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JUKI Posts, JUKI Spotlight

National Account Spotlight: Visiting McDougal Sewing Center

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Join us in meeting Dan and Karen Welch, owners and operators of McDougal Sewing Center located in Katy, Texas!

With 4,000 sq. ft. in their main store and five stores located within Jo-Ann Stores, Dan and Karen have worked hard to honor Bob McDougal’s, Dan’s grandfather’s, legacy. Striving to introduce the newest in sewing and embroidery innovation to their customers, join us below to learn more about the products, expertise, and instruction available at their shops today!

Follow along below for the transcript version of our interview with Dan and Karen Welch, owners of McDougal Sewing Center.

Hi, I’m Karen Welch with McDougall Sewing Center and I’m Dan Welch with McDougall Sewing Center as well. We’ve been in the business a long time. Why don’t you tell them the history of our business? The history of the business, my grandfather Bob McDougall, started the company in 1940. As a kid growing up I came in and messed all the machines up and I started full-time in 1976, so been in the business a few years and I worked with the family for 18 years before getting the blessing to use the biggest asset we have, which is the McDougall name, and was able to, with family support, use that name and Karen and I opened up out in Katy Texas in 1993 and we’ve been expanding and growing ever since.

She started with me full-time by 1995 so tell people I am the boss and I have her permission to say so. That’s correct, that’s correct. Basically, when we got married, we’ve been married since 1981 so 42 years, when we got married I asked if it is a prerequisite that I sew and he said oh no, well guess what, he lied. So I’ve been doing this a long time as well; so it was not my life’s work to do but it’s been a good life’s work.

When did McDougal start carrying JUKI machines?

We’ve had the JUKI’s for approximately, oh I don’t even know, about eight years, eight or nine years now. We’ve had the JUKI product and they work out of the box that’s the good thing with the JUKI product. When you open it up out of the box there’s no major or minor adjustments to be done it works out of the box.

What JUKI machines can a customer find at McDougal?

We sell the QVP series of the JUKI machine so they are sewing machines and sergers, and then, of course, we sell the eight-needle Sai and we’ve had good luck with them. They’ve been workhorses, they’ve been well received by our customers, so I think it’s been it’s been a good experience for us. And because we very seldom get complaints with JUKI and I will say that that’s one of the things that we like to promote is when you become a customer at McDougall’s and you purchase a machine from us you become a part of the McDougall family and you get what we call the McDougal advantage, and basically that’s going to be you get unlimited assistance, you get free scheduled classes, you get a one-year dealer warranty which includes a first-year free service and we’re here to support you so that’s part of it and we have authorized repair people so it’s been it’s been a good experience for us.

What benefits and extras does McDougal offer?

We do have a service technician that has been with us, he said it was 1981, so he’s been with us, the Bob McDougall company, and then with McDougall sewing center, he has been with us for 42 years so he’s our lead technician. Then we have two other technicians and they do a good job with keeping up and having the product available. We do, like Karen said, offer additional events and different programs, classes. I know we’ll take some video of different projects going on with using the machine and all the decorative stitches and all the optional accessories that are available. JUKI product is very good with coming with a full set of accessories however there’s more than one size of roll timber. For example, we stock those, there are literally a wall full of different accessories that we show you how to use and have classes, and you bring your machine in.

Our classes are hands-on, you come in and use the machine, use your machine, in our class so there isn’t any guesswork when you get home. You know how to make a quilt block using the different accessories and we have a class, where it is very popular that we repeat a lot, and it’s called foot fetish and it’s using all the accessories that comes with your machine. Rebecca Joseph, our lead educator, has been with us for four years, four or five years, since she and her husband came back from Saudi Arabia, their stent in Saudi Arabia, and she has always been in the sewing machine industry, as well her father was in the industry, and had numerous stores around the Houston metropolitan area as well.

What do you see for the future of Mcdougal?

The future of McDougall’s, Karen and I are getting up to the age where looking at you know what it would really love to be retired. However, we want to keep the family tradition going. We have two kids and they went different ways. We worked them pretty hard as kids, so they decided to go to other options. They wanted Saturday off and being in retail you just don’t get Saturdays off, you work, that’s you know most time that’s our busiest day. So the future of McDougall you know still looks bright, we have no plans of closing. We will be here to continue to support the end consumer and support our customers and employees as well.

