A beginners story of using a sewing machine

Having worked on the editorial team of HotHive Textiles for almost two years it was decided that it was time for me to have my first attempt at using a sewing machine! Thanks to the kind people at Husqvarna Viking www.husqvarnaviking.com/uk, a Husqvarna Viking Emerald 118 machine was delivered to the office and I was also sent a gorgeous skirt kit courtesy of Cloth Kits www.clothkits.co.uk ready for me to practice with. I was told that the Emerald Machine would be the most suitable for a complete beginner as it was the most straightforward to use.

 

By following the instructions in the booklet that came with the sewing machine I was able to set it up quite easily. It took me no time to thread the bobbin and select the right stitch and I was beginning to think I could have handled a more complicated machine after all! Then came the task of threading the machine.

 

This part can be quite fiddly with several different places to wrap the thread around and every time I thought I had managed it, it turned out I hadn’t quite done it right! So I resorted to calling on a colleague with some sewing machine experience to help me. I think if you are a complete beginner without the luxury of someone in the next room to call on if you need some advice, a training course in how to use your sewing machine would be a great help. If you purchase your machine from a registered dealer, rather than over the counter in a high-street store or supermarket, the staff there will be able to offer you this tuition.

 

Once the machine was threaded I was ready to start on the skirt. The pattern was easy to follow and the skirt soon began to take shape. The pattern for the skirt was drawn out on the fabric so cutting out the pieces was easy to do. However if you are new to skirt making as I was, I would recommend cutting the skirt to a slightly larger size so you have some excess material to play with if your beginner’s machine stitching is a little wonky like mine!

 

I was warned that the trickiest part of making the skirt would be attaching the zip as I would need to use a different presser foot, but thanks to the snap-on presser feet that this sewing machine has this wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting. The instructions for attaching and using the zipper foot were very clear, and I was very impressed with how easy the zip was to stitch in even though I very nearly did it upside down!.

 

I can even vouch for how easy the needle is to change, having got all the way to hemming the skirt without any breakages I confess to falling at the final hurdle! Thankfully the machine came with a set of spares, so it just proved to be an extra little exercise before the skirt was complete.

 

Overall I would definitely agree that this sewing machine would be ideal for a beginner and I had a really great time using it. I also enjoyed my first experience of making a skirt and am looking forward to wearing it – as long as no one looks too closely at the wonky stitching of course! You can see some photos of my first attempt at using a sewing machine and the final result below.

 

The skirt I made retails at £35 and can be purchased here.