A New Adventure In Sewing

Since it is getting colder outside, I'm turning my attention from projects in the yard to inside projects that will carry me through the winter.  I will be slowly planning our spring yard projects over the winter, but I need something else to keep me busy.  Work is keeping my mind pretty busy trying to remember all the things I have learned in my new role.  I also recently joined my mom in a Bible study over the book of Daniel, so that has been occupying some of my time as well.  Of course, there is my other favorite past time of spending hours on Pinterest.  With Black Friday around the corner, I have also been spending a fair amount of time surfing for leaked Black Friday ads.  The last couple of days they have been released left and right, which I'm pretty excited about!

My main project for this winter is going to be sewing.  My Grandmothers sewing machine was delivered to our house, thanks to my wonderful parents, about a month ago.  It has been sitting in the basement making crazy eyes at me for the last month.  Every time I went downstairs to do laundry or to work, I felt like it was talking to me and asking me when I was actually going to plug it in.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and plug it in.  I was also happy to find, although this shouldn't surprise me, the original instruction manual for the sewing machine in one of the drawers along with a box containing several feet to go with the machine.  I have clung to that manual the last couple of weeks to guide me through threading the needle and learning different kinds of stitches.  I haven't had to change out the bobbin yet, but the time is coming and I am terrified.  Currently, I'm trying to teach myself how to do a blind hem so I can fix some hems that have come undone on a couple of my pairs of dress pants. 

This sewing machine has been around the block a couple of times.  I found the original sales receipt with the instruction manual.  My grandmother purchased the sewing machine in 1965, and it is still running strong today!  I can promise you that machine has a long history of getting projects done: clothes, quilts, home decorations, American Girl clothes, Barbie clothes, and my personal fond memory of fixing my favorite baby blanket.  I'm proud to have this very important piece of my Grandmother in my house. 

 A piece of history right there!

 No pedal on this machine, this bad boy is operated with your knee using that lever you see.

 You can see I have already made a trip to the store for some supplies!

Like I said, right now I'm sticking to the simple projects.  I'm trying to come up with some good holiday ideas to make with the sewing machine.  The obvious choice is stockings, but I think that is a little too big for me to tackle right now.  Eventually, I would love to have an embroidery machine, and then I could make stockings until the cows come home.  For now, I will try to make my Grandma proud with her machine.  I would love to get to a point where I could quilt.  There is something about it that really appeals to me.  My shorter term goal is to get to a point where I would be able to create the quilt for our son our daughter's crib when the time comes.  We will see where this winter project takes me, and I will keep you posted along the journey.  For any experienced sewers out there, let me know if you have any tips or tricks!