How can customers contact McDougal Sewing Center>

There’s numerous ways that you can get in touch with us here at McDougall Sewing. We have an 800 number which is 800-FUN-2SEW we also put out a monthly flyer that has our specials for the month along with coupons you can check our website which is www.McDougalSewing.com and see all of the products that we offer, all the classes that we have, all the specials that we have, and the upcoming events. We have a lot of upcoming events, we try and do them at least two a quarter. We do have a Facebook page as well so we post pictures of all the classes that we have on our Facebook. So those are some ways that you can contact us and we would love to talk to you and have you come by and visit with us, you don’t have to buy anything you can just come say hi that’s fine we would love to have you come by!

Thank you!

To learn more about McDougal Sewing Center, visit their website here! Thank you for joining us today in getting to know Dan and Karen Welch, owners of McDougal Sewing Center. We hope you get a chance to visit the next time you’re in the area!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcdougalsewingcenter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcdougalsewingcenter/

JUKI Posts, Tips, Triple T: Tips, Tricks, and Training

JUKI Tip: Double Fold Bias Binder Overview

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On this JUKI tip, we use the Double Fold Bias Binder and show you how to feed the fabric into the machine with this accessory and create a smooth sewing experience!

Follow along below for a rundown of what Alba covers on today’s JUKI Tip!

Hi, friends my name is Alba and I would like to welcome you to another tips and tricks with JUKI! Today I am talking about the double-fold bias binder and I have two sets in this video; one is a 38-millimeter and one is a 32-millimeter. The one I have on my machine is the wider of the two and I want to show you what exactly is in the package when you open this up.

I am going to open it right in front of you and I am going to pull out the binder itself and it comes with fabric and binding on it. It also comes with a little package with a thumb screw and a foot, and it comes with an instruction sheet. So what I wanted to show you is a little bit of detail, of what is in this, and as I said the one that’s on the machine is a 38-millimeter one, and what that means is how wide the fabric is that is put into the binder and how wide the finished product will come out.

For the 38-millimeter one, I used a one and a half inch strip of fabric, folded it and the completed bias is about 3/8 of an inch. Now what I like about this is you’re going to notice how short that foot is and this is really helpful as you’re sewing because that binder can get really close to the foot and allows for very little movement and of course we have our thumb screws to be able to put this onto the machine. Now what most people get confused with is they’re expecting this portion here to lay flat on the machine but as you can see in the video this accessory rests off of the machine. The thumb screw goes into the screw hole that’s on the bed of the machine, so these are intended for the industrial machines and the machines with solid metal beds, so that they could get screwed directly into the machine and a lot of people do not realize that pivot action that this attachment has.

Now I have two pieces of fabric and both of them have been cut to one and a half inches, and I’m going to show you the struggle that most people have and my tip for feeding the fabric into the machine and getting this to run smoothly. Now most people try to feed the fabric with it in the position right in front of the foot, but if you pivot this, it allows you to better see, getting that fabric in there and just puts you in a much better angle. Now as you’re noticing, I have the wrong side of the fabric facing me. Where most people have an issue is right there and I’m gonna get recommend a stylus, and with that tip, the fabric needs to go underneath its section in the video. Now this is where a lot of people have trouble trying to do that and I’m going to give you my tip for getting that done.

Now let me pull my trusty scissor out and I am going to cut a point into my fabric. By putting a point into that fabric, and you definitely want to use a stiletto, look at how easily that goes right into that fold. And as I pull this out I want to make sure that my fabric is folded, and what I do is I give this a little bit of a finger press. Now when I lift my foot and lift my needle I can move that fabric right underneath the foot and that large thumb screw will allow you to move this right and left so that when you lower your foot. Your needle is just slightly off of that edge to top stitch that edge. Now as I cut this, it was the width of fabric, and I am going to just sew away. Now watch in the video how even at that full speed, how brilliantly and effortlessly that works because this attachment is right up to the foot.

