New Toy

So for almost a year, I've been wanting an embroidery machine. Even though I don't do a ton of sewing, I figure it would give me a little bit of motivation since historical clothes tend to be embroidered, and that's what I want to make.

I bought a Brother Designio embroidery machine. It's a lot different than a serger or sewing machine. For one, you have to use special bobbin thread, and that thread never shows on the right side. Second, it has no pedal. You just push a button to start it and it will stop when the design is done or if the thread color needs to be changed. Some designs use 5-6 colors or more, some only use 1 or 2.

Last night I set it up and it was a disaster. The needle that came in the machine broke. The needle I put in after that fell out of the shaft and broke [my fault, it wasn't in as tight as I thought]. It also took me forever to figure out the hoops even with the instructions. So after all that, I called it a night and went to sleep.

Then I woke up and decided to try again. I wanted to do a sample design to make sure my machine works properly. Everything went smoothly! I'm going to mess around with some more designs tonight.

The hoops also have a grid guide for exact placements, and I can upsize, downsize, and rotate designs if needed. I can also make vertical designs horizontal. It's pretty cool!

ETA: oops, the hoop was on wrong. It's been fixed, though.

Oliver started therapy this week. It's more overwhelming for me than it is for him, because it's three hours a day that I have to sit with him and the therapist. The schedule is a little more intense than I thought. Monday and Friday is only one therapy session, Tuesday, Wed, and Thursday are double therapy days.

It is what it is and it's in Oliver's best interest to do this, so whatever. I'll just deal.