QUILTsocial | Issue 08

The NQ23500D does a lovely job of finishing.
Shown here: auto-securing and auto-trim results
Knee Lifter
I’m a huge fan of the knee lifter. This
handy tool is inserted into its port on
the front of the machine, and offers
hands-free control of the presser foot
lifter. A nudge of the knee can raise or
lower the presser foot, allowing you to
keep your hands on your work for better
control. It’s often found on industrial
machines because when properly used,
it’s a huge production-booster. A little
bit of practice and its usage becomes
second nature.
Pivot function
The Pivot Function can do much
the same thing as a knee lifter, only
automatically. With it activated, every
time you stop sewing, the needle sinks
into the fabric and the presser foot rises,
allowing you to rotate your fabric. So
handy, especially if you can’t get the
hang of the knee lifter! And, of course,
there’s more (there’s always more!)… It
does something else that I really like:
when you have the auto secure and the
auto trim turned on with it, it raises the
presser foot for you after securing and
trimming. How cool is that?
A whopping 13 presser feet included
All of the basic necessities are included
with the NQ3500D to get you sewing
in style. Many of these feet are ‘quickswitch’;
they snap on and drop off with
the touch of a lever. Several of them,
meant for techniques requiring a more
stable hold, screw securely on to the
presser foot bar.
A great collection of presser feet to grow into!
From top to bottom, left to right:
zigzag foot (with levelling button),
monogramming foot, blind hem foot,
overcasting foot, zipper foot, open toe
embroidery foot, stitch guide foot, opentoe
quilting foot, non-stick foot, button
sew-on foot, embroidery foot, adjustable
zipper foot, and the buttonhole foot.
These all store in the slide-on accessory
tray surrounding the freearm, ready to
be attached in a flash.
Hassle-free fabric feeding with the
AHA® Feature
No more struggling with varying fabric
thicknesses… when the Automatic
Fabric Sensor System is turned on,
the NQ3500D automatically and
continuously senses the fabric thickness
and adjusts the presser foot pressure for
you. Of course, you can override it, but
why would you when it works so well?
Automatic buttonholes
Slip your button into the back bracket
of the buttonhole foot and snug the
holder in place – that’s all it takes to
measure your button perfectly! Then
choose your buttonhole and lower the
sensor lever. Push the start/stop button
and the machine does the rest. It really
couldn’t be easier! There are buttonholes
for all weights of fabric, even a stretch
buttonhole, and a tracer for bound
buttonholes.
Contents of the buttonhole menu
The button sew-on foot, just finished sewing on
a button.
Hidden gems on the buttonhole
menu
Also on the buttonhole menu are a
few related stitches that just beg to be
mentioned, since I included them in the
above stitch out: 2 mending stitches,
a bar tack (I made two of those in
different sizes), an eyelet, and a buttonsew-on
program. They’ve really thought
of everything!
Built In sewing fonts
The NQ3500D has 5 sewing fonts built in:
block, script, double block, Cyrillic, and a
Japanese font.
I took a few minutes to play with the
block font; it was easy to enter and
quick to stitch, and I’m quite pleased
with its clarity. I like this, and can see
its usefulness for smaller labels and the
like, but I’m glad that this machine also
embroiders – I’m definitely partial to
richly embroidered lettering. Still…
Slip the button in the bracket on the foot, snug it
in and you’re ready to sew.
Getting carried away is easy with My Custom
Stitch. How many can you create?
Q
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UILTsocial
| issue 8 19