Friday 13th March 2026
... I LOVE RAINY DAYS ...
After quite a few dry months, finally we’ve had a bit of rain here in Forestdale! The property is looking lovely and green again, and the wildlife around here are loving it too. This is the view out of the Studio window …
Most days we have a family of kangaroos visiting, and we are all on the lookout for the latest joey to poke its head out of the pouch. Our little mob consists of the parents, and two juvenile ones at the moment who seem to be very relaxed around us. Wild ducks waddle around the grounds, and our resident Plovers seem ready to nest again. I’m on the lookout always when leaving in my car, as one has found the middle of the driveway to be its favourite spot to sit!
Not a day goes by without me heading up to the studio for a bit of creative time! This week I had two laptops running—one for writing up the blog, and the other for some software practice and downloading embroidery designs for Easter projects. The L890 was set up to stitch this week’s samples, while the B990 was busy embroidering the designs I was working on in the software.
My Bernina B990 is stitching beautifully again after returning from its first service. It’s now 16 months old and has stitched 1.7 million stitches, which really isn’t a huge amount for the time I’ve owned it. I do have a couple other machines here in the studio that I use regularly, a B790PRO and my B590.
I like to have my machines serviced every year, and I’m lucky to have a great technician who is very experienced and incredibly thorough.
Next in line is my B590, and after that it will be the L890’s turn—although they might have to wait a little while, as my car needs servicing too! Gosh, I may need to add a bit more to that ‘maintenance account’ of mine!
... ‘Gathering’ at the Studio ...
It’s already the second Friday of the month, and according to my little schedule I have in front of me, blutac’d to the wall, it’s ‘Gathering Week’. Once a month, in this little section of the blog, I’ll tell you about my visitors to the Studio. Now, this is usually just my Happy Place, however I’m very lucky to have some special visitors who pop in for a quick chat, and sometimes other come to spend a few days here with me at home … and of course in the Studio. Early in January, my fellow Bernina Lover, store owner and dear friend Kim Turner came for a visit. Kim owns and operates Kimz Sewing and Patchwork Centre up at Warana on the Sunshine Coast. I had the privilege of working alongside Kim for a few years, prior to me travelling around Australia back in 2016. Kim’s ‘starred’ in this section during last year’s blog too.
Owning a sewing business often means long hours in the store, and of course wearing multiple ‘hats’ at the same time. Kim is a beautiful sewist, talented teacher, team leader and a true ‘ByAnnie’ legend! Time for her to spend ‘playing’ on machines in the store is nonexistent, so I invited her down for some fun days in the Studio whilst my family were away enjoying a 3 days cruise. We had the place to ourselves, meaning late nights, late mornings, easy meals (all fingerfood!), ‘bubbles’, good coffee and lots of chatting – felt like we were on a private retreat. It was casual dress, with either thongs or crocs for days!
First up, I asked if she could finish stitching out two blocks for a quilt I was embroidering for my Grandson Bobby’s third birthday. Kim doesn’t usually do much machine embroidery, so it was a great opportunity for me to guide her through an ‘In The Hoop’ project, and for her to just ‘play a bit’ on my B990 (which had been busy stitching 40 previous blocks). Here it is all finished at the birthday party!
The Studio benches have cable ports with plastic grommets installed where leads are fed up through from power points situated underneath. All my machines use the same types of leads and this means I can place any machine, anywhere on the benches and have access to power. The leads are always unplugged from the machine after I finish sewing, and initially, I found they often slipped down through the holes. I stitched out some vinyl ‘cord minders’ a couple of years ago, and have them attached to stop it falling through the grommet. I also have them attached to any leads I take with me to a class etc, and I added my name to them as well. Kim liked this idea, so after finishing the car playmat blocks, we rummaged through my vinyl and leather stash to make some for her to take back to the shop for the girls. Another ‘In The Hoop’ project, reinforcing how much fun embroidery can be!
Next on the ‘playlist’, was quilting in the hoop, on some cheater cloth fabric, utilising the scanning function on my B990 and pinpoint placement.
January was the month of the “Just Get It Done Quilts” Declutter Challenge, and with Kim’s encouragement this was my second year joining in—and the first year I completed all 21 days! Nothing like a good friend to tell you want you should get rid of! Kim’s done it for 6 or 7 years I think … lots of focus needed! The best “tool” I had, apart from Kim spurring me on for those few days, was the little timer I bought from Amazon—Kim is quite the enabler too, of course she already had one! By the end of the month, the Studio was looking much less cluttered, although there’s still more I could tackle.
BEFORE … AND AFTER!
What a great time we shared with our mutual love of sewing, and BERNINA of course. We talked about nothing else except sewing for days! Can’t wait until she visits again!
... Did You Know? ...
Needles for your Overlocker/Coverstitch Machines
This week is a great one to have a chat about what needles your machine uses. Information on which to use in your machine, will be included in your instruction book. On my Bernina L460, and L890 in overlocking mode, I use Bernina or Schmetz domestic sewing machine needles, system 130/705H, usually a size 90 Universal or Jersey/Stretch Needle.
The Universal Needle is the most popular all purpose needle type in both brands, with a slightly rounded point ideal for sewing woven and knit fabrics. It has only one colour band on the front to indicate the size e.g. red 80, blue 90 etc.
If I’m stitching highly elastic knits, like lycra for example, and have missing stitches, I will change out to a Stretch Needle that has a medium ball point, special eye and scarf area (back of needle). It has two colour bands on the front – the top yellow band indicates the System, 130/705H-S, and one colour band below to indicate the size.
If I am using thicker threads through the needles, I will reach for a Topstitch 90 needle, which has a very long eye to accommodate thicker threads. It has two colour bands on the front, light green to indicate the System, 130/705H-N, and one below to indicate the size.
