Maintenance time

Three weeks ago I purchased a brand spanking new sewing cabinet.  The type of cabinet that has a lift in it so that the sewing machine can be lowered to table height.  At the time of purchase, I ordered 2 plexiglass inserts that would fit each one of my machines.  When we came home with the cabinet, we off loaded it into the basement since it was going to take a bit more man power than we had at the time to get it up the back steps and onto the main floor of the house.  Also, there was still some snow blocking the back steps so some melting needed to take place.  3 weeks later, all this has taken place and at last, my new sewing cabinet has been installed and I am here to tell you that I LOVE IT!!!  

My first project with my new set up was one of my market bag totes.  Last year when we were in Santa Fe, I did a wee bit of fabric shopping and purchased these 4 fabrics that not only were going to remind me of all the glorious colors of the southwest but were also going to make a very attractive tote.  I needed 2 more fabrics for the handles and found the perfect two in my stash so I was all set.  As I was doing the finishing top stitching, I noticed that my less than a year old machine was skipping stitched.  A quick look into the owners manual told me to try a couple to things, the easiest of which was changing the needle.  This did not fix the problem.  Next I did a thorough cleaning under the pressure place and the bobbin area.....check.  Nope that didn't fix the problem either.  Since I had a meeting to attend Tuesday night, I would have to take another look at it on Wednesday.  Many, many errands needed to be run first thing so I finally got a chance to read the entire area on machine maintenance and cleaning right before lunch.  One of the things they talked about in the owners manual was about cleaning the race, which is part of the bobbin case...WHO KNEW???  My husband arrived home for lunch about then and noticed that I had my machine partly disassembled so I told him my tale of woe and handed him the bobbin case and also the diagram of what needed to be done.  The thread rides in this spring loaded "race" which is a paper thin area between these two plates.  It was suggested that it be cleaned by using a piece of paper of adequate thickness and sturdiness and to slide said paper between the tension plate and the tension spring and to also slide the paper behind the notch of the spring to remove any dirt of dust. Guess what, it worked!  So...if you have an electronic sewing machine and it starts skipping stitches, do step one, change the needle and step two clean out under the pressure plate and if that doesn't work try cleaning the race before you take that sucker in to the repair shop.  I am very happy to be back up and running with not only a new cabinet that has me now sewing at the proper height but also with a smoothly running macine.