April 2011

[Honeylioness]

reeneejune - Apr 5, 2011 Yesterday at 2:45pm


Off Topic - Sewing Types -[/u]

I need some help before I pull my hair out. I have two sewing machines: A Singer Model 348 (made in the mid-60's, she's robin's egg blue and my baby) that I've sewn on for 15 years without any problems and a Montgomery Ward (mid-80's I think??) that was recently given to me so that I would have button-hole and free-arm capabilities. I pulled out my Singer this morning to work on a long over-due project, and every time I try to sew a seam I get small loops on the bottom side of the seam. I tried adjusting the tension, but it acts like I haven't done anything at all. So I pulled out the MW and it's having problems too... it will sew fine for about an inch, then it gets loops on the top of the seam. Is there something I should be adjusting that I'm not? Why did both have to go down at the same time?! I have projects due! (P.S., my singer has traveled before without needing any adjustments on arrival, so I don't think moving them yesterday had anything to do with it.) Thoughts?


ses - Apr 5, 2011 at 4:53pm

Reenee-[/b]-I had a Sears (1980ish) that did the same thing. I had it professionally cleaned and repaired but it eventually did the same thing again. I thought it was the tension, too. Have you checked the Singer web site? Perhaps there might be something there to help. If you have to replace one would you be able to count it as a business expense on your income taxes? Especially if you get the new job.

Perhaps Honey will know what to do, she knows EVERYTHING.


reeneejune - Apr 5, 2011 at 5:16pm

ses[/b] - If it really is broken, I would pay ANYTHING to have my Singer repaired. My Grandma gave it to me for my 12th birthday and I've sewn so many things on it... I just can't fathom losing it. I'd even skip the Black Hills trip to pay for the repairs!


ses - Apr 5, 2011 at 5:38pm

I think you would have better luck getting the singer fixed and it might not be as expensive as you think. But wait for Honey to check in, or send her a PM.



reenee - when you say you "adjusted the tension" did you mean the dial on the face of the machine usually numbered from 0-9? If so that is probably NOT the tension you are having issues with - it''s your bobbin.

If the bobbin thread loops show on the top side of the seam and the top thread is straight, the upper tension is tighter than the lower . If spool thread loops show on the underside of the seam and the lower thread is straight, the upper tension is looser than the lower.

First thing - when was the last time you took the bobbin assembly apart and cleaned it? By removing the bobbin casing you often find mats of lint that can cause the bobbin to not move freely causing snags in the sewing. I use a stiff long bristled brush made for sewing machine maintenance AND a can of condensed air like they use to clean keyboards to really blow all the "gunk" out.

The second thing to check is the bobbin thread itself - is it wound neatly without any bunching or variations in tension when it was wound? Sometimes I have had to re-wind an entire bobbin onto a new one to correct this problem.

Once that is done - check the tension on the casing that holds your bobbin. Here is the easiest way to do this - and it should be done every time you change thread weight in the bobbin.

I am assuming your Singer has a bobbin case that looks like this:



See at the top of the picture there is a small screw holding in place the piece that allows the thread to exit - that is a tension mechanism.

If you have a bobbin case that detaches from the machine, test the tension by doing the following. Pull off about six inches of bobbin thread through the tension. Dangle the bobbin carrier with the bobbin in it while holding the thread above it. The lower tension should hold the carrier so that it does not drop. If it does, just turn the screw a quarter turn to the right. If it does not drop, try bouncing the carrier a little. If the tension is properly set, the carrier will drop a little and stop. If it does drop a couple of inches and stops, all is good. If the carrier does not drop at all even after pretty good bounce, the tension is too tight. Turn the screw a quarter turn to the left. Try again.

If you are STILL having issues then it is time to take your baby into a certified repairman and have him check all the mechanics as well as give it a good cleaning and oiling.


Good luck and let me know how it goes.


startsmart - Apr 6, 2011 at 10:21am

honey [/b]comes through again! hope it works for you reeneejune!


azmom - Apr 6, 2011 at 11:23am

HONEY[/b]: You REALLY do know EVERYTHING!


dakota4600 - Apr 6, 2011 at 1:15pm

Honey- [/b]Now I know what to try with our sewing machine. You are a fountain of knowledge.


reeneejune - Apr 6, 2011 at 3:42pm

Honey[/b] - Thank you for the info, it's actually got a drop in bobbin. Is there an easy way to test bobbin tension with that? I'll see what I can do with a brush and some canned air later. I'm also going to replace the thread, it's an older spool and I'm not sure I trust it. And yes, it was the upper tension I was trying to adjust. fingers crossed!


reeneejune - Apr 6, 2011 at 8:06pm

Honey[/b] - Just a quick update. I cleaned out the bobbin area of the machine (wow!) and made two small adjustments to the bobbin tension, and she's now a much happier sewing machine! Thank you! (I might have yelled OH YES! rather loudly when the second adjustment brought it back to normal... wonder what the neighbors are thinking ;D)

[Honeylioness]

