There was one item through the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway event that I seriously wanted. I didn’t win it, but I kept thinking about it. I finally went to see what it cost, because I wanted it that badly. The shop was under construction. What to do? Well, finally I just emailed the gal. Long story short, she offered me the most generous deal: I could test her pattern and she even sent me a pre-cut kit! (And that card she sent? She drew the fabric stash!) I will have more details when I complete the project. I am always so humbled at the internet crafting community’s generosity. Lots of love out there:D

A side story goes like this: Part of the pattern required my machine, part of it required hand stitching. So I had just finished part one of the pattern with the machine and was tidying it up with a needle and thread. Lo, I hear a *pop* and perhaps a sizzling noise. What is that?? I muted Star Trek: The Next Generation (once again, thank you, Netflix!). I had hoped it was something weird with the show, but then I hear *sssss* *sssss* and sure, it was coming from the machine, alright. I leaned in to confirm it; pulled away immediately. Was that smoke? Holy cow, that’s a lot of smoke! I yanked all the cords out of her. She smoked for probably two full minutes. Come on, I wasn’t even using her at the time!

Boy came home and his mechanically-electrically inclined ways fixed it. It seems that some poor little spider crawled in (probably the tiny Parson spider I had ignored on my table while sewing, come to think of it….) and zapped itself. The electrical shock must have coursed through the machine some how as it sprung the coil that the foot pedal used to make the machine go.

Now she is all oiled and squeaky cleaned (she had gathered dust during my grad school years). Boy even found two small faults that I didn’t even know was a problem! One, the hand knob to run the machine just pulled off (it was suppose to be screwed on) and two, the needle was staying in the cloth instead of returning to the top position once I let off the foot pedal. I had forgotten it was suppose to do that.

The machine was a wedding gift from my mother-in-law. It is a Bernina Record 930 Electric model. When it was smoking, I looked online and was worried, based on other bloggers’ comments, that I might have to get a new one. Without a job, that wasn’t a reality – I wasn’t even sure I could justify paying someone to fix it. (A small part of me wondered what it would be like to have a new snazzy machine, to be honest, though).

But in helping Boy fix it and learning about her innards, I realized I don’t want a new machine. This one has very little plastic (ugh, seriously, when will this world make plastic illegal?). Steel doesn’t break very easily, you know. When you turn it on, it’s on – no waiting for a startup. To change a foot, it’s just a lever, not a screw. It’s just…. simple. It has 27 types of stitches, too. Since I am by no means an expert on sewing, this one fits me just right. Thanks again, Gayle!