide the thread. Or, refer to your sewing machine manual for exact details.
Bobbin – A sewing machine bobbin is a very small spool of thread that fits inside your sewing machine in a space called the bobbin casing. As you press the foot pedal and the needle flies in and out of the top side of your fabric, the bobbin thread sews the bottom side. Every brand and model of sewing machine uses its own style and size of bobbin, so be sure you’ve got the correct bobbin for your machine. Keep a supply of extra bobbins in your sewing kit. You will wind thread onto the bobbins yourself, following directions on page 27.
Bodkin – This is a tool that will help you pull elastic or string through a casing. If you don’t have a bodkin, you can use a large safety pin instead.
Pinking shears – These special sewing scissors have sawtooth blades, which leave a zigzag edge instead of a straight edge. If you don’t want to hem a finished project, try using pinking shears instead of regular scissors to cut the edge of the fabric. Pinking shears help reduce the amount of fraying. They can also be used for decoration. Experiment by using pinking shears to cut the open edge of a pocket before you sew it onto your project.
Reinforce stitch – This is a variation on the reverse stitch. You will use the reinforce stitch when you need your stitches to be extra-strong, such as when you attach the handles on projects like the eHold or the Portable Tree Stump or the elastic band on the Art-to-Go-Go.
Reverse stitch – Reversing is what knots your thread, so your stitches can’t come undone later on. It’s important to reverse stitch when you start sewing a stitch, and to reverse again at the end to “lock” it. Your manual will tell you how to locate the reverse knob or button on your sewing machine.
Stay stitch – A stay stitch is a quick and simple straight stitch that will help keep cotton fabric from fraying too much. You will sew a stay stitch in place of a hem when you make the Snack Time Bag, and on other projects that have pockets.
Stop & start sewing marks– The marks that you make on your fabric when you are going to leave a space to turn your project good side out or stuff it. You will make these marks yourself with chalk. They should be as far apart as the length of your pointer finger.
Straight stitch – This is the most basic stitch you can sew using a machine. Just as it sounds, it looks like a straight line. It’s also the stitch you’ll use most often. The straight stitch makes perfect seams when you’re sewing together two pieces of fabric. It can also be used for hemming, topstitching, or decorating almost-finished projects.