Project Gutenberg's It's Fun to Sew with a Sewing Machine, by Anonymous This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: It's Fun to Sew with a Sewing Machine Author: Anonymous Release Date: January 13, 2020 [EBook #61167] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FUN TO SEW WITH A SEWING MACHINE *** Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Lisa Corcoran and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net It’s Fun to Sew—With the Sewing Machine IT’S FUN TO SEW with a sewing machine COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY, CORVALLIS PHASE 1 4-H CLUB SERIES L-85 It’s Fun to Sew—With the Sewing Machine Prepared by HILDEGARDE STRUEFERT Extension Clothing Specialist Oregon State University, Corvallis Where to find Your guide for the project Plan your project Become acquainted with your sewing tools Measuring tools Cutting tools Sewing tools Organize a box or a basket for your tools and supplies Learn to use mother’s sewing machine Parts of the sewing machine How to use the sewing machine Enjoy good sewing habits Start to sew A shears case Barbeque placemats or traveling kit Complete your record book Show others what you have learned Displays Demonstrations Are you ready for the next project 1 PHASE 1 page 1 1 2 2 3 3 5 6 7 9 12 13 13 18 23 23 23 23 23 Read this book from cover to cover before you start your project. Your guide for the project What you will learn 1. The names and use of common sewing tools. 2. To organize a sewing box. 3. To develop good sewing habits. 4. To combine pretty colors. 5. To use the sewing machine. What articles you will make As a club member, you will be required to complete two articles. First you will make one practice article: A case for your sewing shears. Then you will make one main project article: A barbecue placemat or a traveling kit. Start your record book Attend all your meetings so that you will be able to complete your project as soon as possible. When your home agent gives you a 4-H record book and record sheets, she wants you to record the work you do on your project. Give her this information in writing. Tell her how much you enjoyed making the articles and how much you and your family enjoyed using them. Learn to give a demonstration Show others what “tricks” you have learned by giving a demonstration at one of your club meetings, or ask your mother to invite your family friends to your home. It will be fun to use the placemats or show them your other projects. They will be interested in how they were made. Tell them what you did and what you learned about using your mother’s sewing machine and the sewing tools. 2 Plan your project Your projects will be more interesting if you plan them with your mother and leader, because they can help you to understand and enjoy your new adventures in sewing. Take your mother with you to your first meeting to introduce her to your leader and your friends. This will also give her an opportunity to see the kind of projects you will be working on during this year. You will need your mother’s cooperation and advice in selecting both equipment and fabrics for the projects. She may be able to loan you some of her sewing tools too. Sharing with your mother as you work will help you learn to know each other better. Before shopping for your supplies, read your bulletin to see what supplies are needed. Plan ahead so you can do all your shopping for your articles at one time. It is not necessary for the colors of the fabrics used in these projects to match or even blend, because they are not going to be used together. But—since the articles may be exhibited together, they will look nicer if the colors look pretty when placed next to each other. Become acquainted with your sewing tools Measuring tools {Measuring gauges} Measuring gauge (6 inches) Ruler (12 inches) Yardstick (36 inches or 1 yard) Measuring Tape (60 inches) Measuring tools are each marked with many short lines to help you measure fractions of an inch or inches. You will want to use the measuring gauge or the ruler for measuring short distances. ruler ⅛ inch ¼ inch ½ inch 1 inch If you want to measure anything longer than 12 inches, you will need to use either the measuring tape or the yardstick. A measuring tape will help you measure inches or feet. 12 inches—1 foot 24 inches—2 feet 36 inches—3 feet 48 inches—4 feet 60 inches—5 feet The yardstick will measure inches, feet, or yards for you. 1 yard 12 inches 24 inches 36 inches 3 1 foot 2 feet 3 feet Material is sold by the yard or fraction of yard. Cutting tools Pair of Shears Pair of Scissors If your mother has several types of cutting tools in her sewing box, you have already learned that shears and scissors will cut both fabric and thread, but one is easier to use for cutting thread than the other. Little scissors like the small pair illustrated are meant to clip thread or cut narrow things like ribbon, elastic, etc. Scissors have very sharp and narrow points to make it possible to clip into tiny corners. Scissors have two handles the same size. {holding scissors} When you cut with scissors, put your thumb through one handle and a finger through the other. A pair of small scissors about 4 inches in length is easy to handle. {holding shears} Shears are larger than scissors, and they are used for cutting a pattern out of material. Shears have one large handle and one small one. When you cut with shears, place your thumb through the small handle and two or three fingers through the larger handle. A pair of 7-inch shears is a good size for you. Sewing tools Needles and Pins and Pincushion and Thimble Needles 4 {packet of needles} When you buy needles, search for slender ones with long eyes. If they are slender, they will slip in and out of the material without much effort. The long eye will be easier for you to thread. Also notice the length of the needles. Will they be easy for you to handle? Pins Pins are used to hold the pattern and material together while you cut out a pattern, or to help you hold the pieces of material together when you are getting ready