On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 01:39:08 -0800 (PST), Sarge
wrote:

second nature) but not how to work the blasted machine. Like having a

Most sewing machine stores have machine operation classes that are a very good
idea to take. Even if you didn't buy the machine there, it's often possible
to buy a few hours of instructional time on your machine specifically.

Or see if any of the teaching members of http://www.paccprofessionals.org
are near you. You may also want to consider joining ASG
(http://www.asg.org) and Patternreview (http://www.patternreview.com).

May I make some suggestions for you?

Books:
Carol Ahles: Fine Machine Sewing. Work through the basics chapters as soon as
you have some experience operating a machine. Yes, it looks fussier than you
probably want to do... do it anyhow. Particularly, tackle the chapters on
hemming and rehemming and narrow hemming fairly early on. It'll save you a
lot of time.

John Giordano: The Sewing Machine Guide. More on how to choose and use
various features of mechanical machines, as well as general machine care, but
it's got good stuff in it.

Gale Grigg Hazen: Owner's Guide to Sewing Machines, Sergers and Knitting
Machines. Care and feeding, and how bad sewing habits make good machines work
poorly, and can even damage the machine.

Nancy Bednar and Joann Pugh-Gannon: Encyclopedia of Sewing Machine Techniques.
Things you probably never thought of doing with a machine.

Videos and DVDs:
Connie Crawford: Studio Sewing Skills (consider buying the student packet, too).
Covers the processes used in garment sewing, starting with threading a machine
properly. A whole heck of a lot of "bad sewing machine" issues are actually
misthreaded sewing machine, bad needle, wrong needle, bad thread or incorrect
seam starting issues. Just for grins, take a look at:
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/22521551 and see if you recognize
any problems you've seen before. g

Islander Sewing Systems: lots of good stuff, but I'd suggest you may especially
want to pay attention to her pinless sewing methods. You'll see them on most
of the videos, but they're explicitly explained on the Industrial video,
starting about 12 minutes in.

Judy Barlup: Japanese Tailoring