ack... feeling the time crunch...

[judybean]

So I have less than six weeks until my due date. Lately I've been sewing like crazy, trying to get a lot of diapers done before this babe arrives (and with all the holidays, I KNOW I need to get them done ASAP!)... so, yesterday I was sewing along and then... my machine went on the fritz...

Yes, it's a nice, *economical* (sounds way better than 'cheap' don't ya think? ) Singer 1120 (just your basic ol' model)... I realized when I was sewing aplix tabs onto The Cutest (well, darn cute anyway!) xs vb aio that my zigzag stitching was looking pretty wonky, but only on the top. I thought maybe it just looked funny through the aplix, but sure enough, the top stitches are Just Not Right. They're not zig-zagged at all. I can just pull the thread out of the stitches. I've tried messing with the tension, just to see if I could at least *finish* the darn diaper, but nothing is working.

Now my dilemma is what to do about it. Right now we're in a bit of a ... hm... financial crunch. Not quite in the red, not quite in the black either! I called my mom and she said the local sewing shop does tune ups and such on machines and she thought it ran about $40 or so. To my rescue just last night came an aunt of dh's who wanted to *buy* some of my nb dipes for a baby shower she's going to this weekend!! She bought $30 worth.

But then I got to thinking... I think the darn thing was only $80 or so? Maybe a bit more... and.. ugh... I just hate shelling out that much money when the machine is barely worth that much.

I just want to sew more diapers! I need to get them done ASAP! Plus, I have a bunch of baby booties I'm going to sew up with the scraps... then of course there's a baby blanket I was going to make.... and I *have* to use up the material I just got two days ago!

This is mostly just a "yikes-I-hate-it-when-this-happens-somebody-commiserate-with-me" type post But thanks for listening anyway

[susieinms]

This is the sort of thing I was talking about in my post to amberthesugarcat!! I didn't mention it, but I have machine probs ALL the time!! I have one machine that is older than the moon and one that is a walmart cheepo. Both have problems that require an expert and the cheepest they will even look at your machine around here is $70!!!

Soooo with all that I mentioned in my other post and this above (plus a whole lot more) ......my house is a wreck, I look like a hag, I don't have time enough for my beautiful baby that is growing too fast......I think God is telling me to give it up.

If I would have started this venture before my wee one was born then I think I could have swung it. But now????? Oh how I am pulled in so many directions and want to sew up some cute dipes.

[judybean]

Originally Posted by susieinms

Soooo with all that I mentioned in my other post and this above (plus a whole lot more) ......my house is a wreck, I look like a hag, I don't have time enough for my beautiful baby that is growing too fast......I think God is telling me to give it up.

Um... my house is a zoo, I don't even have the baby clothes out yet (mostly because I don't have anywhere to put them!), I totally need a haircut (man, I shorter hair... it's the upkeep I'm not too keen on!), and I have *two* babes growing like crazy though only one in dipes! I trying to figure out whether I'm supposed to give it up or persevere despite all the setbacks!!

So... I'm going to call the one sewing shop in town and see what they think it might cost. That's a *HUGE* factor right now!

[orangecanoe]

I had the same problem with zigzagging last night (the bottom side was fine, but the top was loose and looked like train tracks or something ) and tried everything I could think of. I finally just took apart everything, blew some of the dust out and rethreaded everything and am thinking maybe the bobbin thread had come loose because it was fine the night before and just all wonky when I first started sewing???

Hope you can figure something out!

[StrawHatBrat]

Awww... sorry you're having a rough go with your machine. It sucks!
I'd clean out the bobbin holder too... if you're sewing fleece it gets mighty dusty and that really screws things up!

[boscopup]

I definitely agree with cleaning out the bobbin area. I kept getting my bobbin thread bunching up, and I read my manual's troubleshooting section, and it said to clean that area. So I took the plate off (requires a screwdriver), and boy was there a lot of stuff in there! Not only is there sewing fuzz, but I also have dogs and cats with ALOT of hair. Once I finished cleaning, I didn't have any more problems... except when I run out of bobbin thread. I do wish they'd just let you run the bobbin thread off another spool.

[judybean]

I tried cleaning it all out the best I could... but to no avail.

So I bit the bullet and called up the local (only one in town!) sewing shop. There are good and bad things to a small town, and the good thing with this was the sweet, sweet old lady that answered the phone and kept calling me "hon" ... it was too cute! She just said she was tickled that I was sewing (I guess I sounded young on the phone? 26 probably *is* young to her!)! She said, "wellllll, I think Mr. so-and-so has gone home already today but I'm sure he'd love to look at it... I don't think he has anything in the morning so you could bring it by then, or you could even come on down and leave it here if you'd like!" So, I did.

