Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ______ My machine number: ______ My threading buddy: ______________________
Directions: Part 1 is the parts diagram; label the seven parts. Part 2 is the four machine safety rules, the close-down routine, and the broken needle rule; copy them and sign. Part 3 is the threading steps and the threading license. Part 4 is the paper practice record. Part 5 is the blanket stitch step card (hand station and no-machine path). Your machine number is yours for the whole unit: same student, same machine, every day.
One sentence before anything else: a machine does the same stitch your hands do, faster, and it does not know your finger is there.
Word bank in other languages
| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| sewing machine | dikiş makinesi | máquina de costura | máquina de coser |
| needle | iğne | agulha | aguja |
| presser foot | baskı ayağı | calcador | prensatelas |
| feed dogs | dişli (transport dişlisi) | dentes impelentes | dientes de arrastre |
| bobbin | mekik (alt masura) | bobina (carretilha) | bobina (canilla) |
| take-up lever | iplik verici kol | alavanca da linha | palanca del hilo |
| hand wheel | el çarkı | volante | volante |
| foot pedal | pedal | pedal | pedal |
| unplug | fişini çekmek | desligar da tomada | desenchufar |
| blanket stitch | battaniye dikişi | ponto caseado | punto de festón |
Part 1: The seven parts
Image described in words for the diagram: a side-front view of a basic sewing machine sitting on a table. The machine has an upright arm on the left rising to a top bar that reaches right, then bends down into a head. Seven parts are numbered with lines pointing to them. 1 points to the thin needle at the bottom of the head. 2 points to the small metal foot just behind the needle, resting on the flat bed. 3 points to two short rows of tiny metal teeth in the flat bed, directly under the foot. 4 points to a small round spool in a case under a sliding plate in the bed, just left of the needle. 5 points to a slotted metal arm at the top left of the head. 6 points to a large wheel on the right end of the machine body. 7 points to a shoe-shaped pedal on the floor with a cord running to the machine. A separate small drawing shows the cord taped flat to the table and the floor.
Label each number and write what it does.
| Number | Part name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 |
Which part is the most dangerous, and why?
Which part surprises you, and why?
Part 2: The four machine safety rules
Copy them.
- _______________________________________________________________________
- _______________________________________________________________________
- _______________________________________________________________________
- _______________________________________________________________________
Plus the habit that is not a rule: turn the ______________ toward you to see what a stitch does before you touch the pedal.
The close-down routine, every machine day, no exceptions:
- Presser foot ______________ (down).
- Power ______________ (off).
- Chair ______________ (in).
The broken needle rule: a broken needle is ______________ and ______________ to the teacher, both pieces, flat on an open palm. It is never thrown in the trash and never left on the floor.
The machine doctor tag: if your machine jams or acts wrong: tag it, tell the teacher, move to a spare machine or the hand station, keep working. Reporting a problem is what a professional does.
Machine rules agreement
I know the four machine safety rules. I know where my hands go and where they never go. I know to switch off or unplug before I change a needle or reach under the plate. I know the close-down routine and I will run it every machine day. I know the broken needle rule. I know what the machine doctor tag is for.
Signed: ______________________________ Date: ______________
Part 3: Threading, step by step
Every machine is a little different. The manual at your machine is the authority, not the teacher.
Threading the top
Step 1. Put the spool on the spool pin.
Picture: a thread spool pushed down onto a short upright pin on top of the machine.
Step 2. Pull the thread through the first guide.
Picture: thread running from the spool to the right, through a small metal hook near the top.
Step 3. Bring the thread down and around the tension dial.
Picture: thread running down the left face of the machine, looping around a numbered dial, and back up.
Step 4. Bring the thread up and through the take-up lever, back to front.
Picture: thread going up into a slotted metal arm and out through the hole at its end.
Step 5. Bring the thread down through the lower guides.
Picture: thread running down past two small hooks toward the needle.
Step 6. Thread the needle, front to back.
Picture: thread going through the needle's eye from the front side of the machine toward the back, with about four inches hanging out.
The bobbin
Step 7. Take a wound bobbin, or wind one.
Picture: a small spool of thread held in the fingers.
Step 8. Open the plate and drop the bobbin in the case the way the arrow shows.
Picture: a sliding plate open in the machine bed, a bobbin sitting in a round case, and a small printed arrow showing which way the thread unwinds.
Step 9. Pull the bobbin thread through the slot.
