The Temecula Valley Sewing Center Blog

New Janome DC2012 Sewing Machine

Posted on January 24, 2012 by b.gottier

Yesterday, Temecula Valley Sewing Center and all Janome dealers received an announcement from Janome, introducing their new limited edition 2012 model, the DC2012. This machine is virtually identical to the DC2011 and HT2008, except with a color change.

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Making The Connection: Bernina 730 & Windows 7

Posted on January 7, 2012 by b.gottier

Bernina Software Certified As a Bernina dealer, you’d think that I should know everything about Bernina software. I am software certified by Bernina, but there’s no way that I could know about all of the installation problems that are associated with the software. Many of these problems are unique to a specific computer or operating system.

Recently, one of our customers purchased Bernina Embroidery Software V6. I installed it for her, and during installation, the installer kindly let me know that ActiveSync was not compatible with Windows 7. My customer had a 64-bit computer, but Windows 7 32-bit may also have this problem.

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3 New Janome Updates Available

Posted on January 4, 2012 by b.gottier

Janome sent an email to Temecula Valley Sewing Center and all Janome dealers, letting us know that three new updates are available for various Janome products. All of the updates are available on Janome’s website. We advise you to download these updates, and install them for optimum performance of your Janome products.

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Just How Heavy Duty Are Today’s Sewing Machines?

Posted on December 30, 2011 by b.gottier

Not all sewing machines are created equal, but over the years, one trend in sewing machine manufacturing has created a sense of distrust in many sewing machine customers. At Temecula Valley Sewing Center, the concern we hear more than any other is that the machines are made of plastic! Well, that’s not entirely true, and this blog post will hopefully help clear up any fears you may have about buying a new sewing machine.

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Sewing Machines Bring Hope

Posted on December 17, 2011 by b.gottier

I am blessed to live in one of the richest nations in the world. I live in the United States, and I am blessed to have food, electricity, running water, a water heater, a bed, and clothes. God provides for my needs in an abundant way, especially when I compare my life to others in the world.

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A New Creative Way of Hooping Stabilizer

Posted on December 9, 2011 by a.woerth

A few weeks ago I discovered Sonia Dewalter Designs, a website for machine embroidery designs. I see the work of many designers, and while I might like a few of their designs, rarely am I blown away by their design abilities. I was very impressed with Sonia’s digitizing abilities, and equally impressed by the videos of the techniques she shares on YouTube.

The most impressive thing I found on Sonia’s website was a hooping video, that offered a new hooping concept, one I had never seen. The video shows a technique that solved my problem of constantly cleaning sticky, gooey, yucky hoops.

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Video: BERNINA – Quality, Innovation, and Swiss Tradition

Posted on November 26, 2011 by b.gottier

Although it’s hard to believe, some people do come in to Temecula Valley Sewing Center who have never heard of a Bernina sewing machine. If you haven’t heard of Bernina, or want to see just who they are, this video is a great introduction.

Bernina has a bunch of videos on YouTube for you to watch. They are very professionally done, and I know you’ll enjoy watching them. Bernina’s YouTube channel is located at http://www.youtube.com/user/BerninaInternational

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Problem With Bernina Check Springs Easily Fixed

Posted on November 18, 2011 by b.gottier

Every sewing machine that I’ve ever seen has a check spring. The check spring is located just before the take-up lever, and takes slack out of the upper thread just as the needle is about to penetrate the fabric.

For some reason, many Bernina machines have a problem where the check spring tends to pop out of position. I don’t really know how this happens, but once it is popped out of position, the machine sews terribly. The machine operator may believe they have tension issues, and the machine may sound loud and rough. Unfortunately, adjusting the tension is not going to help the machine sew better.

For as many sewing machines as I have serviced over the last 12 years, I’ve seen this problem enough to call it a common problem. Take a close look at the image to the right. The check spring is not located in the space (or channel) between the take-up lever guard. Click on the image to enlarge it, and take a closer look.

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Bernina Rotary Hook Bobbin Case Stoppers

Posted on November 12, 2011 by b.gottier

If you have a Bernina rotary hook sewing machine, like the 200, 730, 185, 180, or the 1630, there may come a time when your machine makes a loud rattling sound. This can be caused by a worn out bobbin case stopper, and even after a fresh cleaning and oiling of the machine, the annoying rattling sound may persist. If this is the case, it’s likely that you will need a new bobbin case stopper.

The good news is that these bobbin case stoppers, shown in the image above, are not very expensive. You might even request that you have a new one installed during your next service, just so that you can be assured that the common rattling sound doesn’t start before your machine is due for its next service.

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Embroidery Designs on Balsa Wood

Posted on November 4, 2011 by a.woerth

For the last couple of months, I have been experimenting with embroidering designs, by machine, on balsa wood. What was interesting to me was the reaction of others when I displayed my finished work.

At first, some thought I had embroidered my design on wood grain fabric and pasted it onto the board. Others thought I might have made the design on water soluble stabilizer, rinsed out the stabilizer and glued the design onto the wood. The “light bulb” moment came when my friends and customers touched the designs and realized I had actually stitched directly onto the wood.

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