Make it sew!
May. 1st, 2026 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baroque_mongooseWhen I was growing up, my mother had a sewing machine which I wasn't so much as allowed to touch, let alone use, because Children Break Things. This even applied when I was in my teens and being actually forced to use an electric sewing machine at school. My mother's machine was not electric; it was an absolutely beautiful old manual affair, and when I say "old", we're talking the second half of the 19th century. I'm fairly sure she got it from her mother, and I don't know where she got it from, but it may well have been her mother before her. It had an inlaid plinth and a solid wooden carrying case, also inlaid, and she made a fair few items of clothing on it because it was cheaper than buying them (it still is, if you know where to buy your fabric, though I understand that is no longer the case in the USA). You used to be able to buy "cut out and ready to sew" kits by mail order from magazines, and she liked doing that from time to time. Much as I hate cutting out, I personally wouldn't touch one of those with a barge pole, because a) you don't get to choose your fabric, and b) I have enough fitting issues to provide material for an entire practical class on the subject, so I need to do a lot of pattern alterations before I ever start cutting anything. (Don't get me wrong; I'm extremely happy with my figure. I wish I'd had it in my 20s rather than being stick-thin and straight up and down. Nonetheless, it is a bit of a nightmare to fit properly, because manufacturers don't draft for it, or indeed, usually, anything even close.)
The sewing machine I was obliged to use at school was quite different. It was a cheap 1970s electric job, it was extremely noisy, and it was not easy to control (and this is me talking; someone once brought an engraving machine into school to raise money for some charity, so I went along and engraved my two teeny tiny pocket knives with the mock-tortoiseshell handles, and everyone gathered round to laugh at me because they expected me to make a complete mess of it, and in fact I controlled the thing so well that they were all stunned and couldn't believe it was the first time I'd used one). I hated it with a passion. We were all supposed to make skirts. I didn't even want a skirt. I wanted a pair of trousers. But no, this was the pattern, and you had to make the wretched thing (it didn't even have any pockets, so you can guess just how often that skirt got worn afterwards), and you had to do so on this horrible sewing machine. And the moment I'd finished it, I swore I'd never use an electric sewing machine again and went straight back to doing it all by hand. After all, I still wasn't allowed to go near Mum's.
Fast forward several years; Mum hadn't done any sewing for a long time, and decided she no longer wanted the sewing machine, so I said I'd have it if my sisters didn't want it (they, obviously, had a higher claim on it than I did). However, the one who was interested in sewing had a machine already, so I was able to claim it; unfortunately, by this time it didn't work, and I couldn't get it to do so. My sisters retrieved it from my Sheffield house when I was ill in 2016 and returned it to Mum, and it remained in her house until she died... indeed, until, I think, probably yesterday.
A few days ago, my sister sent me a copy of the probate valuation for the contents of Mum's house, and the sewing machine was listed. I'd completely forgotten about that. She asked me if there was anything on the list that I wanted, and I said, yes, please, I'd like the sewing machine; I don't have room to set it up here, but if I'm able to move that should change. (I don't need a vast amount of space, but I am not moving anywhere smaller than here. This place is around my lower space requirement limit.) So we had a little discussion about it and I was reminded that it's not working at the moment. I said, that is not going to be a problem now. I am on the FreeSewing Discord, where there are several people with expert knowledge of vintage sewing machines who'll be able to help me get it working if I need them.
And so this is what's going to happen. My sister, who has loads of space (it's just her and her husband rattling about in a spacious four-bedroomed house), is going to look after the machine for me until such time as I'm able to move, and in the meantime she's going to see if she can either fix it herself or find someone else to do it; if that doesn't work, we'll talk to the FreeSewing crowd (one of these folks owns about 150 vintage sewing machines, which she has lovingly restored - I have no idea where she puts them!).
I still won't use it for everything. Sewing machines come into their own for long seams that aren't going to be under any appreciable strain; but if the seam is in any danger of breaking, it's best to do it by hand, because then if it does break it won't completely fall apart. Also, you can't understitch all the way round a collar facing on a machine.
Even so... I'm looking forward to being allowed to use it at last.
The sewing machine I was obliged to use at school was quite different. It was a cheap 1970s electric job, it was extremely noisy, and it was not easy to control (and this is me talking; someone once brought an engraving machine into school to raise money for some charity, so I went along and engraved my two teeny tiny pocket knives with the mock-tortoiseshell handles, and everyone gathered round to laugh at me because they expected me to make a complete mess of it, and in fact I controlled the thing so well that they were all stunned and couldn't believe it was the first time I'd used one). I hated it with a passion. We were all supposed to make skirts. I didn't even want a skirt. I wanted a pair of trousers. But no, this was the pattern, and you had to make the wretched thing (it didn't even have any pockets, so you can guess just how often that skirt got worn afterwards), and you had to do so on this horrible sewing machine. And the moment I'd finished it, I swore I'd never use an electric sewing machine again and went straight back to doing it all by hand. After all, I still wasn't allowed to go near Mum's.
Fast forward several years; Mum hadn't done any sewing for a long time, and decided she no longer wanted the sewing machine, so I said I'd have it if my sisters didn't want it (they, obviously, had a higher claim on it than I did). However, the one who was interested in sewing had a machine already, so I was able to claim it; unfortunately, by this time it didn't work, and I couldn't get it to do so. My sisters retrieved it from my Sheffield house when I was ill in 2016 and returned it to Mum, and it remained in her house until she died... indeed, until, I think, probably yesterday.
A few days ago, my sister sent me a copy of the probate valuation for the contents of Mum's house, and the sewing machine was listed. I'd completely forgotten about that. She asked me if there was anything on the list that I wanted, and I said, yes, please, I'd like the sewing machine; I don't have room to set it up here, but if I'm able to move that should change. (I don't need a vast amount of space, but I am not moving anywhere smaller than here. This place is around my lower space requirement limit.) So we had a little discussion about it and I was reminded that it's not working at the moment. I said, that is not going to be a problem now. I am on the FreeSewing Discord, where there are several people with expert knowledge of vintage sewing machines who'll be able to help me get it working if I need them.
And so this is what's going to happen. My sister, who has loads of space (it's just her and her husband rattling about in a spacious four-bedroomed house), is going to look after the machine for me until such time as I'm able to move, and in the meantime she's going to see if she can either fix it herself or find someone else to do it; if that doesn't work, we'll talk to the FreeSewing crowd (one of these folks owns about 150 vintage sewing machines, which she has lovingly restored - I have no idea where she puts them!).
I still won't use it for everything. Sewing machines come into their own for long seams that aren't going to be under any appreciable strain; but if the seam is in any danger of breaking, it's best to do it by hand, because then if it does break it won't completely fall apart. Also, you can't understitch all the way round a collar facing on a machine.
Even so... I'm looking forward to being allowed to use it at last.
