Faith Roberts of Banner Canvas shares tips for keeping sewing machines in tip-top shape.

Whenever one of Faith Roberts’ many machines needs fixing, who does she call? Usually herself.
“Oftentimes, I can make the repairs myself,” she says. “We’ve just learned to do it over the years.”

That’s not to say that occasionally she doesn’t need to call in some assistance. “On occasion, something’s just so out of alignment that we can’t figure it out,” she says. “I do have a sewing machine guy that I can call in when I need to.”

Her advice to keep machines running smoothly: “Oil them.”

She admits she sometimes “under-oils” her machines, but that seems to get made up by her assistant Kevin Keiser, who she says has a tendency to “over-oil” the machines. “I work on some very expensive fabrics,” she says, “and too much oil can splash out of the machine and ruin them.” Still …

“Consistent oiling is the best thing you can do to make sure your machinery doesn’t wear out,” she says.

Read “Machine head” for more on sewing machines.