Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Midweek Slump


Last night I thought I'd be smart and get my boys' Cadet shirts ready for their meeting today. They had outgrown last year's shirts, the new ones were ordered and had arrived. But several patches have to be removed from the old and applied to the new. So transferring those was the perfect activity while "watching" Dancing with the Stars. I was almost done with the first shirt when the sewing machine started to not sew properly. Okay, time for bed, call it a day.

This morning I cleaned out the bobbin case and put in a new needle, but still not sewing properly. Argh. Can't complain though. I've had this machine eight years and have never had a problem. It's sewed a lot of badges over the years which is very tough duty. Now it's sitting over at the repair shop and I'm out of the sewing biz for a few days. I think I have some iron on stuff that I can use to finish the boys' shirts. But now I'm stalled on my purse project, and I've been thinking about starting another smocked project. Above all else though, I cannot start Kirsten's Halloween costume right away. This is, of course, the most important task of the month - for her.

We visited Jo-Ann Fabric the other day in search of fabric. She has decided that she wants to be Kirsten, the American Girl doll. Sounds easy enough. But none of the fabric in my limited stash is just right as she wants fabric that closely resembles Kirsten's. We did succeed in finding something close enough - yay! - bought all the necessary accoutrements, used coupons and sale items and still the cost was over $30. Ouch! At least I'm sure she'll get quite a bit of wear out of it, since as a homeschooler she can wear such a costume to school anytime - and she will! :) And all the hugs and "thank you, Mommy" squeals will definitely be worth the hassle.

My thanks to Anne and other bloggers for tempting me beyond my capacity to bear! I gave in to the urge to use one of my JoAnn coupons on a pair of Gingher "Alyssa" embroidery scissors. Aren't they soooo pretty!?

I gathered up as many of my scissors as I could find for a "family photo". I think there are a couple members missing, but they would be the really tiny, cheapos that are great for throwing into travel bags. Cheapos they may be, but I love them too!


Well, better get to my lunch, then ironing patches on shirts. I hear I have a new magazine in the mail too!

14 comments:

Bastet said...

Hope the sewing machine gets back to you in time to make the costume for Kirsten. I know the problems with those machines, mine and I have a love hate relationship. It loves to drive me bonkers till DH goes in gives it a few trial runs and then asks what I've been telling it since it's working fine. Glad to hear your feeling better!

Wendy said...

That's a very nice collection of scissors, Von! You enablers are making me feel like I really need more than one pair of scissors now.

Hopefully your sewing machine just needs a good cleaning and oiling and it will be up and running again. I learned the hard way how to clean out all the innards and do the little oil jobs but mine still needs a good servicing once in a while.

Annemarie said...

Oooh, a faulty sewing machine does not sound good, At least not in your case. Hey, I just *love* your scissors collection. Do you have enough fobs for all of them, or are you not a great fob lover?

lena-lou said...

I like your new scissors and what a great collection you are getting together :-) I was sewing badeges on last week but didn't think of using the sewing machine.....duuuuh!!
Hope yours is soon sorted

Susimac said...

Hope your sewing machine gets sorted soon. Loved looking at the scissor family.

Singular Stitches said...

Von, have you tried changing your needle? I mean a brand new, never used before needle. I've read that if you sew a lot, you should discard the old needle after three projects - a blouse's worth of sewing would count as one project. This has worked well for me.

Also, is it the correct needle for the thickness of the patches? It's amazing how both can make a huge difference.

Have you wound the bobbin recently? That's sometimes caused me problems. I've had to unwind a totally full bobbin because it didn't wind properly, and therefore, didn't feed smoothly. Now, I just fill my bobbins halfway so that if I run into that problem, I'm not pitching an entire bobbin's worth of thread.

Just my $.02

Shelleen said...

I hope you get your sewing machine fixed quickly. Love the pics of your scissors. I also have alot of pairs and started to collect them 2 years ago.

Von said...

Those are all good tips and I tried 'em. :) But I'm sure there's something in the bobbie case area that went screwy because of the noise that occurred. The problem was most likely my error, something I did some time or other, as I still consider myself a newbie even after 8 years with this machine as I just haven't been able to put the time in to feel like I know what I'm doing with confidence.

mainely stitching said...

Oooh, those are PRETTY!!

I hope your sewing machine will soon be back in your hands. And as a child whose mom made Halloween costumes, party dresses, and all kinds of other miracles, I'll tell you that your DD's gratitude will last long beyond this Halloween!

Schokti said...

Oh, what a pretty addition to the family! And blue - Anne will be proud!

Karen said...

I'm sorry to hear about your sewing machine Von. Hopefully it will be all fixed up soon so you can get on with your projects. :) Those scissors are very pretty. I love the family photo. ;)

Lelia said...

Oh Von ... you need to make up more fobs to dress up your scissor family :D

Sorry to hear your machine is in the shop.

TGIF

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Awww, so sorry to hear about your sewing machine Von :O(

I understand completely about sewing badges...

Funny my 8 yo daughter is going to be "Mary Ingalls" for Halloween....I asked her why not Laura and she said that she has blonde hair and blue eyes, plus wears glasses....so "duh, Mom, I CAN'T be Laura!"

Ok, whatever.... LOL!

Anne S said...

I can finally comment on this post ... Blogger kept crashing my system the other day! Just wanted to say your scissors are DIVINE! ;) Glad I could help with a bit of enabling haha. Mine should be arriving soon, but when they do they're getting wrapped up and put under the Christmas tree for myself. It's so nice to see a good photo of them ... they're so scrummy :D