🧵🌸 LET'S TALK ABOUT MACHINE MAINTENANCE with KATIE MATTHEWS - KAREN’S QUILT CIRCLE

[@jwall6006]

I’m blessed, the now, older gentleman that has been servicing my machines for 30 years, has brought his 3 sons to work on machines. His daughter and 3 daughter in laws work with selling machines and managing the fabric center. The place has such a wonderful family atmosphere. Last time I went in one of the sons asked my grandson who’s 7 and messed up my Janome, if he could show him what not to do. He spent 45 minutes showing him in the showroom why it’s important not to touch this and that. He also let him sew a bit. When we got back in the car, he asked if he could sew too. I was thrilled!

[@KimberlyNichols]

Ah, that's lovely!

[@lucyblum3456]

When I teach beginning sewing I ask students to bring their manuals to class - they get comfortable looking things up and I’ll know they’ll use it at home!

[@JustGetitDoneQuilts]

good idea

[@ladyhawthorne1]

I'm a vintage Singer lover, I learned on a featherweight. I now own 2 working vintage Singers and a Sears Kenmore from the 70's. I love them all, much more than the computerized Singer I used to have. The old ones are much easier to maintain in my humble opinion.

[@janicewebber5584]

I grew up with a Sears Kenmore machine. Mostly because my family was kind of...poor. I loved that machine & I never learned where it went, as I got older. Maybe it was pawned. 😢

[@beccas.6983]

My physical Bernina manual has water damage, and I lost the first couple pages. 😮‍💨 The digital one is sooo many pages and harder to navigate. :( I'm glad that today's sewers have so many videos to learn from. What a blessing it is to be able to learn from people who have been doing this for years! I love this series, Karen!

[@davederrick9431]

Wow, 40 years ago a woman (Brisbane, Australia) serviced and repaired my Elna machine, her daughter was was training to take over the business.

[@janiesoito4494]

47 years ago, I became a truck driver. I had to hand pump diesel, change my own flats and do routine service on the truck. There was no power steering nor air conditioning. Women are still under represented in trucking.

[@patriciaa3462]

I agree about the service person being able to sew. I asked one sewing mechanic/engineer (at a craft show) about a stitch. He blew me off with, "I don't sew, I repair machines". Needless to say, I haven't been to his shop. The two fellows in two different shops that I go to, both sew. And they are both honest and have helped me when there have been machine problems. Before I met the family who have the shop in the industrial estate, had one place tell me that they were having difficulty obtaining a computer part for my machine that was in for service. I picked it up the next day - it was a fully mechanical machine.

[@chriswilford3576]

Karen, thank you for another wonderful interview. What a lovely lady Katie is. You can tell she’s been in the front line in her working career. Even through the computer screen she emanates calm and reassurance. Good on her for taking on a predominantly male job. Hope she can perhaps start an apprenticeship programme for new engineers to learn the trade. Her contacts at the schools could maybe a starting point. Here in Australia our schools have apprentice based programs where students go for a day a week to work in hospitals, workshops etc. One granddaughter went to a veterinarian for her beginning training before going to university. Another is now doing a nursing program. Anything is possible if we put our minds to it. Again Karen, wonderful interview 🎉

[@jeannemcmillintwinlakeses3767]

Sadly this is so true. My machine is in the shop right now (tech is a female at my quilt shop) and they are so far behind it's 2 months minimum before she even gets to look at it. Luckily I have a backup machine. Once again a great trade school option instead of college.

[@nitababcock3977]

Sewing machine repair people are difficult to find here where i am in the US but i have a dependable, very knowledgeable one. And he is 4 wks out on fixing things. And i never mess with the tension on my sewing machine.

[@glynisreynolds446]

It was great to meet Katie 😃 I would just love to find someone like her here in the North East 🤔👍 and I think, if I was younger, I would have loved to be a sewing machine engineer 😃👏🇬🇧

[@wendywiese419]

Karen, thank you so much for this interview. Katie is so sweet. Oh, to have her knowledge. Enjoyed every minute. Thanks again.

