Singer 288 Singer 288 Instruction Manual Dear Customer: We recommend that for future reference you record the serial number of your Sewing Machine in the space provided. Refer to illustration below for location of serial number on your machine. Serial No. A Trademark of THE SINGER COMPANY Copyright e 1978 The Singer Company All Rights Reserved Throughout The World Singer 288 Table of Contents 1. Getting to Know Your Sewing Machine Principal Parts--What They Are Called Accessories 2. Getting Ready to Sew Preliminary Steps Threading the Machine Setting Selectors 3. Straight Stitching Sewing a Seam Pin Basting, Starting a Seam, Guiding and Supporting Fabric, Ending a Seam, Curved Seams 4. Zig-Zag Stitching How Patterns Are Produced Adjusting Width of Design Adjusting Stitch Placement Adjusting Stitch Length and Needle-Thread Tension Satin Stitching 5. Twin-Needle Stitching Inserting the Twin Needle Threading the Needle Machine Settings 6. Free Motion Stitching Preparation Script Lettering Floral Designs 7. Sewing the Professional Way Construction Details Scams, Darts, Hems, Zippers Sewing Knit and Stretch Fabrics Buttons Buttonholes Decorative Touches Topstitching, Shell Edging, Monograms and Motifs, Appliqué Keeping Up Appearances Mending, Blanket Binding, Darning 8. Caring for Your Sewing Machine Cleaning and Lubricating Home Service Hints Singer 288 Principal Parts -- what they are called 6. Bobbin Winder Spindle let you fill the bobbin with thread quickly and easily. 7. Hand Wheel manually positions needle. Always turn it toward you. 8. Needle-Thread Tension Dial lets you select the right tension for your stitch, thread, and fabric. 9. Electric Motor drives the machine through a belt to the hand wheel. A Power and Light Switch located on the motor turns on machine and sewing light simultaneously. 10. Built-in Sewing Light illuminates sewing area. 11. Thread Cutter is built into presser bar for safety and convenience. 12. Presser Foot holds fabric against feed. (See item 21.) 13. Needle Plate provides working surface around the feed. 1. Pressure Dial regulates presser-foot pressure on fabric. 2. Take-up Lever controls flow of needle thread. 3. Bobbin-Winder Tension Discs supply just the right amount of thread tension for uniformly wound bobbins. 4. Disc Holder holds any one of the interchangeable stitch pattern discs. 5. Stitch Chart shows the stitches which the pattern discs produce. 14. Slide Plate opens for easy removal and replacement of bobbin 15. Needle Clamp holds single and twin needles. It is designed to eliminate the possibility of inserting needle backwards. 16. Stitch Width Selector controls the width of zigzag stitching and sets the machine for straight stitching. 17. Needle Position Selector places the needle in either (left), (center) or (right) stitching position. 3 Singer 288 Principal Parts continued... 18. Spool Holder with horizontal pin holds spools of various sizes and lets thread unwind smoothly without the spool turning. 19. Stitch Length Selector and Built-In Four-Step Buttonhole Dial has two separate functions. The numbered settings on the stitch length side of the dial allow for a variety of stitch lengths. The four settings for the buttonhole sequence are on the opposite side of the dial. 20. Reverse-Stitch Push Button and Stitch Balancing Control allows you to stitch backwards, and to balance stitching in four-step buttonholes. Pushing the button reverses stitching direction; rotating the button balances side stitching of buttonhole. 21. Feed moves fabric as it is being stitched. 22. Transparent Bobbin shows thread supply; is easily removed for winding. 23. Presser Foot Lifter raises and lowers the presser foot. 24. Electrical Connections and Speed Controller are designed for safety and convenience. To run the machine, press speed controller. The harder you press, the faster the machine will sew. 25. Hand Wheel Knob engages hand wheel to sewing mechanism. Loosen knob for bobbin winding. 