Cleaning and Oiling Maggie Kenmore: Part 1

I noticed while making the fabric belt that Maggie was chugging a bit while top stitching along the edges of the belt, and that she was struggling to get through some of the thicker sections. I've been meaning to clean and lube the poor dear for a while now, so I figured it was time. Especially since I didn't do it when I first brought her home, back in February.

(I couldn't resist adding my own note below the original purchase date when I picked her up. I know that I am the second owner for Maggie, and it's neat to see that she's been loved since 1973, when she was originally bought in either St. Johns, New Brunswick or St. John's, Newfoundland.)

Anywho, I had noticed the dust bunnies were starting to muster in for a revolt, so either way, it was time for a cleaning. And oh man, was it ever! Would you look at that fluff!

I'm almost too ashamed to be posting this, but I figure if I can ignore it so long that it gets to this point, others probably have as well, and this may encourage them to peak under the hatch and ferret out any dust armies gathering forces.

This is the shuttle race, which normally hosts the shuttle, shuttle race cover, and bobbin thinger. Also very fluffy. The whole thing practically fell apart when I pulled apart the levers, and I feared never putting it back together again, but it was easier than it looked.

Ew. Ewewewewew.

So once I got that all cleaned out using a soft (old) tooth brush and lots of paper towels, I moved onto oiling this section. Except, the instructions were a little vague. I didn't understand their little diagram telling me where to oil.

I wasted some time looking online, but nothing pinged. Poked all over PR, with no gold. Finally, I just went and poked around in the machine, putting the whole shuttle assembly back together to see what parts rubbed together, then put a bit of oil on them. I've pointed out the two spots marked above in the follow pictures, in case anyone else wants to see.

The shuttle (half moon shaped piece) slides against the surface the screw driver is touching, so put a drop of oil there, as high up as you can reach in the awkward little space. Maybe they call it the shuttle race because the shuttle races along it! Ooo the things you learn when you poke around and take things apart.

The bobbin holder thinger rubs agains the centre pin of the shuttle. I recommend adding oil after putting it back on the shuttle race, or else you'll get oil all over your fingers. You can guess how I learned that little tid bit!

The pictures above show the shuttle installed on the shuttle race. (Please disregard the little rusty spots. Poor dear is getting on in years; she's developed a few age spots and she's self conscious of them. Ssshhhhh.) Below shows the shuttle assembly put together with the shuttle race cover on and the levers clicked in holding it all together.

Now that's much better! Look how shiny and clean she looks! No more dust bunny armies down here.

Here it is all put together again (except for the needle plate, which I forgot to install before taking the picture).

The next part of the instructions in the manual involved oiling under the arm cover plate, but I've run into a bit of a snag.

See, I can't for the life of me, figure out how to get the arm cover plate off. It's on there tight, not budging at all, and the manual doesn't say boo about how to get the darn thing off.

(Isn't she pretty!)

I can see the seam for where it should pop off, but I don't know how to do it. There's no screws anywhere that I can see, and I'm afraid to start trying to twist off some of the thing-a-ma-jiggies on top of the machine.


Google failed me again, so I'd love to get some advice on this. Does anyone out there know how to remove the arm cover plate on a Kenmore 1410 zig zag sewing machine? Do I even need to oil under there? I did come across one "sewing machine expert" (granted in regards to a different machine entirely) who said that it shouldn't need to be oiled under there. But Maggie is about 37 years young, and anyone's joints could get stiff after a while.

So dear readers, do you have any advice for Maggie and I? I'm afraid I'm too late to get any assistance from Sears.

Basic Fabric Belt Tutorial

There are so many things I need to do right now, not only for my thesis (which is being a beast at the moment), but also for this blog. I should be writing up a post about the blah-pants from the wardrobe contest, and Tanit-Isis tagged me for the Beautiful Blogger award (thank you so much!) that I need to get to soon.

But instead, I made a belt.


It was ridiculously easy to make, and was completed in under an hour. This handily provided a desperately needed confidence boost that I'm not a total failure at everything I try (my thesis has been kicking me while I'm down lately). So I thought I'd do a little tutorial of how to make a basic belt that can easily be altered and embellished to suite your own style.

I don't know about you guys, but I have a hard time finding basic fabric belts that's not crazily embellished or in wild fabric. So just like any good seamstress, I decided to make my own.

I had a length of fabric 6 x 55 inches long in the cotton/linen blend material I made a pleated bag out of last spring (I used a bag tutorial from Ruffles and Stuff, a great blog that while currently inactive has some fabulous tutorials on it). I considered interfacing it, but since I wanted a belt 1.5" wide, I opted to simply fold the material so that there were 4 layers of material in the belt. This provides enough stiffness for the belt while still being flexible and soft like I wanted.

First I folded and pressed the 6" wide material in half, then fold each side so that the raw edges meet at the centre fold. By simply folding on the original pressed fold, you create a 1.5" wide strip, as shown below.


Finished off one end of the belt by opening up the folded material and folded in the raw edge to create a clean end. You do not need to do this with the other end. Then stitch 1/8th inch from the edge all the way around.


On the unfinished end of the belt, slide on two 1.5" (or whatever size suites your belt width) D-rings and fold the material over them, like below. Adjust the belt length here by pinning the folded edge down and trying the belt on, adjusting length of the folded edge until the belt is at the right length.


Stitch close to the D-rings to hold them in place. Make sure to sew fairly tight to the rings, otherwise the belt will easily loosen while wearing it.


After determining the belt length and sewing in the D-rings, cut down the folded over fabric to about 2-3 inches from the D-ring.


