Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Sew Funny

I am one of those people that ponder and stew and ponder and visualize myself doing something well before I actually do it.  It's just how I am.  So when my mom offered me her 1970's sewing machine she used in high school, I said yes.  She came over, showed me how to work it, and I put the Singer Fashion 252 away.  The thing sat in a closet for almost a year.  I didn't forget it was there.  Time just had to pass for me to get it in my head that I was going to actually sew something.  I didn't know what, but I was going to do it.

A few months back my first pair of Toms bit the dust.  Apparently, I have a big protruding toe because that thing made a hole.  I tried to rock the 'Peep Toe' Toms look, but it just didn't work out.  I looked more like the girl who was trying to not buy new Toms.  Thankfully, ultra crafty people like Ashley Ann problem solve with shorty guy craft projects for the rest of us non-creative peeps.

So here I was convinced that I could pick out some cool scrap fabric, sew a hem, and recover the tops of my Toms like what she did.  That did it.  I pulled out the sewing machine, read the owner's manual with the hippie flowers all over it and sat there for 30 minutes.  Even after reading the manual, I could not figure out how to turn the darn thing on! Seriously.  I was so frustrated.  Finally, I chalked it up the outlet not working.  After all, a college educated woman should be able to get a sewing machine to work.  Just to check to see if the electricity was flowing, I turned the machine light on.  Simultaneously, my foot was on the pedal with a bit of pressure and VIOLA!  It started running.  Yeah, 30 minutes of time wasted.  All I had to do was turn the light on.  (Grandma, stop laughing.  I know this is giving you a good laugh since you are the ultimate sewer!)

I practiced sewing some hems.  They were okay, and figured they would do for the shoe recover fabric.  Only one problem.  I was practicing with black thread.  When I went to change out the thread to white, there was none.  But hey, at least I know how to turn the machine on now.  Unfortunately I'm still left with this...

 





1 comment:

Ashley said...

Oh I know how that is. I got my grandpa's sewing machine after he passed away 8 years ago and only learned how to use it a year ago. It is a 1970 something Singer in a cabinet. My mom is an awesome seamstress so I knew just a tad bit about it from watching her. Still I spent a good amount of time on Google looking up how to thread the stupid thing. I got it down now though!