Project Runway Brother Sewing Machine-- Let's Thread It and Sew!

 

 Learn how to use this machine and sew with it. Let's wind a bobbin, thread the machine, change the needle. We will also talk about the options for stitches and changing their width and length. Lots more!

This is the Brother Project Runway sewing machine. Let's start by winding a bobbin. So, we have a thread spool that's going to go on the top, but we also need to get the same color thread onto our bobbin, so it can go down in the bottom of the machine. So, we will start by taking your thread and taking this spool cap off of the spool pin, and put your spool of thread on the spool pin. Doesn't matter which way it goes. Put the spool cap back on top so it doesn't fly off of there. And then we're going to be following this diagram right here. So you can follow the dotted line to this little guide. That's going to be this silver thing here. And then you can see it goes behind this plastic thing, which is this white thing back here. And then it comes in front of the plastic thing. And then it goes around the silver tension disc in this way. And then it comes over here and goes into the bobbin. So let's do that. So we're going to hook it under this guide. Hook it under the plastic guide. Bring it over the plastic one. And then it's showing the string is going behind the hookie part of the metal and then in front of it and around and then in front of the tension disc. Then you need to take your other hand and pull here like this. So you can make sure it really went in the tension disc, so it's really in there. Okay. So then you'll take the thread tail and stick it into one of the holes on the bobbin, so that it's going in through the inside, and up out the top of the bobbin like that. And there's a picture there if you forget how that should look. Okay. Then we're just going to put the bobbin onto this bobbin winder post and push the whole post over.

That tells the machine to wind the bobbin when you hit the pedal. So, I'm going to hold this tail up and I'm going to hit the pedal.

Okay, I'm going to stop it right there. It's so quiet it makes you think something's wrong. Okay, so now we'll pop it back over to the original position and pull the bobbin off of there. And I trimmed that tail. Now I'm just going to cut this anywhere to separate it from the rest of it. Okay. So now we have our wound bobbin. So now let's thread the top part of the machine. So we'll take the thread out of this tension disc. This is only used for winding the bobbin. So now we're going to bring the thread. It came around this guide and now it's going to come straight down this channel. Okay. So the guide is marked with a number one. And the channel here has a two on it.

Okay. So, once you brought it down this number two channel, you'll see right here is a three, which shows an arrow coming down and back up. So, we're going to come down and back up. When you come back up, stay to the right side of this channel because this is our number four. We're going to come around like this. Okay. Now, you can't see it because it's deep inside there, but there's a takeup lever in there, that silver thing. And you want to make sure your thread is actually going around it. Okay. So, it is. Okay. So, now we'll come down here by the needle. And here you'll see the number five. So, we're bringing it down. Okay. And now what we need to do is put the thread behind this little silver metal bracket. So, I'm going to hold it in both hands like this. And then I have the tail in my right hand. Bring that up and put it around that little bit of metal and pull it. So now it comes straight down. Gonna rotate the wheel just a little to get the needle's eye to come up. And I'm going to thread the needle from front to back. Actually, I'll show you how to use the needle threader. So here's the needle threader. This whiteish gray thing here. So, I'm going to press it down all the way. And it's very hard to see, but a little microscopic hook has come from front to back through that needle. So, now, do you see this little triangly metal shape over here? We're going to take the thread as we continue to hold this down with our right hand. Take the thread around that triangle of metal like that. So, see how it went around it over the top and now it's coming it's going horizontally. So, there are these little shapes here and I don't know how to describe them, but I'm going to lay the thread into them like that. And then with this thread tail, just kind of pull upward like that. That makes sure that the upside down hook is getting it. Now, at the same time, I'm going to release my grip in the right hand while I let this gray lever go up. Now I'm letting go of my grip so that it can pull the thread through as I do that. Okay, so it worked. It threads it with a loop. So it makes there be a loop behind the needle which you then just have to grab and pull through. So that's how you do the needle threader. And then we're ready to put the bobbin in. Okay, this is our bobbin area. So we need to open up this little clear door. So you can just take this little switch and see there's an arrow pointing to the right. So just take the switch, push it over to the right, and then that door is going to pop open, and take that off. Then we will take our newly wound bobbin, and we're going to put it down in there. But you have to be aware that there's a way that it goes. It needs to go counterclockwise. So if you forget that, there's a picture of it here. So you can't flip it over and have it be going clockwise. You have to make sure it's going the right way and then put it in there. Okay. And then it's really easy. This is something I like about this machine. The bobbin -- you don't have to bring it up through, like you would on other machines because it has this little blade right here. Anytime you see that little blade, that means you don't have to do anything. So, you just bring this tail, see this arrow, and you're going to come up this little channel over here and it's going to cut it. And I'm going to hold on to it just so I can help it cut. Okay. So, that is all you have to do. So, I really like that. That's a nice feature of this machine. So, now we'll put this back on. So, just put the little tab in first and press down. So, the machine should be ready to sew. So, let's get a test piece and try it out. So, I'm going to take some fabric and put it underneath the presser foot. This is the presser foot. And before you begin, the presser foot always needs to be lowered. So, I'm going to reach back here and lower this lever down. All right, I'm going to go ahead and hit the pedal.

