For the past year or so, I have wanted a sewing machine so badly but it was overwhelming to think about. Cost, space, learning the basics… ugh. Then I did a whole lot of research and just wanted to pounce. Over Thanksgiving I started looking at prices and on Cyber Monday I saw a blog about a Brother machine that was on sale (it ends up it is always that price) but I put my Amazon Prime to work and ordered this Brother one.
Bill was just as excited – he is super patient and got perfect grades in sewing at school. I on the other hand, lack the patience, so we’d be a good team and he can keep me on track when I lose it.
Then, around the time that we bought the machine, there was a LivingSocial deal for a sewing class in Brooklyn. I bought the class straight away because I thought it would be the perfect way to learn the basic skills and get used to a machine. We booked for a January class so in the meantime, I ordered a set of Moda Squares and real deal French Lavender. We were then able to get started on our first project – lavender pillows as family gifts for Christmas. This was a great starter project and we got our routine pretty much set with it. Here is one of them –
I will be making stacks more of these – I LOVE them!
Then, it was time for our sewing class. We went to Esaie Couture down near Prospect Park. Our project would be a tote bag.
Earlier in the week I picked up fabric for us at the City Quilter on 25th Street – if you are ever need good quality fabric, I wholeheartedly recommend them!
The first part of our 4 hour class was spent on sewing basics and methods for steering clear of mishaps on the machine. We did practice drills and learnt how to work through the machine. What was great is that I found that the way I was pushing the fabric through was why I was having so much trouble staying straight when we were doing the lavender bags.
Our machines –
Not quite ready to make clothes for these yet –
Then, it was time to get busy with our totes. What made this hard was I was already so tired when we got there – the usual Monday night feeling of needing to be in bed at 7.30!
But we soldiered through and this was the end result –
My bag was made for random sewing supplies, Bill is giving his to our crossword loving sister.
After a big haul at Jo-ann’s Fabrics and Crafts, Bill’s next project is a shirt and I am going to try a VERY basic quilt. We have also got a multitude of PBS sewing shows recording on our TiVo.. we can do this!
By the way a word on our machine… after using the very old ones at the sewing school, ours is awesome. We fully recommend it and the price on Amazon cannot be beat. It wasn’t a Cyber Monday deal after all!