Since the invention of the first working sewing machine in 1790, sewing machines have consistently grown in use and function. Most of us remember olden-days when a relative made all of the family’s clothing on a domestic machine. Not so today and so most students come into my class totally unschooled and fearful of a machine. I cannot tell you the number of times over my career a student has chosen hand-stitching simply to avoid mastering the machine.
For someone with sewing experience, the sound of a functioning machine is music to one’s ears. When I am interrupted in class by the sounds of a troubled machine, I walk over to the ailing student and say my standard line, “99 out of 100 times it’s the threading. Did you rethread the machine?” Seeing them sitting there so downtrodden, I don’t wait for the answer but pull out the spool, rethread the top, open the bobbin case and reset the bobbin and voila, they are back in business.
It’s simple: 99 out of 100 times it’s the threading!
What a great lesson! It reminds me of the idea that most technological problems can be solved by turning the thing off, unplugging, replugging, and starting the machine up over again