Bought My Own Anniversary Present - One Happy Girl!

About a month from now The Mister and I will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.  My how time flies when you are playing house.   He's definitely a keeper.

At Christmas I became painfully aware that sewing machine technology has advanced at about the same speed as typewriter technology - the speed of light!!!  The first big purchase we made after marrying all those years ago was a sewing machine.  We starved for about six months to pay for my beloved used White sewing machine.  Now that may seem like a strange thing for a very young couple to sacrifice to buy, but I had made almost all the clothes I owned since grade school.  There was not enough time to sew when we came home to my mom's house on the weekends from MSU where we were living and we surely could not afford to buy many clothes back then.  That machine still sews like a dream and for its day, it had ALL the bells and whistles.  We paid an arm and a leg for it - the equivalent of about $1,000 in today's economy.  It has about a bazillion hours of use on it.

We gave Ginger a new Singer sewing machine for Christmas and I promised to give her a few lessons to get her on the road to sewing success.  When you have a little girl to dress like a princess, you just have to have your own machine or a gold mine.  We opted for the machine.  As Ginger and I unboxed it and tried out all the settings and stitches, I was truly amazed at the ease and wide assortment of things it could do, everything but clean the toilet.  With the touch of my finger it could do over fifty stitches.  I looked in the bathroom mirror and there I was - green with envy.  I had to have one!

Yesterday as I was shopping, you know I am retired now and don't have anything to do but shop all day, and about to head to the Tuesday Morning checkout counter with a few things in my hand, I spotted a big box with a picture of a sewing machine on the box.  I was thrilled and hoping The Mister would be just as thrilled. 

I scurried home and after a quick sandwich for supper I played with the new toy until after midnight.  Hopefully this one will be half as good as the old one upstairs.  I made an MSU potholder.  I thought it would be a good thing for use at tailgate parties.  I made a pair of overalls for the American Girl doll.  Both are made from repurposed blue jeans.  More about that later.

The Mister was as thrilled as I was (almost) and he facebooked Paige that I had just bought myself a sewing machine for my anniversary.  I can't think of a better present.   No house work will get done until the new wears off the new toy!

I've Got the Crafting Bug!

With all this COLD weather, I have really been bitten by the crafting/sewing bug.  Anyone who enjoys doing crafts knows what I am talking about.  It seems that when you are in the mood for sewing or making things, then you have just got to do it and when you are not, you just can't bring yourself to do it.  I can hardly go to sleep at night for thinking up some project and how I can make mountains and mountains of money with my creations.  Then the morning comes and there are so many other things that have to be done - making bread, teasing the cat, picking up sticks, clipping toenails, reading Dr. Seuss - and I don't get around to the projects and my business ideas.

A quick fun project I did manage to get finished before Christmas was sewing a pajama outfit for my granddaughter's American Girl doll.  I can remember how much I loved my dolls and dressing them up about fifty times a day way back in the good old days.  I still love dolls and their clothes.  Maybe that is one of the reasons God gave me three little girls to dress up.  They were even more fun to dress up than my dolls.  I have enjoyed making doll clothes since I was a tiny girl sewing with my mom, then for our girls, and now for our granddaughters.   The pajamas were so cute on her.  I am truly amazed at the cost of dressing the American Girl these days!   The clothes I wear are cheaper than hers.  

With any luck, my creative juices will be flowing and I will be able to camp out at the sewing machine for days and days, starting tomorrow.  Mountains of money - some other time!