to sew. {Fabric, Pattern} If you borrow some pins from your mother, you will be a smart little girl if you notice whether they slip into your material easily. Avoid using pins that are too large or have a blunt point. They are likely to snag or tear the material. If you buy new pins, ask the saleslady for brass pins. These are strong pins, but fine in size. Pincushion To help you develop the habit of putting pins and needles into a pincushion, always remember to wear your pincushion when you sew. If you drop pins or needles they are hard to find because they are small and will easily slip into a hiding place, where they may hurt someone 5 later. {wrist pincushion} The wrist pincushion is the most convenient. If you are right-handed, wear the pincushion near your wrist on your left arm. If you are left- handed, wear the pincushion near your wrist on your right arm. NEVER hold PINS in your mouth! Thimble People who sew usually wear thimbles for several reasons. They help to push the needle through the material, and they protect the finger from being pricked by the needle. To push the needle through the material with the end of the thimble, hold the needle between the thumb and the first finger so that the eye end of the needle is resting against the end of the thimble. Buy the size that fits your middle finger snugly. TRICK FOR NEATNESS When you begin to use the sewing machine, you will be snipping many threads. Keep the area around your sewing table neat by using a paper bag for a wastebasket for scraps of material, paper, and thread. Fasten it to the edge of the table where you can reach it easily when you are sitting at the machine. {Wastebasket on table} Organize a box or basket for tools and supplies All of your sewing tools are like a happy family—each has a job to do to help you sew. You will therefore, find it helpful to know where your tools are and to keep them in place when you are not using them, instead of leaving your thimble on the arm of a chair, the shears hidden under a newspaper, or a bobbin in your pocket. A box is easy to organize into an equipment box and convenient to store in your dresser drawer, on your closet shelf, or in a bigger box which will hold your projects. You should look for two kinds of boxes—one large box and many small ones. The large box should be sturdy, clean, and long enough to hold your longest tool. The pincushion may become the tallest tool when it is covered with pins and needles. The small boxes may vary in size. Tiny boxes like those used for earrings are good for small items like the thimble, bobbins, etc. Bigger boxes are needed for the pincushion, thread, and other items. When you have all of your boxes collected you will be ready to start your project. Separate the box tops from the boxes. Then arrange the smaller boxes so they fit into the larger box. Be sure to save enough space for the 12-inch ruler or the length of your shears. Then have mother help you staple or paste the sides of the open boxes together and fasten them into the large box. Staples To make this box even more useful, you could label each little partition with the names of the tools or supplies you plan to store in each, as 6 7 shown in the picture of a well organized box on page 6. If you would rather have a container which could be easily carried from room to room, you might like to buy a fishing tackle box like your brother uses for his supplies. Choosing one with dividers in it will help you to organize your sewing tools very nicely. Some girls use little doll suitcases, or a small cosmetic case like grown-ups use when traveling. Either of these are very nice, because they are usually pretty in color, and will open up wide so you can see all your sewing tools at one time. They also have a latch to fasten the cover and a handle which makes them easy to carry. An example of an organized box. The number of small boxes and their arrangement will vary. Masking Tape or Scotch Tape Thread Pin Cushion Measuring Tape Seam Gauge (Sewing machine attachment) Pins Dressmaker Chalk Bobbins Needles Thimble Paper Bag 12 inch Ruler Case Holding Shears and Scissors, Measuring Gauge Learn to use mother’s sewing machine What could be more exciting than to learn to use a machine which has “magic power.” Of course, I know when you are older you are going to learn to drive the family car (which you’ve heard dad say has all sorts of magic power). But did you know that mother’s sewing machine has “magic power,” too? The nicest thing is that you do not have to wait until you are grown up to use it. Even though you are only 9 or 10 years old, you are ready to learn the secrets of the sewing machine right now. You will no longer be standing by watching mother or sister sew. Instead, after you have learned some of the secrets of sewing with a machine, you can make many exciting things for yourself, your family, and your friends. So come—let’s get acquainted with this wonderful machine! Now look at your sewing machine and find the parts which look similar to the pictures below. Every machine has these parts, though some designs may look just a little different. Your leader will show you how each part works. {Sewing machine} Thread Guides Take-up Lever Bobbin Winder Balance Wheel Presser Foot Lever Stitch Regulator Presser Foot Needle Parts of the sewing machine NEEDLE has a long groove in it to guide the thread. 8 BALANCE WHEEL moves the needle in and out of your material. PRESSER FOOT LEVER is the handle which moves the presser foot up and down. THREAD GUIDES hold the thread in place as it is being unwound from the spool during stitching. TAKE-UP LEVER pulls the thread from the spool as it moves up and down with the needle. PRESSER FOOT holds the material so the needle can sew through it. 9 BOBBIN WINDER winds the thread from the spool onto the bobbin (spool which holds thread in lower machine). STITCH REGULATOR makes stitches small or large. Also adjusts the machine to move your material forward or backward. CLOTH GUIDE ATTACHMENT helps to stitch straight seams. Types of control levers FOOT CONTROL