When I was younger, my mother tried to teach me to sew with a machine. I tried to learn, but she had an old machine from the 1970's that seemed to break every time I touched it. I would get discouraged, tell myself I wasn't good at it or that the machine "hated me," and move on to another medium. I watch my sewing students go through the same situation when they sit down at the machine for the first time.
Getting to know a sewing machine is like building a relationship. It takes patience and perseverance to get through that awkward beginning stage of getting to know each other.
When my mom gave me my own machine three years ago, I went through the same awkward period - things would get tangled and jam, I would get frustrated. But instead of giving up, I gave him a name: Silas. I talked to him when was loud and grumpy. I thanked him when he did things really well. It took me a while to learn about what he likes - how to thread him just right, how to load the bobbin so it points the way he needs it, with the extra thread hanging out just so...
Now I can do it without thinking - we are very in sync. And I still talk to him all the time.
So stick with it. And if you find yourself saying "this machine hates me," give it a name and keep getting to know each other.
Thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should give my machine a name...perhaps it would start behaving! :-)
ReplyDelete