Sewing Along

What a week last week was! First the washing machine up and died and in the process flooded the house and we got to meet the nice guys from Bonded Services who cheerfully sucked up gallons on water after the washer fiasco. Then the computer broke down and we ended up having to call the Geek Squad. "Special Agent" Adam came and figured out what was wrong with the computer (new last November) and now we are back on line. Due to all the problems we had last week, we also got to see some real live, wonderful customer service from both of these services.

I did manage in all the chaos to sneak back into my sewing room for several sessions with my new Janome 6500 and made a new summer top. This machine is a dream to sew on. One of the huge pluses for me is the extension table that comes standard with the machine for doing quilting. I have it in place all the time and it has been great to be able to rest my arms and wrists on while feeding fabric. My arthritis is so bad, I need to prop my arms all the time to prevent pain, so with the extension table I can sew for longer periods of time. I took the time to really follow the instructions, such as measuring accurately the 3/8" hem instead of eyeballing it. Sounds crazy I'm sure, but between the excellent stitching of the machine and my being more careful, this top turned out better and more comfortable than the one just like it I made three weeks ago! There's something to be said for following the rules. Over the years I got so used to whipping through projects just to get them done, that I had been forgetting that the process to getting to the end, can and should be enjoyable.

Another great feature on this machine is the automatic thread snipper. At the end of a seam, just press the button and the threads are clipped and you are ready to go on to your next seam. No need to find the ends of the thread and get them in position before sewing. I am planning on having a lot of fun sewing on this machine.

At a yard sale the other day, we found an old 1950's Singer 306 sewing machine in its own sewing table. As we explored the drawers of the cabinet, we found that it contained 'fashion disks' to make different decorative stitches. Up to this point, I had always thought that decorative stitches hadn't come out until the 60's or 70's. Well, we bought this baby and brought it home (I think my hubby wanted it more than me). Once we got it home, I had a chance to go through the accessories better. It has a tremendous amount of pressor feet, plus the original fashion disks that came with the machine and the prior owner had bought a lot more of them. It also has the original instruction booklet. I sat down and read through the instruction manual and it was a real learning experience. I think as this was a very new style of machine, they took a lot of time in writing the manual so that women would understand what each pressor foot was for and when to use the different stitches. I have a lot of utility stitches on my new 6500 but not a lot of knowledge for what they are all for. I got a better understanding of using my speciality pressor feet and utility stitches for using my sewing machine built in 2005 from reading a manual written in 1955! We are planning on getting the old machine cleaned and in working order and then I would like to find some vintage fabric, with a vintage pattern and sew it up on my vintage machine. What fun!