I've had this machine for a very long time -
it's a Brother Pacesetter XL3001, and by my mom's estimation it's from the late 1970s. Years ago I acquired (more like commandeered) this machine from my mom, and for a long time (decades!) it was my only machine.

Over my years of blogging I have had several people from all over the world contact me wondering how to change stitch length, type, how to thread it, and where to obtain an instruction manual for this machine.

Here ya go. I spent hours scanning and editing to make this available with one caveat:
This manual is for personal use only and NOT for resale.

I hope this helps people out there with this fantastic machine! Click the button below to download the zipped PDF file.

Good morning, all! How's everyone's Saturdays going so far?

Machine Madness
I've had a bit of a rough week - both with respect to my neck (ouch!) and my machine. Grr.

My Singer 9960 decided to start majorly skipping stitches in the homestretch of trying to finish my sister in law's baby quilt. I ripped the casings off of the machine, checked for jammed threads in tension discs (and anywhere else for that matter), cleaned it out, cleaned out the bobbin assembly, changed the needle, changed the bobbin, changed the TOP thread. I basically did everything I could think of to fix the problem - I ended up spending 3 hours on Tuesday morning messing around with it before I figured it must be the worst:

the timing.

Bugger!

So off to my local quilt shop/repair shop I went. He ran through a gamut of tests, only to determine it wasn't my timing.

Fewf!

Uh oh. Sounds expensive.

Nope.

My darning foot's spring mechanism needed oiled. WHUT?! You have to oil PRESSER FEET?!

hahaha. It makes sense. Apparently any moving parts on a presser foot (like in a darning or walking foot, for instance) may need a bit of machine oil once in a while to keep them working correctly - to keep them from skipping stitches. He said if the base of the foot doesn't make full contact as the needle penetrates the fabric to compress it (even if it is a minor compression) the top thread won't be able to scoop the bobbin thread in the assembly and you'll get skipped stitches.

Well. I learned something new.

So!

I managed to finish the binding on the baby quilt yesterday - watch out for a TGIFF post on that project, to come.

I will also go through at some point and post all of the pics of the goodies I made heading my sister in law's way for her baby shower. I had a lot of fun - but the box going to her is HUGE. I fear for our postage bill from Chicago - Vancouver. Eep.

I also have a "new" machine...and if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen it... (@sewathomemummy)....if you don't - I'll be posting about that soon too :D

(maybe I should have another "Name my Machine" contest, lol!)

Swaps
I'm considering hosting another swap here at the end of the summer or in the fall (or maybe even both - do one in August and then another, separate one in October, maybe Christmas themed). It won't be a fabric swap this time, I'm thinking made items - like pouches, pin cushions, machine covers, ornaments, etc. I may very well post a poll, and see what my readers might be most interested in participating in. If you have any thoughts on the matter, please, leave a comment!

Winners Announced
Did you scroll down straight to this part? LOL! Okay, so the winners of one Thread Stem

(this super fantastical gadget which allows you to use a cone on any home machine) are:
Winners, I have contacted you through the email addresses attached to your Blogger accounts.

If you'd like to learn more about the thread stem, click {here} to go to my post about it. It costs under $4, and in the post I do a cost comparison between spools vs. cones - believe me, you'll want to buy cones after this.

Also, if you're interested, I created a poll on Massdrop for major cone brands - if we get enough votes, they'll run the deal at a deep discount, and we'll get our cones for much less than MRSP. Click {here} to head over and vote if you get a chance! (They also have other Aurifil polls on, including ones for 12wt and for Designer's 50wt boxes (like "Simplify", "Binding Box", "Simply Color", etc.!)

Sharing the Coupon Love:
Are you still with me?

I feel like I'm writing a novella today. This is what I get for taking 2 days off.


Here are the super-skookum (that's a technical term) deals I've come across in my inbox this week from some of my sponsors/affiliates. Please feel free to add any of your own to the comments below - let's share the coupon love!

Sewing Machines Plus.com
I order a lot of my presser feet and bobbins, etc., through them, and I've heard that they have really excellent service with respect to machine purchases, too (from what other bloggers have said online). I see they are having a sale on thread and needles - I'm considering making a purchase of machine needles - I really need to change mine more often! They say after every 6 hours of sewing you should switch out.

Anywho!

Here's the code: 2014SMDW


Mad About Patchwork