4 Singer 288 Accessories The accessories described below will help you to sew with ease and comfort. Some of them may not be supplied with your sewing machine, but they are available for over the counter sales at SINGER stores. CAUTION: Disconnect power-line plug from electrical outlet when changing needles, presser feet or needle plates. BOBBINS · One bobbin in your machine. · Extra bobbins. NEEDLES (See Fabric, Thread and Needle Table for selection of needle.) · Style 2020, Size 14, in place in your machine · Style 2020 needles, for all-purpose sewing · Style 2028 needles, for twin-needle work · Style 2045 needles, for sewing synthetic knit and stretch fabrics Changing the Needle 1. Raise the needle bar to its highest position by turning the hand wheel toward you. 2. Loosen the needle-clamp screw and remove needle. 3. Insert new needle in clamp, with the flat side of the needle to the back; push it up as far as it will go. 4. Tighten the needle-clamp screw. IMPORTANT Your SINGER sewing machine has been : designed to obtain best results with SINGER needles. You should follow the recommendations in this instruction book and on the needle package for correct style and size of needle for different types and weights of fabric. 5 Singer 288 Accessories PRESSER FEET · Interchangeable snap-on presser feet: General purpose foot on your machine Straight stitch foot Buttonhole foot Zipper foot Special purpose foot · One-piece button foot General Purpose Foot The general purpose foot can be used for both straight and zig-zag stitching. Straight Stitch Foot This foot, used for straight stitching only, should be used when your fabric or sewing procedure requires close control. Buttonhole Foot This transparent presser foot has guidelines to simplify buttonhole placement and make it easy to gauge buttonhole length See instructions for making buttonholes. Zipper Foot The zipper foot makes it easy to place stitching close to a raised edge Thus, it is useful for corded seams (page 70) as well as zipper insertion. Special Purpose Foot Use this transparent foot for zig-zag satin stitching and for all kinds of decorative zig-zag stitching. Button Foot This short, open foot holds any two-hole or four-hole button securely for stitching. For instructions on button sewing, see page 86. 6 Singer 288 Changing Snap-on Presser Feet These presser feet snap on and off a common shank. To remove presser foot from shank, raise presser foot and press toe up as far as it will go until it snaps free. To attach new presser foot to shank · Center foot under shank and lower presser foot lifter so that shank opening fits over the hinge pin. · Press down on presser foot screw until shank snaps onto foot. To remove and replace shank of snap-on presser feet, follow instructions below for one piece presser feet. Changing One-piece Presser Feet · Raise needle to highest position. · Raise presser foot lifter. · Loosen presser foot screw (you do not need to remove the screw) and remove the foot. · Hook new foot around the presser bar and tighten presser foot screw. Use a coin to tighten or loosen the presser foot. 7 Singer 288 NEEDLE PLATES The general purpose needle plate on your machine can be used with all presser feet. The straight stitch needle plate is for use with the straight stitch presser foot. The feed cover needle plate is used for button sewing. free-motion work, and darning. Removing and Replacing Needle Plate · Raise presser foot. · Turn hand wheel toward you until the needle is in its highest position. · Open the slide plate. Lift needle plate up and to the right until it snaps free. · Insert new needle plate by placing it under the clamping pin. push it gently to the left and press down until it snaps into place. · Close slide plate. 8 Singer 288 PATTERN DISCS · One removable pattern disc in place on holder in your machine (plain zig-zag stitch). · Additional in interchangeable pattern discs. Each pattern disc is numbered and its design is reproduced on its surface for quick recognition. See illustrations for the patterns. Changing Pattern Discs · Move stitch width selector to (straight-stitch position). · Raise pattern disc lid. · Pull pattern disc releaser up and remove the disc. · Replace with another disc. making certain that the numbered side of the disc is face up and that the notch in the center of the disc fits over the positioning key on the disc holder. Push disc down firmly. 