Ode to My Sewing Machine - Part 1

I have owned a couple cars that I absoluetely loved and even felt guilty that I loved them so much.

My sewing machine puts me in a totally different place though. It is better than I could ever dream of. I just have to sell enough AMKstitches stuff to pay for it. Here is how I got to the blissful place I amin now with my machine.

I don;t remember the brand of my mom's old machine. It was green and in a cabinet. I wantto say Kenmore. Set me straight, Mom. Or was it a Singer?

I remember when she bought a portable Singer. I was amazed that a litle dial could be turned and create such wonderful stitches! She made alot on that machine.

I moved away and got married. I didn't have a machine for awhile and missed sewing.
We were poor and jumped when people offered us free stuff (Not too much has changed there) A woman at church in Texas was moving and offered me a very old Pfaff in a cabinet. I had no idea even how to use it. I believe it was a 230. Very sturdy. A good friend of mine Sister Wimberley, my 80 year old "abuelita" from El Salvador taught me how to use it. She had a similar machine. I would sew at her house and she would pat her machine and say "I love you...you are a good machine." She said if she treated it well it treated her well. Oh I miss her so much. She unloaded tons of fabirc lace ribbon and trims on me. She taught me tons and I wish I knew where she is. But now she is over 90 so I believe she is in heaven.

We moved away again and that Pfaff continued to serve me well. My mother altered my daughter's blessing dress on it. I made curtains and pillows for our home, countless Halloween costumes, blessing and baptism dresses and even a couple brides maids dresses.

I took good care of it and it treated me well. I had it serviced many times but never got the hang of all the stuff it could do. It could do tons of decorative stitches but it was difficult for me. It was so heavy to move and take in and out of the cabinet. When we moved again I refinished the cabinet. I always had to find a place for it. I got tired of trying to figure out when things went wrong on it. Oh wow...I am feeling guilty talking about it. Like I am talking about an old boyfriend I broke up with because I got tired of him.

For Christmas a few years back my husband bought me a new machine. I was hoping it would be a serger because we had looked at them so many times. But it was a nice little portable Singer. I fell for it right away but it was hard to part with my old Pfaff. The more I fell for my new little streamlined thing the easier it was to break things off with the old guy. I didn't want to put more money into it and keep oiling it and all that. So the Pfaff was passed on to a friend and I felt guilty again because she really only wanted it for the cabinet. It was a very cool old cabinet.

The Singer love affair was a torrential one. In the beginning things were good. Passionate and all with the new stitches and all that. But it never had the brawns and strength my Pfaff did. I loved the free arm which my Pfaff never had. But I got tired of rethreading over and over and bunching and skipped stitches. It was getting worse and worse. I didn't ever take it in for service. Maybe I should have. But I was learning you get what you pay for. And if you treat it well, it will treat you well.

Once I started sewing as a business, I knew I had to have a better machine. I started shopping around and comparing and asking questions and that is how I found my new love...

More to come...