[@glendahopp]

Really enjoyed the interview. I happen to be lucky enough to have a female tech who has brought my Singer 201 back to peak performance near Detroit MI.

[@JustGetitDoneQuilts]

nice

[@EstrafaDC]

Thanks for another wonderful interview Karen. So great to hear such a delightful conversation with someone who has found a way to help others in her community, to keep necessary knowledge alive. Makes me wonder if she had ever considered sponsoring workshops for repair technicians or budding repair technicians. Like retreats for people interested in this. I don't know how else this knowledge base is going to be passed along. Thanks for all you do! ❤

[@kbsewingmachines]

A great idea.

[@patriciaferrito9245]

In the US, we have to take our machines back to the dealer and they send it back to the factory for service. We never see the service tech. And they warn us that we will void our warranty if we take it to an independent service tech. It's very frustrating to not be able to talk to the person who is working on my machine.

[@dawnfowler6731]

We have a local Viking Husqvarna Sewing Center that does the repair in the store. They send their techs out for training.

[@patriciaferrito9245]

@@dawnfowler6731 You are very lucky. I have a Viking and they send everything out for service. Simple things they send to someone in our region- but the machine owner never talks to them. It's left to the dealer to explain whats wrong. For big things, it goes back to factory service. There is a local Bernina/ Babylock dealer that has their own service techs. But all the other dealers warn owners not to let them touch your machine. They claim it voids the warranty. I wish we could get someone local to do it.

[@juliemorrison4348]

Great interview Karen. What a fascinating lady Katie is. Her shop looks beautiful. My mum was born in that area of England and I still use her old machine she bought with her to Australia in late 1950s.👏♥️🇦🇺

[@gquilter36]

Great, interesting interview, I recently resurrected my 1956 Singer 301A from the cellar. Found a gentleman on KZbin, Andy Tube. He has step by step videos to clean and refurbish Singers. After following his step by step instructions, my machine sings like it did when it was new. Thanks for all your great videos Karen.

[@dorothyyoung8231]

Oh, I had a 301 and it was the BEST machine! Wish I still had it!

[@jocelynemaurice4001]

I have two 301, one in a sewing cabinet and the other portable so I can sew in my gazebo during summer. I also have a vintage bernina 501-2 that was my mother and a Tula pink sewing machine ( I also have a featherweight and a singer 201) I know I have too many but I love all

[@ladyhawthorne1]

Thank you for the Andy Tube channel info!

[@sandraalston4245]

I. Incur; Andy Tube is a gem.

[@sandraalston4245]

Whoops - auto correct strikes again - that is ‘I concur’

[@barbaralazier8352]

Thank you,very informative 🎉. I look forward to seeing you on the London/Iceland cruise

[@kbsewingmachines]

Fabulous! Can’t wait to meet you all. 😊

[@Carol_Sews]

Very interesting interview. I can only speak to Bernina manuals, but I think the reason people don’t read them is because they are not organized in what I consider a logical manner, and their index is not at all helpful. I depend on KZbin videos for learning to use my machines and only go to the manual when I need a very specific piece of information.

[@carlaatkins2619]

Very informative. 🎶💐💖

[@Sourpusscandy]

It’s very satisfying to fix a machine, solve a problem, and learn new things. The Bernina dealer I got my machine from is a certified tech. He and the wife go to Switzerland every few yrs for more training.

[@user-ld2co5bb4d]

Wow! Katie Matthew's is an amazing woman! I'm totally amazed that she does it all. Thank you Karen for this inspiring interview. You are so good at asking all the best analytical questions so we all can get so many details that inspire me. Thank you again!

[@beyesh3760]

❤ AWESOME PROGRAM 😊😊

[@janiesoito4494]

Katie is such a great guest. Thank you for sharing her. 😊

[@madelineking9104]

Amazing Awesome lady ❤

[@AuntGrace]

What a great interview. Love 💕 my older machines. 1932 Featherweight, 1972 Kenmore and 1990’s Pfaff. 👀 Looking for original Pfaff 1471 darning foot If anyone has one they will part with 😊

[@JustGetitDoneQuilts]

Madame sew has all sorts of feet with a convertible foot. Not sure if it would work on your model or not

[@cherylr7180]

Great interview! I’m motivated to find my manuals and learn how to maintain my machines.