Now I am showing you sewing these pieces shut. I’m going to do a video really soon on putting um this into a quilt sandwich, and doing that mitered corner, but I wanted to show you this finished product and also some of the crafty things that you can do with these strips. You might have noticed my lanyard and I really like fun bright colors so I made my lanyard with the strip, and I happen to have made it so that it can hold my little scissors but also weaving fabric and doing that repeatedly so that you can create your own fabric and your own patterns, how cute would that be as an inset for a waistline? Or for a garment, for a tote bag. I want you to Google and search YouTube videos for fabric weaving to see all of the different things that you could do with that. I want you to stay tuned for another video that I will be doing on mitering corners and using this on quilt fabric.

Thank you for coming and sharing your time with me, what do you want to see next on JUKI tips? Lets us know down below!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Spotlight

National Account Spotlight: Come Down To The Sewing Machine Shop

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Join us in meeting Dan Schoenberg, one of the owners of The Sewing Machine Shop located in the greater bay area of California!

Offering creators like you the full JUKI Line, sewing accessories, notions, and more, The Sewing Machine Shop is ready to help you find the right machine for your next dream project.

Follow along below for the transcript version of our interview with Dan Schoenberg, one of the owners of The Sewing Machine Shop.

Hi, my name is Daniel Schoenberg I’m the owner of the sewing machine shop here in Walnut Creek California. We’ve been in business for 35 years and we specialize in the sales and service of household and Industrial sewing machines. We carry a lot of related accessories and supplies like thread and needles presser feet scissors etc. and yeah that’s about it. That’s what we do; we don’t do vacuum cleaners, we don’t do alternative appliances, we’re just sewing machines only.

What Inspired You To Open The Sewing Machine Shop?

I actually started out of college; my older brother was a commercial sewing machine technician and he wanted to start a shop when I finished College. He gave me a job offer and the rest is history. We started in 1987 and have been growing ever since.

Why Do Customers Love Visiting The Sewing Machine Shop?

We have a very good reputation now built up over many years. We carry a variety of sewing machines, different brands, models, types; so everyone can come and sew on these machines and compare models with a fairly unbiased view of what we like.

What Machines Can A Customer Find At Your Shop?

When customers come here, first they’ll see that big selection of machines. We carry four different brands, and they can get machines from as little as 200 going all the way up to our top-of-the-line machines in excess of fifteen thousand dollars. We carry a lot of specialty machines; we carry long arm quilting machines like you see here on the right, and we carry embroidery machines, multi-needle, for commercial and semi-commercial use. We have a very very good staff here that are all accomplished sewers themselves so when you get a demonstration on machines you’ll be able to get a professional opinion and you’ll be able to ask all your questions that you have, all your concerns should be answered very honestly and straightforward.

What Are The Benefits Of Being A Customer?

So once a person purchases a machine from us they’ll get great service beyond the sale. We have extensive classes, usage classes to learn how to use the machine, all the way up to more advanced classes to learn how to create garments, create quilts. We have three full-time technicians here so we do a lot of servicing and repair work, including any warranty work that our customers might need, and customers can just drop in sometimes anytime for minor things like fixing a needle threader. We can diagnose the machine in front of them many times, we can get them going right away, we don’t need them to leave their machine if it’s something simple that we can fix on the spot and many times we don’t even charge any money for that

Why Did You Start Carrying JUKI Machines?

Yeah, we started carrying JUKI machines many years ago. We started even before they introduced a full domestic multi-stitch machine. So the machines we focused on with JUKI were the machines that bridge the gap between household sewing and Commercial sewing. Our most popular JUKI machine is their TL series, which they’ve had for many years, and that is a semi-industrial straight stitch only machine that can sew quite high speeds up to 15 – 1600 stitches per minute. It can take all standard, common industrial sewing machine accessories and it’s a huge seller among not only our quilting Quilters who like speed and a larger throat area, but our garment sewers, and tailors, and dressmakers, and designers as well.

What Makes The Sewing Machine Shop Unique?

