Sew, Sallee: From Mending and Hemming to Actually Making Things

This is my new friend: A Singer 9960 Electronic Sewing Machine.

During one of our semi-annual clean-ups, my husband threw out an ancient Brother sewing machine that I had for thirty years. (And I think I bought it used.) The old machine was able to do a couple of different straight and zigzag stitches and buttonholes, if I remember correctly, although I never tried the buttonhole part. I had used it to mend seams and hem pants and that's about it. But still, I wasn't too happy when I'd learned he'd tossed the thing. Actually, he put it out on our curb with a "free" sign, something he does frequently, so hopefully it went to a good home. But what was I going to do if I needed to mend something?
Merry Christmas! He bought me this new, slick, beautiful machine that does absolutely everything! It has 116 different stitches, including 30 some utility stitches and 80 plus decorative stitches. Oh, it does embroider, but only free-hand, darn! Speaking of darning? Yes, it does that too! But the question is, what is a girl who only mends and hems going to do with a machine that was put on this earth to make beautiful things?
Enter Craftsy.com. I happened on this website while I was looking for sewing lessons. I thought there might be some place local that I could go and actually learn how to sew, or re-learn, rather. I did sew when I was a teenager. But that was a long, long.....well, you know. Guess what? Finding sewing lessons in a classroom with a live teacher is not so easy. There are a lot of teachers that will do on-line classes. But the great thing about Craftsy is that once you buy a class, you have access to it forever. You can keep going back again and again, and believe me, I do. And they have everything from beginner to advanced classes. The first class I took was on making a tote bag. A simple bag to take shopping. Well, simple, yes. But lined, and so I learned how to line a bag. That was not a little deal for me.

The other great thing about Craftsy is that they have kits that you can buy that include patterns and the fabric. The two dresses below were from one of those kits. The shorter, white one, is the fabric that came with the kit. The red and white striped dress was fabric I bought at Joann's and used the same pattern, but with longer hem and sleaves. I have since taken a total of nine classes, from a tutorial on different kinds of fabric to how to make bras. I'll do another post on that one. It was pretty interesting.

Anyway, I am going crazy with my new machine and really enjoying the results. And learning a lot. Usually, from my mistakes. And I am making my share of them, so my seam ripper is becoming my second best friend. But I figure it's like hitting the ball into the sand trap. The more times I have to hit out of the sand, the better at getting out I get. And the harder I try not to get into trouble in the first place.
The other thing I was pretty surprised about is that there are precious few brick and mortar stores left that sell sewing fabric and notions. I live close to a Joann's which is about the best one around here. But I am finding a lot of great sources online. I'll share those links in my future posts as well.