Before I even started sewing, I oiled up the machine and cleaned out the shuttle race (pic of lint included ). I did a tiny bit more practicing on some cotton after oiling up the thread injector, just to make sure I had the hemming down, and to soak up any little bit of oil that may have worked its way down.
Next came the moment of truth. I sat down, brought the first corner of one of the long ends and went at it. I started going pretty slow, because I was afraid I would mess up. Ironically enough, that was what made me mess up a little, so the stitching isn't completely straight and the hem isn't totally even all the way across. It wasn't a major difference, but if you really try, you can see it. After that was finished (seemed like it took forever), I started on the 2nd long side. Man did this go by faster! I stopped worrying about messing up, and everything seemed to come together. The stitching came out mostly straight, and the hem was almost even the entire length. YAY, the hard parts were done.
I really had no problems with the channels on the short ends, and they were done in a few min each.
TL;DR Started out hesitant, gained confidence, finished hammock blank.
Pics from first to last: lint from shuttle race, stitching on first side, stitching on 2nd side, stitching at corner, sewn channel, hammock blank laying out to be admired.
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