Learning Your Machine

If you’ve been following along on Instagram, I recently sold (almost) all my used sewing machines and sergers to fund a new set of sewing machines for my summer camps. I wanted something pretty basic, mechanical, but with enough features and power that anyone coming to class could use it. It needed stretch stitches, a zipper foot, and a buttonhole. I found ALMOST everything I wanted in the Singer M3220 which was a STEAL at $160!

If you have a new or new-to-you machine, here’s a good breakdown of what’s probably included, how to use it, how to test your stitches and sew a buttonhole. In under 30 minutes!

As a Community Member you get access to this video as part of your membership so I hope you enjoy the review! If you have questions after watching, write them below and I’ll get back to you!

what’s included

4 bobbins, an extra spool pin & felt pad, a screwdriver, a brush/seam ripper, a quilting guide, two spool caps, some needles, a feed dog cover, an all purpose presser foot, a zipper foot, a button foot and a buttonhole foot.
In the video I reference that these are 90 universal needles. If you need a refresher, check out this post.

spool caps

These two spool caps are perfect for different sizes of thread spools. Use the smaller one for 250y spools and the larger one for 500+y spools.

presser feet

In addition to the all purpose foot already installed in the machine, here are the extras: the long white buttonhole foot, the metal zipper foot and the small blue tipped zipper foot. The blue bit is grippy silicone so the button doesn’t move.

original bobbins

As noted in the tension checklist post, it happens that original bobbins get lost or you end up buying new ones and getting them mixed up. If down the road, you’re unsure of which was the original bobbin, you’re hooped to decide if the bobbin size and shape is the issue. Mark your bobbins that come with the machine!

Here you can see the amazing stitch quality of this very reasonably priced machine! I’m very happy with my decision as it works well on all sorts of different fabrics!