I think what makes The Sewing Machine Shop unique is our staff and our people and the vast knowledge that we combine as a group. So between me and the rest of our technicians from the technical side, we’re talking about about a 100 years combined of experience working on machines, and our staff we have another, I would say another 100 years of combined sewing experience. Whether it’s quilting or garment making, or embroidery which is a big aspect of what we do, so I think the selection of the machines having five different brands that you can compare side by side combined with our staff with a vast experience is what sets us apart from other sewing machine dealers.

Having a place where you can actually try the machines before you buy the machines in a no-pressure environment is a very important thing, especially now with the internet and being able to buy so many things online and not getting to touch it, to try it, to listen to the sound of the machine, to ask all your questions in real time; I think that is what I would like to express my customers.

Come into the shop and just take a look around. Talk to our staff, just browse, sew on the machines if you want; if you don’t want to that’s okay too, see what supplies and accessories and notions we have here so the next time you’re in need of anything that has to do with sewing or sewing machines you’ll know what we offer.

How Can We Contact The Sewing Machine Shop?

thanks for listening to this video and I just invite everyone to come on down to the sewing machine shop the best way to really stay in touch with us is to go to our website sewing machine shop.com and you can sign up for our newsletter and our email on our email list um you can also follow us on Facebook but I think we’re sending out weekly informational articles promotions future classes and events so uh go to sewing machineshop.com sign up for our email list and you’ll be able to stay in touch with us

To learn more about The Sewing Machine Shop, visit their website here! Thank you for joining us today in getting to know RDan Schoenberg, one of the owners of The Sewing Machine Shop. We hope you get a chance to visit the next time you’re in the area!

JUKI Posts, Tips, Triple T: Tips, Tricks, and Training

JUKI Tip: Changing Your Foot Control Function Settings

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on JUKI Tip: Changing Your Foot Control Function Settings

Have you learned all the different ways you can use your foot controller on your computerized sewing machine? Check out our tips today to learn all 7 ways you can enjoy sewing with just the tap of your foot!

Follow along below for a rundown of what Alba covers on today’s JUKI Tip!

Today we’re going over the foot pedal and the foot switch function on the foot pedal for your machine. It has two sections to step on, the blue section for sewing, and the heel section or the white section, which on many of our machines can be programmed to do different functions.

The DX-2000 offers options to change the settings on your foot control functions for example as you’ll see demonstrated in this video. This function is normally found on our full-size machines!

To best follow along with today’s video, please refer to the section of the manual where all of this is laid out and that is on page 93! Now, the heel function of the foot pedal has six different parts we’re going to show you, and we’re going to cover what those functions are and how to get them going.

First, tap on the icon that looks like a wrench and a screwdriver; this is where we go into settings to change features on our machine. When you press that your screen comes up with different functions and we are going to tap the arrow until you reach the heel function icon. Next, press OK, and let’s start choosing our functions.

The first function is a feature already placed as a button on your machine, it is the same icon on the machine for reverse; if you select this, it will do reverse stitch. Now, when you press forward on this foot it will always sew as normal, as you tap and press on the back of the foot pedal, you’ll see your reverse stitch begin.

The second function option is a lock stitch. A lock stitch is completed when that needle goes up and down in place locking your stitch so that it doesn’t unravel. This is useful for locking in your projects and securing a quality finish.

The third function is a half stitch. The icon for this function shows as a needle with arrows up and down, and what this will do is it will take a half stitch as you come to the end of your thread. This feature is useful to secure your seam but not lock it if you do not want any build-up of threads you’re going to sew.

The fourth function will have the presser foot lifting and lowering. As you start sewing and touch that heel portion of your foot control it will leave you with the foot up and the needle down and this is really helpful if you were going to do continuous sewing or chain piecing!

The fifth function is the cutting function. The cutting function can be very helpful! When your stitch is done this function will trim your top thread and bottom thread at the same time, saving you the trouble of finding your thread scissors.

The last function is the ability to turn off all extra functions when tapping the back of your foot controller. You can turn them on and off as needed helping you create your projects with ease. Remember, the details of this are on page 93 of the instruction book for the DX series, and offer images you can follow to learn more!

