Today, I was sewing with some friends and one lady came over and showed me some skipped stitches on her piecing. That got the conversation rolling as to what could cause it and the first idea was: clean out your bobbin case.
Now, I stayed at my current job of pressing my blocks for my mystery quilt. But, others gathered around and laughter was heard. To save any embarrasment we won't name names but Lady A was adding another craft to her sewing - felting! I gather it had been long enough since she had cleaned out her bobbin casing that she had enough lint to be felted.
So, my tip for the day is to brush out the lint with every bobbin change. And when you finish a project, take it all apart, remove you plate and do a thorough cleaning and oil it. Change your needles with each project and also your rotary cutting blade.
Not sure why so many of us hold onto our blades for so long. We are all worth the expense of a new blade. I can't count the times I have thought, "oh, if I just finish all this cutting I can put a new blade in." In the meantime, I spend so much time recutting as the blade skips over spots. When you put the new blade in and it cuts like a dream, I want to smack myself again for wasting my time on that old blade.
A little maintence along the way and new notions make our favorite pastime so much easier and quicker.
