My new toy...

Well it's technically not that new any more...it's about a month old and I bought it during the Janome sale at my local sewing machine shop. Yes! It's my new sewing machine and it's not the super expensive model I thought that I would buy. I read reviews in sewing magazines of various brands and models but when I went to actually try out machines at the little local shop I found this model did everything I wanted and best of all...it was simple to use! So I hardly touched my 'tax refund' money and it stays in my account earning interest until it's needed.

My old machine has stayed; I'm not quite ready to part with this old friend. We've been a team for 37 years but even I knew that there had to be machines that did buttonholes easier. That was basically the only criticism I had of my Elna 'workhorse'...the complicated buttonholes :-(   That machine sewed so many items of clothing for family members, it pieced quilts, sewed cushions, curtains and seat covers. It sewed wovens and stretch fabrics, organzas and silks, linens and cottons, it sewed trapunto and applique, it mended and upcycled and it got lugged to classes etc.

But when I had my first lesson on my new machine...I realised I was in love...so much potential fun is coming up! I don't know why I was so surprised by all the marvellous possibilities of the new machine...after all a lot of research and development, as well as scientific innovation can happen in 37 years!!! And most importantly...it has three types of buttonholes and they are all easy!!!

On my mind...the memories evoked by sewing machines...

Today, being Friday, I'll depart from my usual 'travelogue' of our holiday in the US and join in the 'Down-to-Earth' Friday feature, 'On my mind..

Nearly 2 weeks ago I posted on Facebook some photos which I took in a shopping mall on 3rd in Santa Monica. A shop which sold clothing, including bespoke clothing items, had a most amazing window display...old, vintage, antique sewing machines on shelves in the window. The shelves went to the top of the shop window, the shop had a frontage that stretched around a corner and the shop front was several metres/yards long. I was just awestruck at how many sewing machines were on display! I even saw examples of my mother's old Singer which she bought in 1946! In the mid 60s I learned to sew on it and sewed shift dresses and even ball gowns on it. I saw machines that hand turned wheels, not electric...it was as I said, amazing!
What was  also amazing was people's reactions to the photo posted on Facebook. I got so many comments about the photos! People recognised their mother's or grandmother's machines...all my friends indicated in their comments that the memories which surfaced after seeing the photos, were all good ones...nurturing, comforting ones of, in some cases, a loved one who is no longer with us...For me, mum's sewing machine was a thing of wonder as I watched her make my clothes and curtains for the house or I watched a beloved elderly neighbour mending sheets on her old treadle machine...such lovely memories. My own machine is actually quite elderly by today's standards...a 1974 Elna TSP. I wonder if my girls, (29 & 26) have fond memories of it!
I have my mother's sewing machine. It has a curved wooden cover on it. The cover is locked and I don't seem to have the key...It has been like this for over 10 years since my mother died. I'm hoping that when I get home to Australia,I can find a locksmith who can open it, because after seeing all those machines in the shop window in Santa Monica, suddenly I want to touch the machine, maybe oil it, thread it and just maybe, sew a seam or two?