Honeylioness - Apr 4, 2011, 8:49am

startsmart [/b]- I hope you are feeling better and a bit more rested. If you would like any assistance with building walls or drawing lines you know you can always contact me. I would love to see you have some more balance in your life for your own peace of mind. And OMG on the number of e-mails you get. Are they all work related and do they all REALLY contain important information/action items or are they just piddly cr@p??

gin1984 - I can understand being frustrated with your mid-term grade - sorry it stressed you out so much. I think resigning sooner rather than later is the best thing for you to do in the long run. Your supervisor sounds as though she has poor people management skills if she is that ill staffed and has lost that many employees in a short time. One of my frustrations working in HR is seeing people get promoted to supervise others just because of how long they have been here. With no training, mentoring or even a seminar to give them some basics of how NOT to be either a despot or try to be their employee's best friend. It is a skill like any other and has to be taught.

spruby - How are you enjoying your iTouch? We do need to remember that it is okay to be nice to ourselves once in a while as long as we don't put the mortgage payment at risk.

reenee - Wow, so how did the weekend move-in go? I really wish I was closer as I have way too much kitchen "stuff" and would prefer to give it to someone I know rather than just donate it. I also started out with hand-me-downs, Goodwill finds and yard sale items. Most of which were NOT what I would have chosen if given a choice (i.e. style/color) - however they were affordable, could be cleaned and functional. As time went by I was able to gradually replace these with what I really wanted or that fit my "style". Kudos to you for being a wonderfully level headed, practical, frugal and mature young woman which many people twice your age never become.

Birthday - Thank you all for your B-Day wishes here and on FB.

It actually was a really good weekend. The girls got me pink carnations and yelled "Happy Birthday" when I came down in the morning. My brother sent me roses (Haven't received flowers from anyone in years).

We went shopping at the local Asian market and Siying had a blast finding things for dinner. The girls basically did all the food themselves with very little supervisor or assistance from "mom" and dinner was really good. My best friends came up for dinner as well - and even though one layer of my cake fell apart, it still tasted yummy! I got some of my favorite chocolates from See's (which you cannot get on the East Coast) from my parents. The girls got me a new Italian cookbook, a pink freshwater pearl necklace AND an iPod Nano. And my best friend got me an iPod Touch, and an adapter kit so you can play it through your car radio, a case and loaned me her external hard drive with over 10,000 pieces of music on it for me to "borrow" whatever I liked!

So guess what I spent most of my Sunday doing?

I don't really consider myself a fan of technology but this thing IS pretty cool. And I can put it in my pocket and wear the headphones now when I am stuck in the file room for hours on end.

I must say, this was the best birthday I have had in a long long time - even though I am NOT Happy about being this old!!!!!!!!



shanendoah - Apr 4, 2011, 10:53am

Honey[/b]: Stop your complaining. 35 is not old. (By they way, 35 is where I've decided to stop aging.)


Honeylioness - Apr 4, 2011, 11:11am

shanendoah[/b] - pffttttttttttttt .... 35 - I WISH !!!!!!!

Nope, I am seriously on the wrong side of 40 and rushing headlong towards the big scare 5-0.

God, when did I get to be this old with my life looking nothing like I had planned??

*le sigh*


reeneejune - Apr 4, 2011, 12:20pm

Honey[/b] - I am a firm believer that God/The Higher Power/Whatever does NOT have a plan B for our lives. We are each where we are in life because this is exactly where we are meant to be. All of our experiences, trials, tribulations, sorrows, joys, and learning experiences work toward the life we're meant to have and bring us into contact with people we will be a blessing to and who will be a blessing to us in return. We just have to chose to accept that this really is meant to be and chose to find joy where we're at. I'm glad you're here, because it's a blessing to know you and count you as a virtual friend. And I'm sure your exchange students are glad you're where you're at, because I know you're a wonderful substitute parent. Hugs!


3catslady - Apr 4, 2011, 12:22pm

Honey;[/b] "Just rushing toward the big "5-0"? I wish I was there and could keep everything I know now. I'm slipping fast toward the bigger "7-0" and I am not sure that I like it at all.


mittenkitten - Apr 4, 2011, 12:32pm

Honey: [/b]Happy Belated B-day. I hear ya on life being nothing like you planned. I will be 39 this year and while I can't say I have done poorly my life is NOT like I had mapped out in my early 20s. In many ways it is hard to reconcile.


startsmart - Apr 4, 2011, 3:16pm

honey[/b] - age ain't nothin' but a number besides, your number comes with mucho experience and talent!


ses - Apr 4, 2011, 7:19pm

Honey--[/b] my father, a very wise man, said your birthday is the day your age changes one year. So one year he would be 29 and the next year he would be 28 and the next year he would go back to 29. I think he was 28(for the twentieth time) when he died. I am glad you had a good birthday.


spruby - Apr 4, 2011, 8:31pm

honey [/b]- glad to hear you had a great b-day! are you loving the itouch - I'm having a blast with mine! I find that while I am not where I thought I would be - where I am is pretty cool - and certainly a far better place than the negative forces in my childhood predicted

[Honeylioness]

mcreal - Apr 15, 2011, 9:23am

Ok - here's my budget, I welcome your comments. This is the budget on paper, the numbers I strive to achieve each month. It is so tight, I frequently fail. This is for a household of two, myself and #3D, with #1D staying here 2-3 nights a week. Once #3D is working, I can reclaim about $100 per month toward her car insurance and phone. #2D is returning from college in a month, and I will have a full house. As you can see, the biggest hog in the budget is the mortgage - I refinanced when my income was higher, I appraised much higher and I had not come to my senses about money. I currently cannot sell it and pay off the mortgage, it also needs about $10K in repairs.