A different lady helped me when I came in (though she knew I was coming... I don't think there are a ton of customers in there always!) and was also very kind. She asked if I wanted the guy to oil it up and clean it out as well and I said that if it needed it, then go for it. The oiling and cleaning is actually just (and, I do say 'just' lightly, because ALL money is tight now!) $32.50 ... then, depending on the problem I'll be charged accordingly.

So I guess it's not quite the end of the world... we'll make it work out somehow (but darnit... repairing the darn machine is going to cut into my supply-buying! and I *totally* need to get the small size of aplix to put on some more xs vb aios! .. and buy some colored snaps!)

Hopefully tomorrow morning I should hear something... I hope it's nothing more than tension gone awry because I *really* need something to do at night when I can't sleep!! mdc gets pretty darn slow in the wee hours -- especially this board

[anniegirl]

We must be due about the same time! I'm December 17th. I've got quite a few more dipes to make too. Eek! Glad you're getting your machine fixed. I think we have the same sewing machine too! I can totally see your dilemma with fixing it, it's a bummer to pay almost as much as the machine cost in the first place.

[judybean]

We *are* due close to the same time -- my estimated due date is Dec. 19th!

I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself though, since I was induced at two weeks late with both girls... but then again, I figure if I don't do anything, then this babe might make a timely appearance!

But... still no call from the sewing shop yet ... Then again, I'm on the internet right now and have dial-up : so it could be my own darn fault. If nobody has called by 3 p.m. today I'll give them a buzz. I'm going stir crazy not having an outlet!!

[Kari_mom]

at the two weeks late, my middle boys were both two weeks late and I swear it was because I wasn't ready for them. So maybe if you fix your machine and finish up those diapers, this babe can come a little sooner.

[judybean]

I have my machine back!!!!! And it was only $15.75 to fix it!!

So of course I've finished up two diapers already, though one was started before (it was the one that caused the whole fiasco in the first place!! an xs vb aio!) and then I made a tester side-snapping AIO in Katherine's size!

[Jes'sBeth]

YEA on cheap sewing machine fix!!!!!!!

I'm so glad you have your machine back!

Don't forget to get some sleep!

[judybean]

Sleep?!?! What the heck is that?!?! Though tonight it's a double-whammy because 1) I had pizza (that was a dumber... I have terrible heartburn/acid reflux even when I eat the blandest of the bland things... so, eating pizza was ridiculous!) and 2) I just got my sewing machine back and have lots of projects to complete!

So far I have: finished up the xs vb aio that caused the problem in the first place, completed the medium AIO tester mentioned above and just a bit ago made the cutest vb m/l AIO with a black PUL outer and a cherry print on the inside!!!

I'm just taking a break for a few minutes before getting back to work!

[boscopup]

You're going to post pictures of your stash when you get done sewing, right?!?!?

[orangecanoe]

Glad the fix wasn't too expensive. What did the problem turn out to be?? Did it just need a cleaning? My machine went wonky again on me yesterday and I'm wondering if I should take it in to be cleaned.

And yes---do post pics of that stash sometime! That black pul/ cherry combo sounds fun!

[judybean]

Yes, yes, I know I need to post photos. Sometimes it just seems like such a process, borrowing my parents' camera then heading BACK over to their house to get the pictures off the disk and work them up a bit in photoshop!

(but, I admit, I can't wait to share... I've had to much fun making these dipes and have enjoyed seeing everybody else's photos as well!)

[boscopup]

So now you need to put a digital camera on your wishlist to share all your diaper making photos?

Btw, Picasa makes it easier to quickly edit lots of photos. It's a free Google program. I highly recommend it for basic stuff like putting up pics of your stash. The only thing in that program that really stumped me was how to save the files to share, but you do that my selecting "Export" and specifying the size you want them to be and all that. It will automatically resize everything, and if you need to do any cropping, it's as simple as drawing a box.

[3inclothdiapers]

Glad you got it fixed. But for future reference, thought I'd share: My machine sometimes does weird stuff on the zig zag stitch, especially when doing aplix or thick soakers, so I got to the point where I just use a straight stitch for everything, and it seems to work well (and looks better since it's not skipping stitches). Another thing that really helped was changing the needle OFTEN; and I think a couple of people already said to make sure you keep the bobbin area clean.