Machines that have had me in stitches....

This is dedicated to Blah-Blah-Blogolicious who reminisced over trips to the fabric store for patterns and dress material.

I too have memories of various dresses being prepared for me for the school year.  Mostly shirt waist that buttoned up the front to the waist, (no zipper!), gathered and made of Dan River cotton.  (Dan River cotton at the time was noted for fabric that had small tufts of thread sticking out of the fabric as part of the pattern.)  Weird but it washed and ironed well.   One of my tasks on wash day was to iron down to a certain colored towel in the ironing basket.  I learned very well how to properly iron shirts and dresses. 

I remember my first sewing project was at Parkview Junior Highschool where they had combined fifth through eighth grade.  I was enrolled in a HomeEc class and we each sewed a dress and once it was finished we were to model it in class.  I cut pattern, I basted hems, I sewed and sewed.   I took the dress home and showed it to my mother.  She let out a yelp! Grabbed the dress, tore it completely apart, sewed it back together and I wore that to model.  I don't think I was graded on that version and I don't remember ever wearing the dress again after that.

About this time Mom purchased her Nechi-Elna sewing machine.  It was green.  I remember the salesman telling her that they would throw in free sewing lessons if she purchased it.  Um, no lessons were requested.
The Nechi-Elna was magic, it had plastic cams that produced figures and patterns on the fabric.  Fortunately Mom was not too enamored of that feature, otherwise our clothes would have looked like they had tattoos on them.  This machine was off limits to EVERY one.   When Mom became suspicious that someone might have snuck in and sewed a hem or something, she began hiding the pedal. 

My second sewing project was on Grandma Horns' treadle sewing machine.  My HomeEc project was to make quilted blankets for my sisters dolls for Christmas.  I walked to her house in town after school for what seemed like months to work on those quilts.  First I would walk in, lie down on the carpet in front of her heater and bake my front and back.  Then I would eat something and then I would sew on the quilts.  Mom thought I was taking too much time and eventually got me up to speed.  I got a grade and gave the blankies to my sisters for Christmas.  I don't think Mom ripped them apart and sewed them up again.

I did not sew anything for a good 20 years afterward.  I sewed a pair of black leather pants on Grandma LaVann's treadle sewing machine. That was one tough machine.  Her son, Phil, had fixed it so it was electric.  It did not have a reverse but it had such perfect tension that it could happily sew two layers of leather together without any problem. I even sewed in the zipper.  One tough machine.

My next sewing phase was when I purchased a Husqvarna sewing machine because it was seemingly idiot proof.  I sewed  few items of clothing on that machine and I still have it, it needs to be oiled and cleaned up if I ever want to sew a hem or something.

Mom's sewing machine went home with Phil when we gathered to disperse her personal belongings shortly after her death in December 2009.  Every ones truck was loaded to the gills with stuff and everyone seemed to think I needed to take it home with me.  Um, nope.,  I have a machine that I am presently ignoring, why would I want to ignore another one? 

So, in summary, Mom sewed like a fiend for most of her children.  She did not sew for Dad other than to hem his pants.  Most of us have polyester quilt tops that have outlasted the cotton bottom and filling. Mine is in a drawer, a little ragged around the edges but the top is still as bright and indestructible as the day she made it.