Thank you for joining today’s tip, we hope this helps you create easier the next time you’re working on your machine!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Spotlight

National Account Spotlight: Meet NorCal Sewing and Vacuum

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On today’s blog, we got to sit down and interview owner Richard Montrouil from JUKI National Account shop NorCal Sewing and Vacuum in California! Learn about how NorCal came to be, and what customers like you can expect when shopping at one of their two locations.

Follow along below for the transcript version of our interview with Richard Montrouil, owner of NorCal Sewing and Vacuum Centers.

Hi, my name is Richard Montrouil and I’m the owner of NorCal sewing and vacuum Centers located in Elk Grove California and we also have a store in Visalia California

What Is The History of NorCal?

Yeah, so I grew up in the industry; my family started in the 60s about 1965 and started as Kirby salesman, went into Singer sewing machines, I came into the business in 1990 when my brother owned a few stores in Elk Grove and Sacramento, and basically I was working through college and I kind of fell in love with the family business and went off to do other things but then came back and this location here my wife and I took over in 2011, and then we got into quilting machines about 2014. So we’ve been doing it for that long.

What Can Customers Expect When Shopping At NorCal?

So when you come into our store, number one the we we treat customers grea,t we treat them like family; you come in we make you feel welcome, we take care of you, we support our customers. If you have any questions we’re always there to help. We always guarantee and warranty all our repairs so if you bring repairs in we we fix them on a timely manner and we take care of you, and then we always give free lessons, free training after purchase. So when you purchase a JUKI from us we’re gonna sit down make sure you know how to use it correctly and we’re always there for you.

Why Did NorCal Choose To Start Carrying The JUKI Brand?

We saw a lot of JUKI sewing machines started coming into our store for repair, and we had a demand; well we were new to quilting in general so we had a lot of people asking about the quilting machines, the sewing machines, and then as soon as I was at VDTA one year and I could get a hold of a JUKI representative I wanted to carry JUKI; just so we could support our local customers because there was no one in the area that took care of JUKI. So we then we were able to get parts and fix long arms and sell long arms and that’s how we did it!

What Classes Can Customers Attend At NorCal?

So we do free one-on-one classes, and then a few times during the year we have these events where you can come. If you purchase from us, it’s free classes; we do hands-on events in our store about three to four times a year teaching you ruler work, different things and then of course you always have free one-on-one support; you just have to call and set up a time and then we’ll we’ll be here for you and do a one-on-one lesson.

What Makes NorCal unique?

You know what, we’re probably the only dealer in probably all of California, at least Northern California, that will actually go to the customer’s house and fix their machines there. So that’s really unique, I don’t think too many other dealers do tha,t they don’t have the staffing. I have seven technicians and we travel all around California and Nevada and fix long arms. We also, when you purchase machines from us, we do free setup and delivery; so that’s unique too. A lot a lot of guys will charge you twelve hundred dollars to deliver a long arm we do it for free.

What Do You See For The Future Of NorCal?

You know, I have three young daughters, well not young; I have a 15 year old, a 21 year old, and a 27 year old daughter. The future of NorCal is we’re a family business and I dream and pray that someday my girls take over but we’re going to be around for a very long time and you know we’re here for you guys.

How Can Customers Contact NorCal?

We have two locations to serve California; we have our main store is Elk Grove California, it is 8705 Elk Grove Boulevard, Elk Grove, California 95624 and our telephone number there is 916-714-0904.

We also have a store in Visalia California, the address is 3340 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California 93277 phone number is 559-372-7200

Our website if you want to go and look at products or email us through there is norcalsovac.com.

How Can Customers Find NorCal?

Whoever wants to come, if you can’t make it to the stores in Elk Grove and Visalia to try out the JUKI quilt machines, commercial quilter here or the SAI 8 needles multi-needle, you can come and see us a few times during the year at quilt shows.Ssome of the big ones are Cal Expo in Sacramento in March, we’ll be in Roseville in August, and then in October we do the Pacific International quilt festival and you can come and try out JUKI longarms, come and meet us. So come and see us at quilt shows, come and try JUKI’s we’re ready for you!

To learn more about NorCal Sewing and Vacuum Centers, visit their website here! Thank you for joining us today in getting to know Richard Montrouil, owner of NorCal Sewing and Vacuum Centers. We hope you get a chance to visit the next time you’re in the area!