Our new sewing machine (and why I hated Home Ec)

Flippy and I have been a bit stressed out lately, so two friends sent us a nice donation for Spiderman, plus a little extra that they wanted us to spend on ourselves.  I had thoughts of going to see Celine Dion in concert here, before her show closes in December, but tickets are so costly and it seemed sort of frivolous.  I spent a bit of the money on “special” things, but they were all investments for the pets, for example, I purchased some stuff at SuperZoo.  There was just nothing of substance that I felt good about buying for myself and Flippy, until we set eyes on a sewing machine.  I’ve made teddy bears and stuffed toys by hand since I was very young, but I’ve never been comfortable using a sewing machine.  We’ve been wanting to make our own cats toys (and possibly sell them), and I thought I could just sew them by hand, but the thought was a bit daunting.  I just didn’t know how I could ever work fast enough to make a profit if I had to make each and every little stitch myself, and thus, we set our sights on a sewing machine.  Our “dream machine” was the Brother SE-270D, just because it had good reviews on Amazon, and seemed like it had tons of potential.

Today I got lucky and found a brand new SE-270D for less than half price, so I grabbed it.  Then I felt all nervous, the way you do after you buy something expensive.  I know it will help make a lot of tasks easier if I learn how to use it properly, but I’ve always had a bad relationship with sewing machines.  My mother has been sewing her entire life (and still makes all kinds of cool stuff), and I love to sew by hand, but I had a terrible Home Economics teacher in 7th grade and she’s had a lasting effect.  I believe the class was actually called, “Family Studies”, and it taught sewing and cooking.  I still do love to cook, thank goodness, but the teacher was such a condescending witch that she took all joy out of learning.  I don’t think I even wanted to take that class—I wanted to take the woodworking class the boys were in—because I had no interest in ever being “a homemaker”.  Not that’s there’s anything wrong with that, but at the time, I felt like I was being limited and pigeonholed.

I seem to recall I flunked that class, the only one in my entire life!  I don’t know why, but maybe I didn’t finish a project or something… I know it was sewing-related.  The instructor was a middle-aged woman, not married, and perhaps she hated children or something but she was very prim and proper and wanted girls to behave a certain way.  I remember one day when class finished early, we were given a word-search puzzle to work on, and I was finding the words and circling each letter individually.  The teacher came and looked over my shoulder and said, very disgustedly, that I wasn’t doing it correctly and that I should be circling the entire word.  When I finished the puzzle I showed her that there was a hidden word in the remaining letters, something she’d never known.  She was surprised, but I don’t recall that she apologized to me.

As an adult, I’ve got a garage full of workworking tools, and feel very comfortable pulling out a saw and hacking off gigantic palm tree limbs, or building cat furniture.  I do not feel comfortable putting two inches of stitches in fabric using a sewing machine.  I’m sure I’ll get over that quickly, and look forward to learning, but it’s no thanks to that terrible teacher.  “Miss Cumming” (yes, that was her name, and we were too young to realize how mockable it was), wherever you are… it’s 28 years later, and I sure hope you’re not still terrifying young kids who don’t fit your rigid mold :p

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 10/09 at 07:45 PM

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  1. Isn’t it amazing the damage a terrible teacher can do? Congratulations on finding your bargain. May it repay you hundreds of times over and let you thumb your nose at dreadful Miss Cumming. (Really? Her real name? Maybe that was part of her problem?)

    Posted by Diana  on  10/10  at  04:39 AM

  2. Awesome bargain! Keep us posted if you start selling cat toys. smile

    How is Spiderman doing?

    It’s sad that a bad teacher can have such a lasting effect. Not surprising, I suppose, considering how far-reaching the influence of a good teacher can be.

    Posted by Helena  on  10/10  at  06:26 AM

  3. We plan to move closer to our jobs, and given their relative locations this basically gives us a choice of two towns. One, Suwanee, is where The Boss lives but so far, anything acceptable is also out of our price range (like $150,000 out of our price range).  The other town looks like our best bet but I don’t want to live there.  Why?  It’s CUMMING.  Spelled just like a present participle in a porno novel.  CUMMING.

    Posted by Helly  on  10/10  at  11:28 AM

  4. I can’t imagine something like a sewing machine defeating you, so rasberry to Miss Cummings!  This is such a perfect piece of equipment for you!  I was looking at custom made harnesses and clothes and all manner of assistance-gear for all kinds of animals, and I can easily see you setting up a cottage industry of Wee Paws Pet Gear.  Not to mention quality bears for wee humans and afficionados alike.  Possibilities abound!

    Posted by Print  on  10/14  at  01:39 PM

  5. C’mon, Helly, please please please move to Cumming.  You’ll have a little giggle with everyone who asks you for your address, especially non-Georgians.  It’ll be great when you have to spell it and start with C-U-M.  Heh.  Actually, it’ll only be awful with people outside of Georgia - those in your neck o’ the woods are already used to the crappy name.

    Wait, I have another idea, Helly.  Move there and get a petition going to get the name changed.  I’ll bet there’s not a single person living there who wants to keep the name of the city, except maybe the Cumming family.  I’ll bet you could get help from Stephen Colbert - he loves stuff like that.  I know he’d tried to help if you wanted to get the name changed to Colbert.  Colbert, Georgia.  It fits.  And it still starts with a “C”.

    I’m excited about making cat toys with the sewing machine, but after reading the manual, it looks soooo hard.  However, we have a couple of sewing stores not too far away, they have classes.  Where better for me to learn to use a sewing machine than Nancy’s Quilt Shop?  Nowhere, I say, nowhere.  Also, her website (http://www.nancysquiltshop.com/) has a cat theme, so I think good ol’ Nance will want to help us succeed.

    Posted by Flippy  on  10/15  at  01:34 AM

  6. Our 7th grade boy is taking “FACE” this semester - Family and Consumer Education. It’s taught by a man who is successful in teaching the kids to make their own pouches. With electric sewing machines. Frankly, I wouldn’t let my son anywhere near my sewing machine yet, but so far, he’s having fun and has made a small pouch that is just shy of being a wonderful catnip toy! Add some cotton batting, catnip, and that last seam, e voila! Next they’re doing a mock trial to study how a courtroom trial works.
    I took woodworking AND home ec, so I can build a shelf and store sewing things on it grin

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat's Mom  on  10/22  at  09:15 AM

  7. My bargain keeps getting better!  I found out that the machine was missing a couple of non-essential pieces, and complained about it, and the seller sent me a $100 refund!  So, the machine ended up costing about $130, total (it’s on Amazon for $400).  I’ve managed to sew a straight line so far, and I’m pretty damn proud smile

    As for catnip toys, yes, I hope they will be on the way soon!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  10/26  at  03:38 AM
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