The Saga of the Sewing Machine Continued
I thought It Was Over, but the Saga of the Sewing Machine Continued
When I ordered and received the Husqvarna Viking Jade 20 sewing machine a little over a week ago, I thought it was over. But it turned out that the saga of the sewing machine continued.
Click here to read or watch the first part of the Saga.
With my circle skirt finished, I had moved on to other projects. One of these was a fun but quick little project, bandana style bibs for my 7 month old son Fynn. When running one of them through the machine, I kept noticing the stitches puckering or gathering.
No matter what I tried to do, nothing changed. No matter how hard I googled, I could find nothing. I was wondering if it was because of the thread I was using or if you had to thread a vertical spool differently. So the next day, I gave myself another 2 hours of trying to trouble shoot the sewing machine before packing it up and seeking help.
Off to My Local Joann Fabrics for Another Round of the Saga of the Sewing Machine
My husband wanted to run some errands and offered to drop me off at Joanns, but I made him come in with me. I hate returning things, or asking for refunds. Something deep within me just loathes it and it makes for super awkward interactions. My husband however has no problem. So armed with my order and the new lower price of the machine, we loaded Fynn into the carrier and headed into the store.
The first stop was the sewing center. A very nice woman was working that day rather than the poor woman whom I had badgered three different times about machines. I explained my problem and she had me sit down and set up my machine. She grabbed some sample fabric and some different thread and together, with the manual, we walked through everything I had done and tried.
She praised me on my research and what I had learned about caring for the machine and its proper use. Let’s just say I did my research on this one folks. Most things I tend to dive right in but for this big step in crafting, I wanted to make sure I did it right (or as close to right as I could get).
Together, we determined that the tension dial wasn’t adjusting anything and that the machine might be a lemon. Another scenario was that it just broke early…very early. So we took the machine up to the front registered prepared to need to talk to a manager, and demand that they take back the machine.
Joann’s actually gave me my refund, and then let me take the machine home to make sure I had all of the parts and to switch out my stretch needle. They were so nice about it.
The Saga Continued…
Before heading to Joann’s I did a quick search to see that the machine was still being offered online. It was, and at a lower price. So after getting my refund, I returned home to pack up the broken sewing machine, and reorder a new one.
When I went to place my order, I couldn’t believe it. They were out of stock online. So I started checking other stores. It looked like they were sold out at a few places. Next, I started Googling around to find whether it was available anywhere.
My husband suggested that I broaden my search with Joann’s stores, and thank God he did. About half an hour to a quarter of an hour away in Butler, the store had it. I called and triple checked, they had it! I had them hold it. Then I hopped into the truck with Fynn, returned the broken machine all packaged up, and then headed down Route 8 to Butler.
Finally I had the new sewing machine in my hands
Was it really over though?
Having gone through all of these hoops to get a working machine, I was still holding my breath. I thought, watch me get this home and find it’s a refurbished machine and it’s missing something. But low and behold, it was a brand new machine with everything in tact.
This morning I set the brand new Jade 20 sewing machine up on my great grandmother’s sewing desk and tested it out. The machine is perfect. So while I think the saga of the sewing machine might be over…there is still time for something else to go wrong. I am hoping and praying that it won’t though. I’m not confident that I could find another one of these machines with covid.
6 Comments
Julianne Hill
So ready for this. Just got a used Pfaff 7570 that doesn’t yet work.
Maggie
Have you been able to trouble shoot the machine to see what the problem is/was?
Susan Lee
I still have my moms 35 year old viking 150 many memories with this machine. My 25 year old daughter “borrowed” it to make masks so i had a 10 year old singer i had gotten for said daughter for christmas 10 years ago. I could not get the singer to work right no matter what i did. Brought the machine in to tuned up fixed, whatever. The only shop in this town is a viking store and repairs are out 6 weeks. While chatting with the owner he asked if i had seen the viking emrald 116, he did a quick demo and i was sold. I have had this machine for a week now and not one moment to try it yet. Long story short when i told my daughter about the new machine she said ” do i get to keep omas machine?” She was crying with excitement becayse she gets to keep her beloved grandmas machine. And of course i was crying too, so many memories to pass on and to make.
Maggie
Susan that is so so so sweet! I’m glad that you were able to keep the older machine in the family. We’ve put ours away until we have the time to devote to it. I hope you get to try the new machine soon! Let me know what you end up making!
Debbie
I loved reading this! I also inherited my Mother in-laws sewing machine older than yours. She said you can have that old thing it doesn’t work right. I sat down messed with it, I had watched my Mother and Grandmother sew for many years, and within 30 min she was purring along not missing a beat. My husband walks in and onfir.s us he used to pretend he was driving and would shift gears with all the things that would turn! I made my now grown daughter Easter dresses, costumes, prom dress, and my four brothers quilts on this old girl. She’s still stitchin!
Maggie
That’s awesome! Did you ever find something that needed to be “fixed”? We know we have a belt that we need to be replaced, but I don’t know enough about the mechanics to troubleshoot further than that.