Sewing Love

Check out this great list of sewing blogs. I'm a new member on the list. There is a ton of inspiration and practical help on these blogs. I'm so grateful to Suze for compiling the list.

I love sewing. And I love this machine. Although it says Electrolux as the brand, it's really a Husqvarna (as sold in Canada) or a Viking (I think that's the US brand). Why Electrolux?
I bought the machine in Quito, Ecuador, in 1983. We were living in a little town on the edge of the Amazon jungle. One of my friends had just purchased an identical machine. I'd been looking to replace my first machine. The exchange rate at the time was in our favour and so my husband and I raced up to Quito (5 hours away), with our 14-month old daughter, bought the machine, at the Electrolux store, and raced back, all in the same day. Maybe racing isn't the right word - jolting, jouncing and jiggling are more apropos.
The salesman couldn't understand why I was in such a hurry. He wanted to show me all the bells and whistles of what the machine could do. I already knew how to sew and an instruction manual came with the machine (in Spanish), and I just wanted to get going.

With the help of this machine, I've sewn maternity clothes, baby clothes, school uniforms, costumes, toys, tablecloths, more curtains than I like to think about, gifts, upholstery, quilts, pillows, graduation dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and one wedding gown. I'm actually getting choked up here, writing about all the history this machine and I have shared.

Even my husband (Mr. Handyman) has used this machine to make - get this - a sailboat cover. Yes, last fall he took the machine downstairs where there was more room to spread out and had tarps all over the family room. He stitched and stitched, cutting and shaping the tarp to fit the boat just perfectly. I thought he was nuts, but it worked. The boat was protected all winter.