[@cinziabeley7059]

Lovely interview, fascinating

[@lucyblum3456]

I learned how to manually make buttonholes in the early 70’s using the zig-zag stitch settings - before the buttonhole attachment!! For me it’s just easier to do them “manually”.

[@maplecountry4230]

It was an absolute delight to meet Katie! This was such a fun Karen’s Quilt Circle! Thank you!🥰

[@conniekline9881]

Thank you for this interview.

[@madelineking9104]

🎉Thank you for this information,

[@Cassandra-..-]

So fun and knowledgeable! Great interview!

[@delwyngraham4033]

Always interesting thanks. I think it’s important to get some instruction when you buy a new machine, like learning to drive

[@dianaballew6329]

Very interesting!! I enjoyed your video, Karen!

[@sylviademaris652]

Karen- I absolutely love your interviews. So informative. Thank you ❤️.

[@deborahlunsford6983]

Lovely interview. I often consult my manuel . It explains how to clean but nothing about oiling. I have gone to youtube for this.

[@sherriejohnson508]

Thank you

[@delaynenielsen4413]

It's quite simple to make a buttonhole on the newer machines. On machines pre zigzag, it was not so easy.

[@kimzsewing3917]

Wow,spoke to my heart ❤ . As a fellow Health worker and now sewing machine shop owner loved this interview . ❤️

[@kbsewingmachines]

Your shop looks amazing 🤩

[@kimzsewing3917]

@@kbsewingmachines thank you so sew much . Love your shop too and maybe one day at a Bernina event we might catch up and say hi in person . Happy Days Kim

[@chriswilford3576]

Is this Kimz sewing in Kawana, Queensland Australia? I used to shop there when I lived on the Sunshine Coast!

[@kimzsewing3917]

@@chriswilford3576 yes this is Kimz from Kimz Sewing HI Chris ……..

[@chriswilford3576]

@@kimzsewing3917Hi Kimz thank you for the reply. Glad to hear you’re still going up there. I bought the Grace long arm frame from your shop. Think it belonged to Pamela. I’ve quilted many charity quilts on it! Isn’t this world of KZbin wonderful when a lady in Canada has a talk with a lady in England and it connects two people in Australia 🇦🇺 Thanks again Karen ❤

[@lauraolson5444]

Karen. This was interesting but hoping you do a more hands on type segment for machine maintenance. 😅

[@ruthl359]

I'm hoping a future video will address rules of thumb for regular home maintenance of our precious machines. As important as our machine techs/engineers are, it's equally important to do our own upkeep between those visits.

[@roseannecarratkinson4271]

I wish we had more choices/people to service machines here in Bountiful Utah. All I have here is dealerships, and they are backed out 3 plus months. I was told to drop it off and it should be ready in 2 weeks. I can't go that long without a machine. So I have taught myself how to maintain my machine, clean and oil. What I can't do is update the computer and fix my fonts.

[@scrappyquilter102]

Really interesting. Thank you. wish I could go to Iceland with you!

[@westcoastwisdom7318]

What a delightful, informative and thoroughly enjoyable listen with my morning cuppa 👏🌻

[@terrihasstedt5855]

What a wonderful show! Thanks Karen

[@debraogle7932]

I am one of those who does read the manual and am disappointed when they are so limited. Almost seems like the writer has left out some of the information when I'm trying to figure something out. I've been a Bernina girl since 1995 when I bought a 1630. Have a 475QE that I bought last year when the quilt show was in Duluth, Ga. I have taken classes with women who had not read the manual because they had to ask "how to" when something wasn't working correctly. They'd say it was to complicated to read. Really enjoyed the program today.

[@marilyngandhi8571]

👋🙂🇦🇺 hope you are enjoying your travels…😊

[@Auntie7024]

Wonderful conversation. Thank you for sharing. Very interesting.

[@susans2599]

When I'm in England I only buy English fabrics. I was in a shop and the owner was trying to sell me kona, and ihad to explain why it was important to buy "local".

