Text a. Sewing Machine

Key Words and Phrases:

needle - голка, thread - нитка, spool - котушка, bobbin - шпуля, котушка, stitch - шов, стiбок, stitching - зшивання, threading - втягування нитки, winding - намотування, winder - моталка, lock–stitch - човниковий шов, стiбок, lever - важiль, eye-вушко голки, presser foot-притисна лапка.

The sewing machine is the center for many creative hours of sewing activity. Sewing your own clothes saves money. It can also give you the freedom to design and create something original. Get to know your sewing machine. This will prevent the annoying problems that develop when you are unfamiliar with your equipment. No one should refer to a machine part as ‘this knob’ or ‘that lever.’

Types of Sewing Machines.

There are many types of home sewing machines. Different models allow you to sew in one, two, or three directions – forward, backward, and side-to-side. The stitches formed may be straight, zigzag, or automatic. An automatic stitch combines forward, backward, and side-to-side stitches into a specific design. The design is repeated and forms a pattern. Automatic or reverse-cycle stitches are useful for hemming and decorating.

The purpose of a Sewing Machine.

Basically, a sewing machine is used to join together two or more pieces of material or to stitch a decoration onto a fabric. It sews a stitch, moves the fabric, and sews the next stitch. There are sewing machines that will sew together items like shoes, tents, and sails. Can you imagine things like that being sewn together by hand? Using machines for sewing has made the process much easier and faster. At top speed, the home sewing machine can sew about 700 to 1,100 stitches per minute.

Inserting the Upper Thread.

The upper thread passes through and around many machine parts before it reaches the needle. With any model of sewing machine, threading always follows the same steps. Learn the order and names of the parts, and you can thread any machine.

Before you thread the machine, check to see in which direction your hand wheel turns. By turning the hand wheel, you can raise the take-up lever to its highest point. Next, raise the presser foot with the presser foot lifter. Place your spool of thread on the spool pin and begin to thread the machine. Correct threading takes lots of practice. You should also learn how to insert the lower thread.

Forming Stitch.

When the bobbin thread intertwines with the upper thread, a lock-stitch is formed. A good lockstitch is one that does not pucker or ravel when a loose thread is pulled. The illustration on the next page shows how the machine forms a stitch. You can change the length of your stitches by regulating the stitch length control. Find this dial. If you need to, refer to the manual for your machine. On a scrap of fabric, make various samples of long and short stitches. The stitch length you will use most often is 10 to 12 stitches per inch (2.5 to 2.0 millimeter stitch).

The quality of your stitch depends on the correct adjustment of the upper and lower tensions. If either tension is set improperly, the stitches will be either too tight or too loose.

Adjusting the Stitch Tension.

Puckered seams nd looped stitches are two results of unevenly formes stitches. When you are making a stitch, the upper and lower threads should lock or twist in the center between the two layers of fabric, as show. This occurs only when the tension is properly balanced. Using the same thread on both the spool and the bobbin makes it easier to keep the tension balanced.

Thread the machine and stitch a seam. Examine the stitching. If there are loops on the top of the fabric, you need to decrease the upper tension. If there are loops on the bottom, you need to increase the upper tension. To correct a tension problem, adjust your tension dial. If this does not stop the problem, it may be necessary to adjust the bobbin thread tension screw. Ask your teacher for help the first time.

Continue stitching sample seams and adjusting the tension until the loops are centered between the two layers of fabric. When the fabric is smooth and flat on both sides and no loops are visible on top or bottom, the tension is balanced. Different fabrics require different tension settings. Always make a sample stitch on a fabric scrap.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. What is the purpose of sewing machine?

2. What kind of stitches do you know?

3. How can you change the length of the stitches?

4. Why is it important to adjust the stitch tension?

5. How many threads are used in a sewing machine?

Exercise 3. Match the word combinations with their definitions.

1. spool pins a. moves the fabric under the presser foot

2. thread guide b. holds the fabric against the feed.

3. tension discs c. regulates presser –foot pressure on the fabric

4. needle d. lines up thread to enter needle

5. feed e. holds upper thread; helps form stitch

6. pressure dial f. hold spools of thread

7. presser foot g. lines up thread to enter tension discs

Exercise 4. Put all kinds of questions(5) to each sentence.

The presser foot pressure control regulates how snugly the presser foot holds the fabric against the feed. Some pressure is needed for the feed to grip and move the fabric ahead for the next stitch. The amount of pressure will depend on the fabric weight. Usually, lighter-weight fabrics require less pressure. When sewing novelty fabrics, like vinyls or pile fabrics, you will need a special attachment to feed the fabric evenly. Again, you should make a sample seam.

Exercise 5. Translate in written form.Use the list of words below.

The most important and least expensive part of the sewing machine is the needle. Only a sharp, smooth, straight, correctly sized, and perfectly inserted needle sews perfect stitches. Check your needle regularly for a blunt or burred point. Replace your needle often.

Even a needle has different parts. The needle point may be a sharp-point, a ball-point, or a wedge-point. Select the correct needle for your fabric and thread. Use fine needles for heavyweight fabrics.

Many special machine parts and attachments have been designed to make sewing easier. Some of them are different kinds of presser feet. A change in foot attachments will usually require a chahge in throat plates. The changes allow you to make different kinds of stitches.

Many other kinds of accessories also increase a sewing machine’s abilities. Button-holers, rufflers, and binders are attachments that do very special jobs. Some of the most useful acessories to the sewing machine are the gauges, like the seam gauge, quilting guide-bar, and the blind-hemming guide. By experimenting with your accessories, you can learn to use them. Here is a decriptive list of some of the most useful ones.

1. Straight-stitch presser foot – sews straight stitches.

2. Zigzag foot – sews zigzag and automatic stitches.

3. Buttonhole foot – has built-in guidelines to place stitches to make buttonholes.

4. Buttonhole attachment – stitches specific type and size of buttonhole automatically.

5. Button foot – holds button in place as machine stitches it to fabric.

6. Rolled hemming foot – rolls and holds a narrow hem while the hem is being stitched.

7. Seam gauge – stitches seams a specific width.

8. Ruffler – gathers a length of fabric as it os being sewn. Useful for home decorating projects.

9. Binder – positions fabric and binding so that they both feed under the needle at the same time.

10. Quilting guide-bar – extends out from presser foot to quide stitching for evenly spaced rows.