I do not consider myself a very good seamstress. I am very proud of my yarn art, crafting, painting, card making, gardening and many other things, I can even change the tires and oil on my vehicles; but sewing not so much. One of the many reasons maybe that on my very first attempt I ran my finger over (mom could not quit laughing at the threads hanging from the finger when I asked for her help!?). Since half that finger is now gone, no worries – right?
Then there was my first attempt at trying to make a piece of clothing. Three rainy days in Wisconsin. I was in my late teens. I had purchased my first sewing machine, all the tools of the trade, and a great pattern for a jacket like the one Don Johnson (look him up youngsters, yes he was/is an actor) had with the patches on the elbows (from the TV show). It was gonna be great!
Three cold, rainy days I worked away at it. Three soggy, nasty, frigid days I gave to that sucker. Then, on the third day, the angels sang “it is finished” – sort of. I went into the bathroom so I could see how it looked in the mirror. One sleeve was about four inches shorter than the other – IDIOT! HOW DID YOU NOT NOTICE THAT?? That left a scar for many, many years to come.
(Not my jacket but same issue. Just make my bad sleeve about six more inches shorter than the other – boo hoo!!)
I limited my sewing abilities to hand embroidery and hand patching (got pretty good at both), and sewing or mending very simple things. If there was a big project to be done, I passed it off to my mother with a lot of begging – pleeeease!!
The old sewing machine she had, managed to stay with her through all our moves. It was a Singer, but it had these cool knob thingys. You selected the knob by the picture that was on it. Stuffed it into a hole on the machine and then turned it to match the line for your selection and – bam – you were sewing a special stitch! She loved that machine.
(closest pic I could find to hers)
When she passed, it stayed with us – at least until the fire.
When we started rebuilding our lives, I knew one of the major things we were going to need was a new sewing machine. You cannot properly manage a farm without means of patching and mending. So, “NEW” is the operative word here! I had no clue how much the “new” beasties had changed. I knew that vehicles, music and the like had upgraded to digital; but I was blind-sided by how much sewing machines had transitioned that direction too.
They are still the same basic size and shape as the have always been, but the computer programming in these suckers is scary! I had to read the instruction manual (yes, guys – I do that from time-to-time) just to figure out how to make a straight stitch!? I am not a computer dummy by any means, nor am I a proficient geek about them; however, this new one really did scare me!
My sewing was rough at best before; now it was pure torture! I am determined to get a handle on this monster, how soon that will be is anyone’s guess. I managed to make some basic flannel curtains for our smoke room/porch. They turned out really nice (which was great for my seamstress ego)! My thought is to keep it all simple and basic for now. One day I hope to try a new stitch a week, not now mind you. Oh, and this devil has an embroidery feature to it that the only thing I have to do is program the picture and change colors when it stops and tells me to – show off! It can do in hours what it takes me days to do by hand. Not sure I like that?
Sure it’s pretty. Yes, it is fast. But does it put the blood, sweat, and tears – oh and the love – into its work? I think not! Ha Ha machine – gotcha there! (F.Y.I. I got REALLY STUPID and purchased a serger at the same time as the Beastie. Can you say, IDIOT!?)
HELBERG FARM STORIES 