I promised last post that I would share pictures of the table dressings I was working on for my daughter’s Christmas table, but first I would like to tell you about the grand old lady that did the real work involved.
About 65 years ago, when my mother was still a young woman with a growing family, she found that she badly needed a sewing machine for mending and clothing construction. Because funds were tight, it took some time before she found a sewing machine that she could afford. It was already several years old, it was small and used, but it fit her budget so she bought it with a promise to herself that one day she would have a new sewing machine.
This little Singer that she found was a workhorse. Whatever task she undertook to stitch, it was up to the job. Countless jeans, sheets and clothes were mended on this machine, little girls’ doll dresses were made, Christmas pajamas were constructed, matching outfits for herself and all of her daughters were made a Eastertime, her daughters’ school clothes were sewn with the little Singer, and many, many quilt tops were stitched. All five of her daughters learned to sew at her knee with this same little featherweight machine.
If the sewing machine started to run rough, she would disassemble, clean and oil it, and put it back together. It was soon purring like a kitten again.
All the while she promised herself that new sewing machine, and finally in the late 1960’s she got herself a brand new Singer. Because the little old Singer still sewed just fine, she sent it along with her eldest daughter when she got married. In a few years the first daughter bought her own new sewing machine and the featherweight went back to Mom. When I (second daughter) left home for college, the featherweight came along.
I had it for a few years. I made many of my own clothes and even my beautiful satin wedding dress on the little sewing machine. In fact, I never doubted that it was the perfect machine for the job. A few years later my husband surprised me with a new sewing machine and the little old Singer was returned to Mom, who then passed it along to my next sister, who was then newly married.
And so it went until each daughter had owned the Singer featherweight for a time before it was replaced with a new one and the old lady returned back to Mom.
When I began quilting in the late 1970’s, I heard about this amazing little Singer featherweight that was perfect for piecing quilts. When I saw one for the first time, I recognized an old friend. I asked Mom if I could have her old Singer, since no one was using it, and it came out of retirement once again.
Shortly after Mom’s featherweight came back to me, I gave away my “new” machine, that always started out on a “dead run.” Since that time it is the only sewing machine I have had. Her light does not work any more and I have had to replace the original belt and footpedal, but the little old Singer still purrs like a kitten and she fits my needs perfectly. In fact, it is the only sewing machine I want.
The Singer sews a beautiful seam, it is portable and it is easily stored. She is perfect for all of my needs—even machine quilting on small projects.
Ta-Da! And, finally, here are some of the ten placemats and the eight-and-a-half-foot long tablerunner the grand old lady and I completed just in time for my daughter’s Christmas dinner.
