Sewing Crisis Solved!

The story of my sewing machine and career began about 5 years ago, when Paul gave me my first sewing machine for Christmas. I taught myself to sew by reading the machine's user manual and following patterns, and by fixing a LOT of mistakes. I slowly improved and began to enjoy sewing, even though I didn't do a lot of it at first.

Then my sewing machine started having problems (almost from the beginning), and I tried to work around them. At first I thought it was just me not knowing exactly what I was doing, but sometimes it was so bad I knew it was the machine. Basically the tension in my machine was never quite right, and my seams were weak and crooked, and I did A LOT of unpicking (which I despise), and my frustrations began to arise. I would sit down to do VERY simple projects, and they would turn into major time-consuming events that would result in an undesirable product, some of which have fallen apart since (which includes 2 adorable aprons I made the girls for Christmas, and a doll I made for Anna for Christmas).

So two nights ago I hit the end of my patience with my machine. I was making a very simple skirt for Anna, and I was having the same problems right away, so I decided it was time to look for a new machine, because obviously that was the problem! I went online and searched for the best sewing machines. And what was the first sewing machine to pop up on TWO different sites? It was the very machine that was sitting over on my desk. The one that had been causing me grief for soooo long. Everyone LOVED my machine. It was wonderful - all the reviews were fantastic. Of course this made sense if you know my husband, who is a dedicated researcher of all purchases, especially larger purchases made at the time of a tighter budget.

Then I started to think that maybe (and likely) it could be a user error . . . . so I did a little troubleshooting by looking online for people who had the same problem with my machine. Well, in about a minute or less, I found there were people who had the same problem, and I had found a solution that someone gave - a very simple solution, I might add.

So I went back to my sewing machine, re-inserted my bobbin EXACTLY as my manual instructed me, making sure the thread was inserted in all the right places (some less visible than others), and VOILA!! I sewed the most beautiful straight seam of my entire sewing career. The tension was perfect, and I could have cried!! I was so happy! I quickly whipped up some skirts for my girls in no time, and I realized how much I really LOVE to sew!

So I wanted to post the pictures of the simple little skirts. They may not look like much to you, but to me they mark the beginning of many productive years of sewing - and loving it! For the first time I am asking people to note my beautiful seams, purposely done in contrasting thread, since it's the first time I've actually been able to comfortably use contrasting thread, and not worrying about the seams standing out in a bad way:)

I just had to share this story from my life, because the little things can really make someone's day, and I was feeling so grateful!

A couple of the skirts pictured are a little wrinkled, because I took the pictures the day after they were worn by the girls :)





You can just see Samantha's missing top front tooth. She's already lost 3 teeth, and she hasn't even started kindergarten yet!
Anna would not put down her cup of juice, since juice is a special occurrence in our house.
But then she at least looked at the camera.

And yes - I let my girls dress themselves :) It makes me smile.

The Clubhouse

A week or two ago Samantha decided to turn a beautiful big brown box into a clubhouse. Here are the results of her efforts. My only contribution was cutting out the windows and the door per her specifications. The rest was her own, including the amazing Mr. Potato Head guards, handmade curtains, wallpaper, and sign (and a whole bunch of tape).


Adam especially enjoyed (and continues to enjoy) the clubhouse. We removed the little strip above the door because he really struggled to get out of the house with that little strip there, and he let us know it was NOT working for him!

And here are some cute pictures of the girls from that day, because the lighting in the living room was good, and I'm trying to figure out how to use my camera (and hoping I can improve with my efforts).