clipping pokeys

my old machine doesnt do embroidery so i cant really discuss that part. i do have a problem with the light not working on my machine tho. the bulb is fine but the connection is a bit wobbly so the light just aint working. its rather annoying as i can only sew in the daytime as the ceiling light just isnt enough. i dont have a table lamp that'd work either. maybe i ought just take the damn machine to bits and figure out what is wrong. maybe after the spring garden starts sprouting with some tom and bean flowers so i know they're gonna bear fruit. dh has keeps coming home with seedlings before he thinks where they're gonna be planted. the beans, tho well set up for growing up, i'm not happy with the posi. dont think they're get'n enuff sunshine thru the day. also something has eaten half of a few leaves from the tip back towards the stem. i've no idea what it is. no big critters around to do that, dont see any mini critters on the plant and it is only a few of the leaves but they're not that big to start with so its rather irritating at this point in time. grrrrrrrrr. oops, sorry to digress so far off topic. j.

Well, Jeanne, yes. You did wander about as far as you can get from clipping pokeys . . . but there must be a solution to your wobbly light. My worn-out but beloved old Bernina had a moody light - it did, it didn't. Maybe someone with mechanical brilliance can offer a solution before you take the machine to bits. Polly

I don't know if this will help or not, but you can buy little led lights - very bright - to put on the side of your machine and then aim down to the work area. Of course, you could attach the thing anywhere you wanted. And my brilliant son -- the one who I can't get to go to finish up school and move out of the house -- says it's easy peasey to replace the regular machine light with an led. Says go talk to the fellows at Radio Shack. Do you have anything like Radio Shack in NZ? Oh well, that's all I know. And I love Polly's explanation of clipping pokeys.

Sunny -- just a bit cranky with no real reason.

Apparently there is a loose connection someplace. Can you tighten the bulb at all? My old Elna has a flaky light, but if I have the repairman put a drop of solder on the tip of a new bulb before putting it in, it works just fine. It's been that way for at least 25 years; fortunately a bulb lasts a long time in that machine -- it's only been replace a couple times. He told me once that he could replace the light socket but it would be fairly expensive. The drop of solder works just fine for a lot less money.

Julia > my old machine doesnt do embroidery so i cant really discuss that part.

I'm not sure what pokeys thread that Polly started has to do with plantings, except once the plants start they poke through the ground. Except you can clip them and pull them to the back.....

No sewing machine light? Go get a camping headlamp, a little LED worn on a headband around your head, it will light up exactly where you are looking/working.

G> my old machine doesnt do embroidery so i cant really discuss that part.

Good one, Ginger! My DH has one and uses it for a lot of things, including reading at night. It's incredibly bright and it does aim the light just where you're looking.

sunny

Great tip, Polly. Thanks for sharing - I will do this on my next project!

-Irene

If you missed Roberta's contribution - she says to clip the top thread at about 1/8" and then tug it to the bottom. That sounds smarter than clipping it as close as you dare. The 1/8" will pull down and under and you don't take such a risk of clipping your quilt top. (A quilt can stand only so many embroidered butterflies hiding nicks.) Well. Unless you're Butterfly herself. I don't know about that. Polly

Thanks, Polly. I am Happy Dancing doing the HOKEY POKEY!!

;P PAT in VA/USA