Pride comes before....

After a very stressful few days in work and at home, I decided to spend today getting on with making a few more Christmas presents, including a coaster with some gorgeous Michael Miller fabric.

So far today:

I couldn't remember how to thread the bobbin. Admittedly, I've only had to do it three times before, but I probably should have remembered more! Eventually solved that, then...

I couldn't seem to sew straight lines! I kept getting bunches of thread underneath the fabric, and the seam ripper got LOTS of exercise this afternoon.

I cut the wadding to the wrong size.

The bias tape got caught in the machine and ripped.

And finally - I've just snapped the needle and can't remember how to replace it!

I think that I really need to stop at this point and carry on in a few days when I'm less frustrated with other things. Usually I love playing with crafty things when I'm stressed, but maybe I'm not yet competent enough to use the machine when wound up!!

As a side note - I know a bad workman blames his tools, but could it have been the thread? I was using Guttermans thread from Hobbycraft, which is identical to the other threads I've used - but maybe when I picked up the new colour it was a different composition? Any advice will be gratefully received!