Saturday, September 6, 2008

Bad News


The other day I got an unwanted telephone call--sewing class has been cancelled yet again! This makes it two semesters in a row, and it is messing me up!
I thought for sure this semester would go as planned, since I saw that my favorite teacher was back after taking a semester off. We had a replacement for one semester--who was a little nutzo and might have caused the low sign-up for the following session (which was cancelled), now this semester is also cancelled because again not enough people signed up.
The class I attend is through Torrance Adult School and is more of a sewing lab than an actual class. Students can work on whatever projects they want to and the teacher is there for assistance. I like it because there is a lot of space to spread out your cloth and projects and it's great not to make the mess in my own house. The same students keep coming back, so the atmosphere is like an old-fashioned sewing circle. The Torrance version of a sewing "Stitch 'n Bitch" I guess.

I really had a ton of projects I wanted to work on--
--dress for lady scarecrow
--curtains for bedroom
--misc things for the yard haunt
--ver 1.2 of bedside electronics caddy
--electronics caddy for co-worker (he's really disappointed the class is cancelled)

Why not just get a sewing machine? Lately I'm in the mode of trying not to acquire too many "things". I really don't have any where to put a machine and once it gets stored in the garage, I'll think of 1000 reasons not to haul it out when I need to. The class was perfect for me. But I do need to get these projects DONE, so who knows, I might have to get one. Although.....

Next week I am traveling back to Wisconsin for a visit. One of the things on the agenda is to help my dad and sister deal with my mom's "sewing closet". My mom was a fantastic seamstress and throughout the years accumulated quite a trove of patterns and material. In fact, at her request, her obituary included the line..."The one with the most fabric wins". I think she won. Now we have to figure out what to do with it all. My younger niece also sews and has expressed interest in taking some things. I know I will be bringing some back with me. Depending on what we find, I may eBay some of it.
There is also the possibility of me taking her sewing machine. It is an old Singer--the type that came in a nice cabinet that looks like a piece of furniture. Mom worked at Singer and bought the machine on employee rate right before she quit working to have me! These models are considered work-horses and can sew just about anything. How to get it to California is the dilemma.

This is close to what it looks like...the machine is the same, Mom's cabinet is different. I got this image from a nice blog named Blackbird Pie, a sweet, crafty blog.

3 comments:

goldenrail said...

Oh, what a lovely sewing machine! You know, if it has a cabinet, and looks like furniture, you could probably find a nice place for it inside instead of in the garage. ;)
When I moved out to my village in Zambia, the first piece of furniture I bought for my hut was a sewing machine. And when I went to the Bay for the summer, I insisted on packing the car to ensure there was room for my Singer. I don't know how you've managed in Cali so long without a machine. (Guess the sewing classes helped, when they weren't canceled.)
Have a safe trip to cheeseland!

MaryRuth said...

I'm more of a born-again seamstress. I learned in jr high and high school, plus from my mom, but never was really into it until we bought this house and i needed to make curtains and stuff. I couldn't find anything l liked ready-made. I'm more of a crafter than anything. What kind of things do you make? Garments or crafts?
The thing of having a machine here in the house is I;m sort of messy and I definitely don't need to have my sewing projects adding to the clutter of my "space".

goldenrail said...

I can understand the space issue. I tend to wind up with a bed in my sewing room more than a sewing machine in my bedroom.
Usually, I make clothes, but I did some curtains for my apartment and have been known to a few other craft-type items.
Hope you can find another good sewing class!