New machine sewer - need some help

[maybemom05]

Hi!

I am a relatively new machine sewer, and I need some help. I am working on a Waldorf doll - Joy's little heavy baby, just fyi - for my kiddo, and I'm having trouble keeping the seam straight on my machine. There isn't enough room for my to hold the fabric on both sides without getting my finger caught in the needle - as a result my seams look awful - all crooked, etc. I'm sure this isn't that complicated, but how do I do this?? My machine came with a metal hook thing that is called a fabric guide, but I can't figure out exactly how to use it.

Also, my machine allegedly has an automatic needle threader, which I've never been able to use successfully. I just thread it by hand, which works, but has anyone been able to troubleshoot/fix their automatic threader?

thanks in advance for your help!!

[lightheart]

for the seam guide, you should have a hole on the bed of your machine, and the guide should have a screw attached, just put the screw in the hole and tighten down most of the way, you should then be able to move the seam guide back and forth, from the needle area to the pillar of the machine, (left and right)

draw the amount of seam you want on a piece of paper, use a ruler and measure over from the edge of the paper and draw a line.

take this piece of paper, put it under your needle and pierce the line with your needle and put your presser foot down

thn take the seam guise and scoot it either right or left until it touches the right side of the paper, then tighten down the screw.... voila, your seam guide is set.

to use the seam guide you will feed the fabric under the foot and keep the fabric butted up agaainst the seam guide, still have to guide the fabric and keep it going straight but this will help alot in keeping your seasms from getting too big, you may get too narrow of seams but with those you don't have to rip out to resew them.

something else you can try on the next project is to cut the seam a little bigger than it's called for and you will have extra fabric on the right side to guide... it uses more fabric and you will have to mark the fabric bigger than the pattern but this may help you until you get used to your machine.

happy sewing!

forgot to add, I know nothing about the auto needle threaders, have never used one before....