Fuel $250.00
Auto Insurance $250.00
Groceries $200.00
Home Repair lawn $65.00
Household Exp $175.00
Life Insurance $32.00
Mortgage $1,936.73
Cable / Internet $114.00
Garbage & Recycling $26.00
Gas & Electric $163.00
Cellular $190.00
Water $33.00


mcreal - Apr 15, 2011, 10:38am

My debt payments, medical, college, car repairs, home repairs come out of my quarterly bonus.

CC Debt Minimums = $925
Car Payment = $195

College payments are "as needed" - between grants, scholorships, student loans and grandma, I have gotten off easy with books and occassional housing. #2D will be an RA on campus next year, contributing incredible savings. No housing or food. I will have to cough up spending money, as it is unlikey she will be able to work and manange the RA job and classes.

Medical = average month last year was $250 per month

My lowest bonus quarter last year was $2617 - a really tough quarter. 2010 total bonus after tax $17289 - it was a low year for me. 2011 looks much brighter.

Anything over medical/car repairs/college and debt minimums is split 50/50 between EF and additional debt reduction
Unexpected earnings, rebates, etc goes 50/50 as well.

I picked up a "side job" recently in the wine business. I have a partner and we occassionally get appraisal and cellar management jobs. This one is ongoing, $100-$150 per hour (split) managing a wine cellar. We put in about 10 hours so far, so that income will go to the 50/50.



startsmart - Apr 15, 2011, 11:07am

Mcreal,[/b] I think my heart stopped beating when I saw the mortgage payment. Wow. First of all, you're doing better than most. You're aware and striving toward your goals and making progress. Which is so so important.

First thought would be to increase your income, looks like you're doing that with the side biz. Please PLEASE put a simple agreement in place with your partner. Then do the little important things to grow the biz like asking all previous clients to write you a review.

For everything else, and I mean everything, work towards the lowest reasonable cost.

Examples:
household budget probably includes a lot of random things. Clean/organize your laundr room to see how much laundry soap you have. Read the bottles and show your daughters how much to use each load. This will probably cut usage thus saving you money. When you get to the end of the bottle, add water to get the last bit out. In the meantime look at coupons and sales so when you find a good deal you can get more without paying full price.

There are lots of little things to do to save fuel. Get your tires rotated and properly I flared. Remove extra weight from the trunk. Slow down. Practice those regularly and you'll see gas costs go down or maybe not increase as much with rising prices.

While you're looking at expenses get quotes on car insurance and ask what discounts you can qualify for.

Most of the time it's a lot of medium and small things that will add up over time until you've got a comfortable cushion and less debt.


mizbear - Apr 15, 2011, 11:08am

mcreal-[/b] Is it possible to just go to internet for right now and are your cell plans for 4 phones? If not for 4 phones are you close to where you can adjust your plan? Same with the auto insurance- is that covering all 4 of you on your plan?

I understand the need for internet with students in the house, I just didn't know if you could shave a few dollars by going cable free. My mom and I save on our cell phone bills (even though I no longer live at home) by ganging onto 1 plan and when I lived at home, we all used the same car insurance carrier to get a bigger discount.
Don't know if that helps, because you have probably thought of most of that already...



ses - Apr 15, 2011, 6:21pm

Mcreal-[/b]- I think you are doing a fantastic job of moving a very big mountain. The only suggestions I have to give, other than breathe, is to check into cable /internet costs. Giving up cable and using Hulu or something and the public library for movies would save me $28.00 a month. And I tend to use less television over the summer months anyway. Could you save by bundling cable/internet/phone. I'm sure you have already asked for lower rates everywhere you can. This next idea is a little off the wall--could you get your taxes appraised and reduced based on the current value of your house and by reducing the appraised value possibly reduce your insurance? Even a small reduction in your escrow payment could reduce your mortgage payment. Perhaps some fine tuning of household expenses. Really so difficult to do.
One thing I have started doing since January is using an excel spreadsheet. It is so easy to see the big picture as well as note every little baby step of progress. The color coding and highlighting are great, and very encouraging! It also lets me record to the penny the expenses in each category so I always know exactly where I am at.

One thing you need to start doing immediately is start a journal of every positive thought, decision and action you make every day. We usually encourage newbies to record every penny spent for a month, but I think you need to record every little positive in your day so you can review them in a rejuvenating and restoring bubble bath with soft candles and maybe some music. You need to take care of yourself.

Have you ever considered what a GOOD example you are to your daughters. They are at the age so many young people get sucked into consumer debt. Seeing you deal with this issue will make them think twice, whether they realize it or not