I like making things: A quick update on the Brother XL 703 and gift making

Monday, December 8, 2014

A quick update on the Brother XL 703 and gift making

I have finished the second set of leather coasters. I am very happy with both sets. (Pictures after Christmas). We still have a leather belt to make for a grandson. That will be this week's project out in the workshop.

At the weekend I started on the hats and neck warmers for our hunting friends. I made a very nice hunter green hat on Saturday. My husband said it wouldn't be any good for the hunters though as by this time of year the leaves have all turned brown and that's when they hunt. Luckily, I have some lighter brown and tan yarn so I made a hat and a neck warmer yesterday and will make the same again today. Then I will be finished making knitted gifts. Decided to forego on the mittens as I am running out of time. (Again, pictures after Christmas. Don't know who reads my blog so don't need them getting a sneak preview).
I do now however have a nice hunter green hat. That will be the first thing I have knitted for myself. I will make a green and red pom pom for it and it will be my Christmas hat.

Now, back to the Brother XL 703 sewing machine. It has been needling me that it isn't working. I now have the manual so really wanted to get it to work. No matter what I was doing to it though, it kept snapping the cotton and the fabric was moving to the right and getting scrunched up. Was the feeder thing broken maybe and that was the cause?

Yesterday, after finishing knitting, I took another look. I un-threaded the machine and ran the fabric through it and the fabric went nice and straight so it wasn't the feeder.

After a lot of testing I isolated the cause. It was the lever that goes up and down that the cotton goes through before it goes down to the needle. It had been pushed against the frame and was catching the thread and not allowing it to be pulled through and was snapping the cotton where it was threaded through the needle. I pushed the lever away from the frame and amazingly it stayed there and is now sewing well.

I didn't get chance to try everything in the manual but I did try a few of the stitches and they worked just fine. I am so happy happy happy. After I am done with Christmas preps I will sit down and go through the manual and try all the different processes. That will probably be a New Year project as I still have a ton of things to do for Christmas.

The blue stitching was done
on the brother XL 703

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I started this blog in 2011: Ever since my Mum taught me to knit at the age of about six or seven I have made things. Back then it was doll clothes. I was also inspired by Mrs Levitt an elderly lady who had a sewing room in a conservatory type room on the back of her house. I would sit and watch her in awe as she sewed.

When I was a child living in England the school system was such that you started at 5 years, did two years in Infant School, then four years in Primary School then five to seven years in Secondary School, depending on whether you chose to stay on after fifth form to get qualifications to go to University. I can't remember much of the Infant school other than making the standard square doily thingy from fabric that had holes in it so you could embroider patterns into it. A bit like the modern day cross stitch fabric but with bigger holes and spaces to make it easy for small hands to use. I also remember with great joy getting a toy sewing machine one Christmas which sewed only chain stitch but I did make doll clothes on it and that was before I started Primary school. I do have very vivid recollections of Primary school and having sewing and knitting lessons. In Primary school I knitted gloves and made a dress from scratch hand sewing it all.

Secondary school continued on with sewing by which time I had progressed to using full sized sewing machines and was making more intricate skirts and dresses. My parents bought me a proper sewing machine when I was thirteen. I used that same machine right up until I emigrated to Canada at age forty six years.

I have always had a fascination for sewing machines and knitting machines. I bought my first knitting machine at around age twenty one from an ad in a newspaper for twelve pounds. I had absolutely no idea what one was just that I wanted one. I trundled on the bus to the address in the advert and handed over my twelve pounds having absolutely no idea what I had really bought. Fortunately it came with a manual. It was an aged Knitmaster, very basic and I loved it. I wore it out. Next was a Brother push button one which I didn't keep because it was at a time in my life when things were difficult. Later on in my life, around forty, when things were better I bought a brand new Brother punchard machine with a ribber attachment. I loved it and made many things. Life took a different turn, I moved countries twice and along the way, regrettably I sold it.

Now, through the universe's blessing I now have another machine. It is a vintage one because they stopped making them early 90's but works perfectly and I love it. So I decided to make this blog to document my knitting progress and include sewing projects.

In 2013: we embarked on a new hobby, leather-work. My husband got started with it and it drew me in. It is something we can do together. We have a workshop so have plenty of room to work. We added another workbench for me to work on in 2013. We already had one but we were tripping over each other both trying to work at it. We only make things we want to make. It is strictly a hobby. We made some things for our good neighbours who help us out a lot. I am also working on Christmas presents. So this blog now incorporates the leather-work. Knitting and sewing will always be my first love though.

Fast forward to 2023 and now age almost 75 years. I have seven sewing machines, four knitting machines, several ribber attachments and a garter carriage for one of the machines. I am blessed beyond words, but I know that I have more than enough machines to keep me going in my lifetime so I don’t think I will be adding to my collection any time soon……….unless a nice embroidery machine manifests itself very cheaply.

I am a Brit living in the USA, sometimes I spell like a Brit and sometimes like an American. Sometimes I use slang and even make grammatical errors. I blog for the pleasure of it and to record my endeavours in the event that my memory fades, as I am sure it will with more age. I will be able to look back and remind myself of the things I have made along the way. So please forgive my mistakes when reading about my life making things here in the hinterlands and I hope you get as much enjoyment from my blog as I do from reading the blogs I follow.

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Monday, December 8, 2014

A quick update on the Brother XL 703 and gift making

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