[@marilynbehringer2895]

Another interesting show 👍

[@nancyguss6739]

Great interview

[@wandawalker4191]

Fascinating! Thank you, Karen!

[@60nonie]

Thank you Karen for this informative interview. Have a great evening.❤

[@marierehn7757]

Hello Karen. I'm going on a cruise to Iceland too in May15th 2024 Royal Caribbean. That would be a treat if we were on the same cruise.

[@marypitre1874]

What a great interview! It has inspired me to get out my instruction manuals & reread them. Yes, I am one of the sewers who was taught not to touch the top tension...

[@suziehemmer6116]

I loved this

[@TLStitches]

I learned to sew in school when I was 12 in the 70's. We never, in 6 years of sewing classes, discussed machine maintenance and care or simple cleaning. I inherited my mom's old sewing machine after high school, it was used when she got it and there was no manual and she hardly used it and I didn't use it a lot because it didn't work that great (I'd eventually understand why 🤦🏻‍♀️). Years later I bought my first brand new sewing machine, basic, mechanical. No manual came with it and the shop owner never said anything. I was sewing on that machine constantly and one day years later it's sounding very loud. My husband, who is very mechanical, asked when I oiled it last? I felt so stupid. 😳 Not ONCE, EVER, had I seen or heard a single person clean or oil a sewing or mention it, he never watched me use it so he didn't know I wasn't doing that, and he said to me, nicely, it's a machine, you have to clean and oil it like any other machine. I had him show me how to do it and after that I was always thorough with my machines and always read the manuals (now if I get a used one and it doesn't have a manual I find one online). I've actually repaired a few machines myself and replaced worn parts and do basic machine cleaning and very simple repairs. We no longer have anyone locally doing this. I'm hoping one of our many grandsons take an interest in doing this full time. I would, but after many years of sewing/quilting for others, I want to do my own thing again

[@gisellejones1139]

Interesting interview

[@MsCassie272]

I found a "Woman Owned" sewing machine business not far from me. She repaired my 50 year old Elna and even pointed out to me that the previous repairMAN didn't replace my motor...yes, he charged me for it.

[@JustGetitDoneQuilts]

[sigh]

[@cathybroadwood6938]

😍😍😍

[@sw6118]

The other issue is that these computerized machines can track when they are repaired. I’m in the Los Angeles area and I’ve been to two stores for this brand and neither was willing to put in that they had serviced the machine… The old black singers are easy to service…

[@pjinlaca5489]

I just have to say my Featherweight makes the best button holes. Better honestly than my 3 new/computerized machines. Funny…

[@fimuseum]

My manuals sit next go their respective machine and do get read as needed.

[@patriciaa3462]

My sewing machine serviceman has a store in an industrial area too. All bland yucky industrial estate look on the outside. Then nice sewing shop inside. It is a family business of four adults now. He even offered my son a job when he was between jobs, but my son turned it down.

[@path1598]

Katie isn't with the ambulance service any more, but she is a therapist as well as an engineer.

[@rachellemazar7374]

When is your cruise?

[@delaynenielsen4413]

My LQS in Wisconsin the owner is an engineer and three out of four of her employees are female. Only one is male.

[@JustGetitDoneQuilts]

Nice

[@patriciagazey4693]

Tension is still a problem

[@marilyngandhi8571]

I have a Janome…🙂

[@jerryjohnson8145]

Was hoping maybe the interview would actually have mtce tips.....

[@susanbaker8023]

This was an interesting interview. However, really not telling maintenance. Kind of disappointed. I would have appreciated more on the subject.

[@kbsewingmachines]

Hi Susan, with so many brands and models on the market it would be difficult to show how to do home maintenance. If you wanted to message me with the make and model of your machine, I’d be more than happy to run through it with you. I am currently writing a book to cover all home maintenance.

[@chriswilford3576]

@@kbsewingmachinesKatie, please let Karen know when your book is available and I’ll be first in line! I have a Singer Featherweight plus numerous computerised machines. Need all the help we can get! ❤❤🎉

[@kbsewingmachines]

My book is out now on Amazon. The Ultimate Sewing Machine Mastery.

[@karenwerts2331]