About two years ago I purchased a few kits from RipstopByTheRoll.com – their Zipper Pouch Kit and their $10 kit. They were partially for sewing practice and brush off long dormant sewing skills, but mostly for learning some new skills. (You see, I have zipper cowardice.)
I did do a little bit of sewing at the beginning of the pandemic. 1
In learning how to get started sewing (again) I had to make sense of my sewing machine, settings, and sewing basics:
- Brother XM3700 overview, settings
- I had no idea what I was doing or what the dials were supposed to do. Clockwise from left to right, they are the string tension (should stay between 3-5), left-right movement (irrelevant to straight stitches and seemingly best between 2-3 for zig zags), stitch length (between 1-3), and then the stitch selection dial (sticking with 2 for straight stitch and 3 for zig zags)
- Using the automatic needle threader which way more helpful than I expected it to be
- I created a “stitch sampler” where I noted the settings used for each stitch
Annotated stitch sampler, with a stripe in one corner to orient the stitch setting guide
- I quickly discovered that the large Gutermann’s thread spool I’d purchased had way too large a core to work with the spool holder on my sewing machine. Thus, I created a plastic insert that helped keep it from wobbling, which meant it would sometimes bounce right off the spool holder. It was a little wobbly, so I printed a second one which worked beautifully.
RBTR zippered pouch, and spool adapters pictured
- Zipper sewing foot
- RBTR $10 “Stuff Sack” Kit
RBTR Stuff Sack
- RBTR Zipper Pouch Kit
RBTR Zipper Pouch kit, all zipped up
- When it comes to the guides by RBTR, I really have no notes. Their video guides are helpful, detailed, and very accessible. I got over my zipper cowardice very quickly by just watching the video a few times, letting it play while I went slowly, and pausing to go over each step. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to use the skills I’ve developed here to build a new EDC bag.