Welcome to Trimming Shop! The home of haberdashery! Congratulations on your purchase of the Green Machine, here is everything you need to know to get started 🙂
How to assemble the Green Machine Hand Press...
Assembling the Green Machine Hand Press is a fairly straightforward process. When you open the box, your Green Machine will be in two parts, the body and the handle. First, you want to remove the bolt from the handle by unscrewing the nut and taking it out. Then you want to grab the body of your Green Machine and stand it up facing you sideways (I would suggest so that the front - the taller side - is on the left and the back - slanting down - is on the right). You will see at the top (left) of your Green Machine there is a gap in the metal, this is for your handle to slot into. You want to take your handle and hold it so that the pointy right angle on the bottom is on the right and slot it into the metal gap on the front of your Green Machine so that the right angle balances slightly on the black cylinder. Grab your bolt and push it through all the holes so that it pops out the other side, reattach the nut by screwing it anticlockwise. And you are ready to go!!
If you would like to, you can also use the three holes either side of the Green Machine to secure it onto a hard surface to ensure it won’t go anywhere. This is a good idea if you have reduced strength in your arms as it will give you a more stable surface when using your Green Machine!
If you have purchased the foam handle then make sure you use liquid soap when fitting it into place. Put some liquid soap on the inside of one end of the foam grip and feed it down the handle - soap side first. This will prevent the grip from splitting. Once dried, the handle will stay firmly in place!
How to Get Started!
First things first, you’re going to need some dies and some hardware... but which is best to get first? If you have bought a bundle of any sort then you will have your first die(s) and fittings! If not (or you haven’t got what I am about to say) I would recommend the 3mm Hole Cutter. This is going to be a staple in your crafting box as it is needed when fitting any hardware with a post (Press Studs, Rivets, Magnetic Clasps ect). No matter how big or small you go in these fittings, the post will always remain the same thickness so the 3mm hole cutter will work perfectly for them all!
After you have your 3mm hole cutter, it is completely down to you what fittings you decide to get! Always make sure that you are buying the same size die as your hardware. For example, if you are using 8mm Rivets, you will need the 8mm Rivet Die as well as the 3mm Hole Cutter.
However, if you are fitting Eyelets, you will need your Hole Cutter to be the same size as your Eyelets. At Trimming Shop, we measure our Eyelets by the size of the HOLE, not the overall diameter. The overall size can be anywhere from 2mm - 12mm larger than the size of your eyelet so please keep this in mind. You can find a table on the Eyelets page for this. So, if you buy 8mm Eyelets, that means the HOLE is 8mm and you will therefore need the 8mm Hole Cutter and the 8mm Eyelet die!
To avoid confusion once your collection grows, we recommend keeping your dies labelled. Whether this means keeping them in the bag they came in, using your own labels in the bag or transferring them into a labelled storage box. This will help keep things organised and easy as you add more!
If you are finding it difficult to cut through thinner fabrics, we recommend placing some corrugated cardboard under your fabric. This allows the blade to cut through the fabric cleanly by lifting the fabric slightly and providing the blade with something to ‘bite’ into. It is not usually required for faux leathers, vinyl etc. Also be sure to clear any fabric remanence from inside your hole cutter as over time this can build up and the added pressure can cause the hole cutter to shatter.
Get Tips, Tricks, Tutorials and Perks!
You can find a tutorial on our YouTube channel for almost all of our Trimming Shop Dies and Hardware (and if one is missing, be assured it is on our list)! These are simple and easy to follow tutorials to help you get started with your crafting!
We post tips & tricks and educational content on our Facebook and Instagram pages. If there is anything you would like a video on, send a message and we will add it to our list! We want our social media pages to be as helpful and informative as possible so we are always up for answering questions and creating any videos you think may be helpful!
We also have a Crafting Facebook Group. This group is filled with Green Machine users that range from bag makers, dress makers, animal accessory crafters! Don’t worry if you are a newbie or a seasoned pro, everyone is welcome in our group! Everyone on the group is so kind and supportive and it is a great way to connect with likeminded individuals with similar hobbies/careers to you! We often run competitions and prize draws to encourage members to share their makes with the group!
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Thank you and welcome to Trimming Shop!
We are so happy to have you here and excited for you to fall in love with your Green Machine! If you still have unanswered questions please give us a call 0208 507 9439