Now when it comes to coverstitching mode, my Bernina L890 requires a specialist system of needles, coded ELx705. This needle has a groove on the back as well as the front, to guide the threads for trouble-free coverstitch seams. It has two colour bands on the front, black to indicate the System, and one below to indicate the size.
CF on the packet relates to the fact that they have a chrome coating, giving the needle a wear-resistant surface.
SUK on the packet relates to it having a medium ball point ideal for stretch fabrics. I use ELx705 needles in both overlocking and coverstitch modes,
So, most of my needles in my overlocker accessory box are ELx705CF SUK, 130/705H-S and 130/705H-N systems.
Do you need to remember all of this? Not really, as all this information and lots more is available when you download the Bernina Needle Booklet. Here’s the link …
... Second Allrounder on the Team ...
#C13 Cover-/Chainstitch Foot
Just like the #C11 Standard Combo foot, this one is included with the purchase of a Bernina L890 machine.
It is narrower than #C11 as it accommodates only the Left, Centre and Right Cover Needle positions. Therefore, only Chainstitches and Coverstitches can be sewn with this foot. The markings on the foot act as handy guides when stitching. The raised lines at the front of the toe indicate the three needle positions.
Foot #C13 was used to stitch out 7 samples, including 4-Thread and 3-Thread Coverstitches, and 2-Thread Chainstitches.
Additional Notes for other Models
Bernina L850 and L860, Bernina L450 and L460 are overlock only machines so there is no available foot for these machines.
There is no separate Chain-/Coverstitch only foot for either the Bernette Funlock 48 or the Airlock 68 machines. The Standard Foot is the included foot for these stitches.
... This Week’s Foot Highlights or Challenges ...
Ever have one of those days when you’ve got a lot on your plate and very little is going right? Well, let me tell you about my Wednesday stitchout plan this week in the Studio. Firstly – an early morning visit to the dentist, requiring 4 injections to stop the feeling as he drilled away … so a very numb gum and lip meant a very late coffee! Haha oh the important things in life! I diverse … my L890 has not been stitching well in coverstitch or chain mode, despite cleaning it out well, changing needles, and a short visit to my tech Gareth, for some advice and support – I really need to leave it with him for a full going through. In short it is dropping stitches, and I find it frustrating! I know Gareth will be able to finetune it again to be sewing fabulously, however I had to stitch out samples before I could leave it with him to do that. I had a special project on the go that requires it to be stitching perfectly!! That will have to wait … meantime, all I managed was stitching out the different stitches (‘warts and all’), so let’s look at them.
The first sample I did was the 4-Thread Coverstitch Stitch #21 – and the sample shows the back and the front. With this stitch all three needles are used – Left, Centre and Right Cover Needles. The purple thread is the Chain Looper. It appears ok from the top side …
However look at the other side even after I had changed to new needles. It’s the yellow thread, or Left Cover Needle that appears to be the issue – very loose stitches.
Below is Sample #2, and on the left, was the 3-Thread Coverstitch Stitch Wide #22 – and the sample again shows the back and the front. With this stitch two needles are used – Left and Right Cover Needles. The purple thread is the Chain Looper. It appears ok from the top side …
However look at the other photo. It’s the yellow, or Left Cover Needle thread again that appears to be the issue – very loose stitches.
Sample #3 in the centre, the 3-Thread Coverstitch Stitch Narrow #23 – and the sample again shows the back and the front. With this stitch two needles are used – Left and Centre Cover Needles. The purple thread is the Chain Looper. It appears ok from the top side …
However look at the other photo. It’s the yellow, or Left Cover Needle thread again that appears to be the issue – still loose stitches.
Sample #4 on the right, brought me much joy, the 3-Thread Narrow Coverstitch # 24. This stitch required the Centre and Right Cover needles … no problematic yellow Right Cover Needle thread to be seen! The purple thread is the Chain Looper. A great stitch, no missing ones, and lovely tension on all the threads, top and bottom.
Then it was over to some Chainstitching, Sample #5 was the 2-Thread Chainstitch #16 (on the right in the photos) and I just knew this was going to cause trouble as it didn’t chain off at the end of the line very well – not a good sign! This was the only Chainstitch on the machine until they added two more in an update.
Now this wasn’t the yellow thread … as this stitch uses the Right Cover needle (Blue thread on the samples), and up to this point it was the Left Cover Needle that seemed to be the issue … go figure! Remember back to last week when I was combo stitching, this same thread caused issues then.
I continued on the same piece of fabric and stitched 2-Thread Chainstitch #32 (Centre Cover Needle – green thread and centre lines in the photos above) …and the joy returned! This is my go-to Chainstitch as I find it always forms beautifully, and it stitches in the centre of the foot! Again the telltale sign was the stitchoff chain – magic!
Last line of stitching this week was 2-Thread Chainstitch #33 (Left Cover needle) – oh no … the dreaded yellow thread … and this time not only did it skip a few stitches, it wouldn’t feed properly and I got tiny bunched up stitches. Just another ‘observation’ I can add to the list for Gareth, the tech! I do take samples along whenever I have issues, so that he can see the results.
Look, not a real positive result this week, but I always promise to post what challenges I have along the way – not everything goes right in our sewing rooms, so stay tuned and I’ll let you know the result of a trip to SewMasters in Sumner Park.
... A Little Something Extra ...
Foot User Manuals
On the Bernina Website, you can download a User Manual for Foot #C13.
Bernina’s Accessory of the Month March 2026 *
is the Large Freearm Embroidery Hoop: Get a 20% discount at your preferred BERNINA dealer during the whole month!
*Australia and New Zealand Promotion Only – ends … 31st March, 2026 …
Chat again next Friday,
