The Saga of the Sewing Machines

or How many sewing machines have I owned...and wore out?   First there was my mother's machine.  I gave it quite a work out and it is still my favorite to date.  An old brown Singer that was quite the workhorse, sewing through blue jeans and wedding gowns with ease.  Next came the JC Penney machine that my Mom and Dad bought for me for graduation, nice machine, lots of fancy stitches, great buttonholer, would not sew through a pair of jeans though.

That machine wore out somewhere in the late 80's.  It finally was not going to sew any more play clothes, Easter dresses, or Halloween costumes. 

Then came another Singer, not a very expensive one, times were a little tougher and a basic machine was all I could afford.  That one finally gave up a few years ago and dear hubby bought a nice Brother machine for me.  Lots of fancy digital stitches, a really easy buttonholer and of course, it would not sew through denim.

And then the killer, my Mom gave away her machine!!!!  That old brown Singer went to someone that needed a machine.  I know it is selfish, but I really could have used that machine...and so the quest began.  Find a nice old brown Singer. 

A couple of years ago, I found this one.  It was at a yard sale.  John found it.  He pointed at it and mentioned across several rows of tables, "Is this the sewing machine that you are looking for?"  He claims that I would have got a better deal if I had not leaped across the tables for it.   It is hard to negotiate a price when you are fist bumping everyone and yelling "WOOHOO!"

Now it did not get to this state easily.  The machine was $20.  It sat in the closet only to be brought out when my muscles needed a workout.  Then, a few weeks ago I went on a sewing machine buying spree.  I bought the machine at the bottom of this post for $10 stand and all with a guarantee that it worked....NOT!  It did not even come close to working, then in the middle of some night, I woke up and thought that maybe, just maybe the old brown singer would fit in that stand....and voila!  After two screwdrivers and some pinched fingers, here it is!

Now for the next dilemma, these two pics are of my sewing room.  Ok, it takes a lot of guts to even show this room.  It looks really bad and actually looks like an episode of hoarders.  John keeps telling me that I am only one bump on the head away from being one of "those" people and much as I hate to admit it...he is probably more right than he even knows.

So I worked and cleaned and organized and purged until I had this.  It looks so much better!

And now for the story of this machine.  I found this on the same day as the Singer in the stand.  This is an old Kenmore machine.  It has everything with it and is in great shape.  It sews perfect and while putting the cams in and out is a bit of a hassle for the fancy stitches, it is heavy and will sew through anything.  It is going to a young girl that I know that just started sewing.  I hope that she can put it to good use. 

One final note, today started our six week boot camp.  I sometimes get these hair brained notions and this might have been one of them.  I mentioned the thought of this to a few friends and they mentioned it to a few friends and so on and so on and we hired a trainer and this morning at 5:30, eleven brave women (three did not show up) from the ages of 30-70 met at the fairgrounds to begin a six week exercise program. 

It was a good workout and I think it is going to be fun but really when the soreness sets in, my tune might change on all this!