Thursday, November 13, 2008

Before XBOX, Wii and PS3 there was...Singer

To quote a line from the famous teen flick, Ferris Bueller's Day off,...

"I asked for a car, I got a computer..."

For my recently turned 9-year old, however, the line would be modified as follows,

"I asked for a Wii, I got a sewing machine..."

A Singer Inspiration to be exact.

She had asked for one awhile ago and has shown periodic interest since our recent stroll through the sewing craft displays at the State Fair of Oklahoma.

The hunt for an age and skill appropriate machine was on, with the ultimate decision being left to the balancing act of bank account vs. gift over-indulgence factor.

She was not going to get a Pfaff, that much we knew, however we wanted a machine that would survive through her initial learning stages yet be full featured enough to carry her into her more productive garment making phases ahead.

The Singer we chose seemed a reasonable, bullet-proof, time tested and quality-proven compromise, the purchase of which also helped me set a precedent for that dreaded day 7 years from now when C asks for her first car ("...a sweet little BMW or Honda S2000 would be nice...") and I come home with a '74 Dodge Monaco with triple-shellacked lumber bumpers, a 10-point roll cage, and a Navy surplus combination ejection seat/quick-deploy parachute.

Hey, I'll paint it whatever color she wants it...with flames even.

Anyhow, after a brief lesson on the operational and safety features of the rapid-fire "machine de la sewing," C took to it like a Kentucky moonshine runner to a V8 Ford and was turning out pillow after pillow for her Webkinz petz in no time. She has since graduated to piecing together a quilt -- of sorts -- made out of material from our scrap material craft bin (what, you don't have a scrap material craft bin?)

Since I wasn't able to take the new machine apart to show C how a sewing machine actually works, the net provided me with the necessary info and then some. Found this graphic on Wiki that shows how a lockstitch is made, which solved a riddle and provided mere minutes of animated pleasure for the girls and I.

I've actually mandated C to learn the machine well enough to give dear old Dad a lesson in the coming days. She seems more than thrilled at the concept of teaching me how to operate a "power tool."

Maybe my days of duct taping the hem up on my Dockers are finally over?

3 comments:

Lady Beekeeper said...

Good job, dad. I should warn you, however, people who quilt generally don't "do" hems.

OKDad said...

Is it beneath a quilter to do a hem or is it just too much trouble to switch from one sewing mode to the next?

What about a button...or a Campfire badge?

Do Bernina and Pfaff folk mingle with Singer people, or is that verboten in sewing circles?

Guess there's more to learn about this sewing kick beyond the operation and safety procedures.

And here I was thinking the only thing I had to worry about was getting my finger sucked under that whoozeewhatsit and ending up with a few stitches across my index digit.

Maybe I'll just stick with my duct tape.

P.S. - I sure hope quilters have a sense of humor, otherwise I'm looking at a long line of flaming seamstresses.

Lady Beekeeper said...

Quilting is just so much fun - and the other stuff is work. It is a bit like having Da Vinci paint the garage... :)

Yeah, quilters mingle no matter what sewing machines. The biggest divide might be the art quilters and the rest of them but even that is not a particularly huge divide unless you get into politics. The art quilters are blue leaning and the red quilters tend to be Palin girls. But that is not hard and fast...

All of them can help you clean up the blood from the needle so you've got that going for you.

I read recently that a study showed that needlework was an activity that lowered your heart beat and dropped your blood pressure as compared to other activities such as reading a paper, playing cards or playing a video game. A lot of us find it to be a heck of lot cheaper than therapy.

Some have a sense of humor and some don't. We ALL like chocolate.