Sewing Machine Woes

Like computers, sewing machines are wonderful…

when everything is working as it should.

For someone like me, 

who sews pretty much everyday,

my sewing machine is a big part of my life.

My Janome machine is the newer 

of the two machines I have

and the one I use the most.

It is about 12 years old.

Because I sew so much,

I take my machines in regularly 

to have them serviced.

About nine months ago, 

this machine went in for

its regular maintenance servicing.

When I got it home,

this is how it was sewing.

For those of you really interested in sewing and machines,

 this is the underside of the sewn fabric.

It would sew perfectly for stretches,

then start the above.

Back to the sewing machine shop.

Several days later, I am informed the machine is ready to go.

It seemed fine sewing at the shop,

back home, the above again.

Another trip to the shop which

I might add is a half hour drive from my house.

Let me say, this is the shop from whom I purchased the machine

and I am a fairly regular customer since they service 

both my machines and my over lock machine.

They had just been taken over by a new owner or manager,

I'm not really sure which.

He would not even look at the machine

this time, insisting I was using the wrong thread.

I will admit I use Coats and Clark Dual Duty thread

and I realize that is not considered a premium thread 

by many people.

So back home again, I try using some

Mettler, which is considered a better thread.

The thread made no difference.

At any rate this saga has continued 

for the past nine months, 

three different sewing machine repairmen,

 countless trips back and forth,

and the appearance of my face in all my local shops

bringing nothing but dread 

to the people working there.

("her again…")

I guess it might be time 

to buy a new machine.

Thank goodness, I had my backup machine 

on which I've been sewing everything

during this time.

I paid $40.00 for this machine about 40+ years ago.

It was a used machine when I bought it.

It does nothing but straight stitch,

is all metal (no plastic on this gal), 

 but still sews like a dream.

(I made my wedding dress on this

machine a hundred years ago,

for goodness sake!)

The tattered manual is copyrighted 1953,

making me and this machine very, very

close in age.

(I'll let you consider which is older.)

Notice the above paragraph from the 

old Singer's manual re "REPAIR SERVICE."

Imagine a sewing machine service rep 

coming to your home…

Since the sewing I do is not fancy sewing,

this machine is perfectly adequate for me.

My big concern is having a back-up machine

for those times this one is being serviced.

I did  research to help me make a 

decision on what I should buy.

Everything I considered seemed to

really be more machine than I needed,

is electronic and/or computerized,

and has lots of plastic parts.

And do I really need a machine

that gives me 300+ different stitches?

Then I remembered my sister Nancy, who is not a sewer,

had a machine she had acquired years ago from 

her former mother-in-law.

It has been sitting in our basement for years.

What a strange coincidence we should both

have the very same old machine.

Hers is actually in a bit better shape than mine 

since it hasn't had the workout mine has.

I have cleaned it and oiled it and

it sews perfect stitches too!

I have found my back-up machine!

My plan is to alternate these two machines

on a weekly basis and I am probably 

good to go/sew for years!

AND I don't have to buy a new machine!

Meanwhile, the Janome, with all it's fancy stitches

is packed up and waiting for this 

summer's yard sale.