9 Singer 288 SPOOL PIN FOR TWIN-NEEDLE STITCHING This spool pin permits you to stitch two parallel rows of stitching simultaneously. SMALL SPOOL HOLDER This holder retains small-diameter spools of thread on the spool pin. BLINDSTITCH HEM GUIDE The blindstitch hem guide, used with the general purpose foot, positions the hem fold in front of the needle for blindstitch hemming. To attach guide. loosen presser foot screw and slip guide between screw and presser foot shank. LINT BRUSH The lint brush is used for cleaning your sewing machine. CONTAINER OF OIL Container of SINGER oil Your machine will serve you perfectly for many years if you will take a few moments to keep it in good operating condition. Note: Before using your new machine for the first time, we recommend that you apply oil as indicated in section on lubricating. 10 Singer 288 2. Getting ready to Sew Preliminary Steps CONNECTING MACHINE WHEN EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRIC MOTOR AND CONTROLLER Before plugging in your machine, be sure that the voltage and frequency indicated on the motor are within the range marked on the electric meter installed by your power company. If your speed controller cord has a motor disconnect plug, push the plug into the receptacle at right end of motor. Then connect the power line plug to your electrical outlet. If the speed controller cord is wired directly to the motor, connect the power-line plug to your electrical outlet. CAUTION: Disconnect the powerline plug from the electrical outlet when changing needles. presser feet or needle plates or when leaving the machine unat tended. This eliminates the possibility of starting the machine by accidentally pressing the speed controller. OPERATING MACHINE To turn on the machine and sewing light, press the power and light switch located on the motor. If Machine has a 3-position switch: · The SLOW setting (switch moved to symbol) allows for maximum control for special jobs. · The FAST setting (switch moved to symbol) allows for full speed capacity of the machine. To run the machine, press the speed controller with your foot. The harder you press, the faster the machine will sew. To stop machine. remove foot from controller. 11 Singer 288 With Foot Treadle Become acquainted with your treadle. First, hold hand wheel from turning, then loosen the handwheel knot as shown. Place both feet on treadle. Turn hand wheel over toward you and allow your feet to move freely and lightly, following the motion of the treadle. Practice this motion until you are able, with your feet alone, to restart the machine with the hand wheel turning toward you and maintain a steady speed. When you have become accustomed to the treadle motion, tighten the hand wheel knob by turning it away from you. Place a piece of material under the presser foot and lower the presser foot lifter. Now operate the machine (without thread) until you become accustomed to guiding the material. 12 Singer 288 Threading the Machine CHOOSING NEEDLE AND THREAD The needle and thread you choose will depend upon the fabric to be stitched. The needle should be fine enough to prevent the fabric from being marred with large punctures, yet heavy enough to pierce the fabric without being bent or deflected. The eye of the needle must be large enough for the thread to pass through it freely: too fine a needle will cause the thread to fray. The table below is a guide to needle and thread selection. Refer to it before starting a sewing project. Be sure to use the same size and type of thread in both needle and bobbin. This guide also applies to zig-zag stitching. FABRIC, THREAD AND NEEDLE TABLE NEEDLE FABRIC FILMY -- chiffon, organza, tulle. voile SHEER -- net, lace, ninon, crepe de chine, voile LIGHT -- shantung, faille, organdy, muslin, batiste, dimity, lawn, percale, pique, poplin cashmere, flannel, mohair, felt, taffeta, satin, challis, eyelet, gingham, crepe, broadcloth. THREAD Fine silk, cotton, merc, or synth. Fine silk, cotton, merc, or synth. Fine silk, & medium cotton, merc, or synth. Style 2020 2020 2020 Size 9 9 11 MEDIUM -- velvet, crepe de chine, shantung, suiting, satin, Medium silk, cotton, merc, or synth. crepe, velveteen, corduroy, fleece, flannel, gabardine, felt, serge, mohair. HEAVY -- brocade, taffeta, satin, crepe, corduroy, linen, drapery fabric, burlap, suiting, gabardine, poplin denim, ticking, canvas. VERY HEAVY -- denim, duck, canvas, sailcloth, coating, blanketing, upholstery fabric KNITS, STRETCH & ELASTICS -- jersey, cirÈ, sweater knit, bonde ...