Picture: bobbin thread pulled sideways into a narrow groove in the case.
Step 10. Close the plate.
Picture: the sliding plate closed flat over the bobbin area.
Step 11. Hold the top thread and turn the hand wheel one full turn toward you.
Picture: one hand holding the top thread lightly, the other turning the big wheel toward the front, and a small loop of bobbin thread appearing through the hole in the plate.
Step 12. Pull the loop up and lay both threads back under the presser foot.
Picture: two threads, top and bobbin, pulled back behind the needle and lying under and behind the foot.
The threading license
Thread the top and load the bobbin at your own machine while your buddy checks every step against this guide. When every step matches, your buddy initials. Then the teacher checks the tension and the bobbin drop and initials. Two initials is a license: from then on you sit at a machine you threaded yourself.
Buddy check, every step matched: ______ (buddy initials) Teacher check: ______ (teacher initials)
Part 4: Paper practice record
No thread in the machine. The needle punches holes in the paper, and the holes show exactly how straight your line was. Hold the finished sheet up to the light.
The three drill sheets (teacher prints one set per student):
Sheet 1, described for printing: a portrait page with three straight lines down the page, each a quarter inch thick and nine inches long, with a START dot at the top of each.
Sheet 2: one large S curve from the top of the page to the bottom, a quarter inch thick, with a START dot.
Sheet 3: a six inch square drawn in a quarter inch line, START dot at one corner, an arrow showing the direction, and at each corner the words NEEDLE DOWN, FOOT UP, PIVOT, FOOT DOWN.
| The line | Did my holes stay on the line? (1 to 3) | What made it hard |
|---|---|---|
| The straight line | ||
| The curve | ||
| The square (pivot at each corner) |
With thread, on scrap:
| The check | Yes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|
| Hands stayed to the sides of the needle | ☐ | ☐ |
| One foot on the pedal, the other flat on the floor | ☐ | ☐ |
| Pulled every pin out before it reached the foot | ☐ | ☐ |
| Seam is about a quarter inch from the edge | ☐ | ☐ |
| Backstitched three or four stitches at the start and the end | ☐ | ☐ |
One sentence: what does a machine give you that your hands do not, and what does it take away?
Part 5: The blanket stitch (no-machine path)
What it is for: it finishes a raw edge so it cannot fray, and it decorates at the same time. It is the stitch for felt edges, blanket edges, and appliqué. A machine cannot do it the way a hand can.
Step 1. Knot your thread and come up a quarter inch in from the edge.
Picture: a needle coming up through felt a quarter inch from the edge, with the knot underneath.
Step 2. Bring the needle around and over the edge.
Picture: an arrow looping the thread over the top of the edge from back to front.
Step 3. Go back in a quarter inch along, and a quarter inch in from the edge.
Do not pull it tight yet.
Picture: the needle entering the felt a quarter inch further along the edge, with thread still loose.
Step 4. Before you pull, pass the needle through the loop of thread lying along the edge.
This is the step that makes it a blanket stitch instead of a whipstitch.
Picture: the needle tip passing under a loop of thread that runs along the very edge of the felt.
Step 5. Pull snug.
The thread now lies along the edge with a little bar going over it, like a capital L on its side.
Picture: a finished blanket stitch: a line of thread running along the edge with evenly spaced bars standing up from it into the fabric.
Step 6. Repeat, keeping the spacing even.
Picture: six or seven blanket stitches marching along an edge, all the same width apart.
Step 7. At a corner, take two or three stitches into the same corner hole and fan them.
Picture: three stitches radiating out from one hole at a corner of the felt, like a small fan.
Step 8. Finish off.
Three tiny stitches in one place, then a knot, then trim.
Picture: snips cutting a thread tail close to a finished blanket-stitched edge.
Second item, your choice:
| Option | What it is | The steps |
|---|---|---|
| Felt bookmark | One piece of felt, two by seven inches, blanket stitched all the way around the edge, with your name or initial added in backstitch | Blanket stitch the edge, then backstitch the letters |
| Pin cushion | Two felt squares, four by four inches, blanket stitched on three sides, stuffed, then closed on the fourth side | Blanket stitch three sides, stuff firmly but not to bursting, blanket stitch or whipstitch the fourth side, finish off |
My item: ______ bookmark ______ pin cushion
Self-check: even spacing 1 2 3 thread passed through the loop every time 1 2 3 corners fanned 1 2 3