Okay. And then when you're ready to take it out, you can see the needle has stopped down in the fabric. So, we'll need to turn that hand wheel towards us to get it up out of there. And then we'll reach back there for that presser foot lever again to lift that and we can pull the fabric out. Over here, there's a thread cutter on the side of the machine. So, you just bring your thread around that. It cuts it. Okay. So, here's the stitch that we sewed. Not this, that was already there. But you can see it looks pretty good. And then flip it over. Looks nice. Looks like a good balanced stitch. Now, I'm going to tell you the thing I really dislike about this machine, and you might have already noticed it yourself. This is common on Brother machines. I don't know why they do this, but okay. So, see the stitch selections over here. So, zero is what the machine starts on when you power it up. Zero is a straight stitch that is off to the left if you look at the needle. And that's what we've got here. Here's our needle. Here's our opening. And the needle is off to the left. It's not in the center.

See how it's not centered? There are times where you would want this, but I hate that it starts on this. So, in order to get your machine to go back to center, you have to put it on number one, which is a straight stitch that's centered. So, I'll go here and I'll hit this one, and watch, the needle will move. Now it's in the proper location that I think it should be in when it powers up. The main reason I don't like that the machine starts with the needle in the left position, is that teach a lot of kids and beginners. And I just know when I see something that's going to cause them trouble. So I'm always trying to teach them what a seam allowance is. And what that is is the distance from your needle to the raw edge of the fabric. When you move your needle, you can no longer use the seam allowance markings that are on the machine and have it be accurate. So, if the machine powers up and has the needle to the side, that's not something a kid or a beginner is going to remember that they need to change as soon as they turn the machine on every time in order for their seam allowance guides to be accurate. Now, let's get into these different buttons on the screen here. So you saw that I changed these numbers to change the stitch selection. So like if you wanted 11, you would now change the first digit and now it's on 11. If you wanted to go back to one, you would change the first digit to zero. Now it's back to 01. So you just change which digit you want with these up and down buttons until you get to whatever you want.

Right here it tells you what presser foot they recommend you use with the stitch that you've selected. So they have letters for all their presser feet. This one says to use presser foot J. So let's see maybe if I did this weird number 27.

So now it recommends that I use this other foot N. Okay. Then these two selections here are going to be your stitch length and your stitch width. So they're very small, but these images should look familiar. That is a dotted line, like a stitch that is varying in length, and that is a zigzag that is varying in width. It starts out wide and then it gets little. So that's what those two symbols are trying to communicate. So stitch length is going to be changed by these buttons here. And I do like that they put a little oval around the number three stitch length to to remind you that that's normal. So if you've moved away from the normal stitch length, it's nice that you can find your way back in in case you forget. So stitch length is going to be how long or densely packed your stitches are. Number four is going to be a basting stitch, down to like a one is going to be a really tight stitch that you don't want to come out. And stitch width is going to be, you know, if you have a zigzag or some other stitch, that's how wide that stitch is going to be. So, you can change that. I'm going to go back to our straight stitch number one.

And I do want to also point out that you can use your stitch width button as a needle position button. Same concept as before. If I move the up and down buttons on the stitch width, you can move the needle position.

This is the reverse button. So, if you press that, the machine's going to begin sewing backwards. If you pull on this, you can remove the storage compartment, exposing your free arm. This allows you to put a sleeve or a pant leg around this free arm so that you can sew and not have it get stuck. And then of course you can put things in here to store them, and slide it back on. Here on the back of the machine, we have a feed dog switch. So these are your feed dogs here. And if you would like to disengage them, you can do that. See how they sunk underneath? That's so you can do free motion. Okay, my friends. Well, thank you so much for watching that video on the Project Runway Brother. I hope that helped you make an informed buying decision if that's what you're doing, or if you already have the machine, I hope that it helped you thread it and use it, and you are on to your sewing projects. So, if you found value in this video, please do give my video a Like. And if you like sewing deep dives and machine tutorials and troubleshooting and things of that nature, please do subscribe to our Pindrop Shop channel. We put out a new video every Monday and we would love for you to be around for that. So, anything else you have to say down in the comments, please do say something. I love to hear from you guys. And I thank you again for watching. And until next time, happy sewing.