Fold under the raw edge and stitch 1/8th inch from the edge. Sew along your stitches along the sides to help hold down the material.


You can see the square of stitches on the top of the belt. This could easily be hidden by adding some beading or a fabric flower if you'd like. I'm still considering adding a bow or a ruffled bit of fabric over this part.



And that's it. A very easy tutorial for a very basic belt. As I mentioned previously, you could easily embellish this in any way you choose, perhaps sewing a ribbon or a ruffled length of fabric (or both!) down the centre of the belt, or adding a big silk flower at the buckle end like Disney does in her ribbon belt tutorial.


This belt is something I had wanted to make for my wardrobe contest entry, but ran out of time. There were other accessories I had wanted to make (and others that I'm discovering that would be really handy to have), and if I manage to get more of them completed, I may just enter PR's accessory contest. We'll see how much time the Thesis allows me. :)

Self Stitched September: Days 2, 3, and 4

I've been working from home the last few days, trying to get some of my last data crunching done for my thesis. I admit, I haven't been trying too hard with my outfits as a result of holing up in my basement suite. However, I've still been wearing only self-stitched clothes. I did, however, discover some things missing from my wardrobe, but I'll get to that later.

Day 2:
Data analysis on the comp. Poor Maggie Kenmore got shuffled off of her sewing table in favour of my thesis. Maybe I'll give her a good cleaning and oiling as an apology.


The blouse was made last June for the wardrobe contest, before I completely revamped the colour theme. I love the look and fit of this top, but I learned my lesson about using 100% polyester! Still, it was fine enough for working at home. It was made using Simplicity 6870, and I heartedly recommend this pattern. It's very comfortable and flattering.


Here's a front view of the outfit, just before I ran out to the store. The pants are my wardrobe collection pants, which I still need to post about, but that you can read some of the problems I had with them here.


What I've discovered is that I'm lacking warm toppers that aren't jackets. It's cold in my apartment since my landlords like the crank the A/C (I live in a basement suite in a house). However, I have this piece of wool blend knit that I used as a wrap, and I like how it looks. I may have to figure out how to sew it up as a poncho-type topper like this. :)

Day 3:

Okay, I admit, I was really lazy on this day and didn't leave my apartment at all. I also didn't feel very well and just wanted to be able to curl up on the couch while working, so I pretty much spent my whole day in lounge wear. Okay okay, in pj's. I made the pj pants ages ago out of flannel using some horrible pattern that I threw out afterward. The legs were super wide and long, so I took in the sides a few inches and hacked off nearly 6 inches off the bottom. Next time, I'll just trace one of my own pj bottoms instead of using a pattern. The top was one of my first clothing sewing projects, where I just reconstructed a t-shirt to make it a more comfortable sleep top.

So okay, I was lazy, but I was lazy in self-stitched clothes, so I think it still counts!

Day 4:

Today was another day working in my cold apartment, so I wore my pants again. I think need to buy some warm tights for working at home in skirts. The top I wore was the very first top I made for the wardrobe contest, and was actually the launching point for the brown colour themes since I fell in love with this fabric. The scarf, while not me-made, was purchased at the thrift store. I'm pretty sure I didn't commit to only self-stitched accessories, so I'm grateful to use it for added warmth.

Self Stitched September: Day 1

I, Heather of sewingonpins.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear only handmade and refashioned item of clothing every day for the duration of September 2010.

Zoe of 'So Zo...' challenged others to make the most use out of our hand-made clothes and wear all home made - or at least one made - garment each day for the month of September. She's done this herself in both March (Me Made March) and May (Me Made May), and posted pictures of her outfits on her blog. I thought this was an ingenious idea, and was tickled when she announced Self-Stitched September.

Really, this is no big stretch for me. I love my home made clothes more than any store bought items that I own. Although the lack of pants might hinder me a bit!

Here's my wardrobe collection. Some of these pieces should be familiar from my wardrobe contest entry.


I'm probably going to supplement the wardrobe with some tights for when the weather gets a bit cooler in the coming weeks. Not that it's an issue right now, with our average 30 degree Celsius humid gross weather...

This month may be a little sparse on the sewing front since I need to concentrate on my thesis. However, I'm going to try posting pictures of my outfit combinations every few days, and a few other sewing-related thinky posts. For now, here's my first Self-Stitched September (SSS) outfit.


(I know I'm looking limp and gross, but I blame that on the horrible weather we have right now. Also, please disregard the limp and gross towel randomly hanging up in our grad office. I have no idea where it came from and am refraining from touching it.)

For those who haven't been following my blog over the last few weeks, this outfit includes a knit top I made a couple weeks ago, and my petal skirt (now with added lace!). It may look simple and uncreative, but it was bloody hot out today and I needed something light and airy to survive the humidity!

I hope everyone who is involved with SSS has lots of fun wearing their lovingly (and sometimes frustratingly) made clothes this month. And keep an eye on the SSS flickr group for tonnes a beautifully made outfits from SSS participants!

Wardrobe Contest: Defeated!

Wow, I can't believe I did it! And I can't believe that it all works so well together. I've learned so much during this process, and met some amazing people here and over at PR. I don't know if I would've made it without all the support. Thank you!

I can see how much my sewing skills have improved from my first piece, the brown faux wrap top to the final piece, the corduroy jacket. I've learned to appreciate not only a well constructed article of clothing, but having the inside of the garment look as nice as the outside. I've discovered the joy of hand sewing, which I've always despised. And I've also discovered that I need a lot more practice fitting pants (that is another post entirely). Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue.

So thanks again to everyone for your support and help! And a special thanks to my wonderful photographer, Jen, who did a great job capturing my wardrobe, despite the incompetence of her model.