When you want to start sewing, the first thing is to set up your sewing machine, it’s not hard and you’re not alone, today I will walk you through the easy steps to follow to know How To Use A Sewing Machine – Simple Beginner’s Guide
How To Use A Sewing Machine – Easy Steps To Follow
Let’s walk you through the easy steps you can follow to get a sewing machine ready to start working on a project.
For every beginner who wants to learn to sew, the first thing to work on is to get ready you’re sewing machine to work on a project, for this tutorial, I’m using my old sewing machine, its a Brother mechanical machine, after working with it to make many projects for the last 10 years, it works great, the same as day 1.
This model is not longer on the market, but you can find the Brother XM2701 that replaced this machine, it comes with the same features and quality. It will help any beginner to learn the basic of sewing while working on different projects, from making a tote bag, to garment construction, and some home decor projects too.
I pick this sewing machine to show you the steps to follow as this is a basic model that will help beginners to learn the easy steps to follow to get you’re sewing machine ready to start sewing.
How To Plug In Your Sewing Machine
The first thing you need after you unbox you’re sewing machine, or after you get the sewing machine out from the closet (in case you’re using your mothers or your friend’s sewing machine) is to plug in the power cord and the foot pedal.
At the right side of the machine, there’s a socket where you can plug in the power cord, after you did this step, you can switch the power button on and the sewing machine light bulb will be turned on, this way you will know your machine is plugged in.
How To Thread The Bobbin
The first thing you need to do is to wind the bobbin, each sewing machine has its own type of bobbin, most modern models come with the top drop in bobbin system, like the one on this sewing machine.
In case you’re using a different brand and the bobbin is a side type bobbin system, you can follow the steps on the manual to remove the bobbin case and wind the bobbin.
For models with the top drop in bobbin system, you need to remove the clear plastic cover and take the bobbin out. Put the thread on the thread bar, in case you’re sewing machine comes with a thread stopper, put it on to hold the thread in its place while sewing or winding the bobbin.
Take the thread and follow the winding steps arrows on top of your machine, then take the end of the thread and put it between the top and the bottom of the bobbin and take it through the top hole on the bobbin, keep the thread in your fingers, and then take the bobbin to the clutch and place the bobbin there, then take the clutch and snap it to the right, use the foot pedal to start the machine very slowly, make a few winds then stop the machine and you can trim the thread with the scissors, start the machine again with the foot pedal and finish winding the bobbin.
Most of the sewing machines come with a stop to stop winding the bobbin when its full, you can trim the thread now and push the clutch to the left to remove the bobbin.
How To Insert The Bobbin
To put bobbin in its place, if your machine has the top bobbin system, remove the clear cover, and place in bobbin, with thread as it shows on the diagram, take thread as it shows on the diagram and cover the bobbin with the clear cover.
How To Thread Your Sewing Machine
The next step to do is to wind the top thread, most of the sewing machines comes with a step by step diagram to follow on top of the machine.
You can follow the numbered steps or the arrows on you’re sewing machine, and follow each step to help you to wind top thread correctly on your machine.
Thread the Needle
The last step to wind top thread is to thread the needle, most of the modern sewing machines come with a needle threader, all you need is to move the sewing machine wheel (right side) to lift the needle to top needle position.
Push the needle threader lever with your finger to help you to thread the needle, take the thread to back of the needle, and you can turn the machine wheel to take the needle down to take the bottom thread, keep moving the wheel to take the needle up to reach the bottom thread.
When you can take the bottom thread, take it together with top thread to the back. You’re sewing machine is threaded with both threads and is almost ready to start sewing.
How To Select Your Stitch
Every sewing project requires a stitch pattern, while most projects will be made with straight stitches, you’re sewing machine has a few or many stitch patterns where you can select one for your next project.
On this Brother machine, we can see the different built-in stitching patterns, you can follow the diagram to find the stitch pattern you want to work with, and turn the dial to set up the number or the numbers set you need for that particular stitch.
How to Adjust Stitch Length
Another thing to pay attention before you start sewing is to check the length of the stitch you’ll be using for each project, on top of this sewing machine, you can see two dials in front of the machine, the white one is to help you to choose the stitch pattern, below this dial, you can see a gray dial where you can turn it from 1 to 4, 1 is for small stitches and 4 is for the maximum length stitch on this model.
The dial on the right is to set up the stitch width, more commonly used on zigzag stitches and some embroidery stitches, you can check on you’re sewing machine and it might come with numbers where 1 will be for narrow stitches and the bigger number will be for wider stitches. On this model the diagram comes with zigzag diagram from the narrowest to the widest.
Once you set up the stitch length and width of the stitch you’ll be working with, you’re sewing machine is ready to start working with it on your projects.
A good tip here will be to always take a small piece of fabric and make a small run with the machine, take a look to the stitch and if everything looks good you can start sewing.
If after you did a test something doesn’t look the way you need, you can check if the machine is correctly threaded and the tension of the thread is OK.
How To Set Up Thread Tension On A Sewing Machine.
On this machine, on the top there are two dials, on the left you can see a diagram that goes from 1 to 5 to help you to set up thread tension, you can set it up on the number you select and make a test run on a piece of fabric to check the stitch quality.
You might need to do a few test runs until you get the right thread tension. This step is often required to be done if you use different types of thread for you’re sewing, if using different quality or thread thickness you will need to check the thread tension on you’re sewing machine.
If you always use the same type of thread, you’re sewing machine will keep sewing with the same stitch quality most of the times.
Closing Thoughts For How To Use A Sewing Machine
practice, practice.
If you’re a beginner, don’t forget to practice with you’re sewing machine as many times as you need before you start working on a project. By doing this step it will help you to know better you’re sewing machine and it will help you to get professional results.
Happy Sewing!
hello awesome article you have here. this really caught my attention i just could not ignore it, this will help anyone that comes across it as it has helped me i really loved the way you listed the steps for us the readers to understand i really dont know anything about the sewing machine but now i know a little about it thanks to your article thanks for sharing this with me.
Hello there, Thanks for sharing this awesome article I know it would be of great help to the public as it has been of help to me. Nowadays sewing machines have been made a lot easier to use and with these tips, I think anyone can start using a sewing machine.
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