Meet Stella and a USO

Meet Stella. She has been with me since I was 16. She ran out of warranty in 2006 – yes, she had a 25 year warranty!! She is the best little machine, fits nicely in the linen cupboard, sews beautifully. I’ll never part with her.

I have since bought my Janome 6500. I love the way this machine has all the bells and whistles for doing patchwork and appliqué etc. However, she has been giving me some grief. She gets all rattly in the bobbin housing area. It was fixed twelve months ago, but when I was doing the machine appliqué on Red Delicious Block 2 it started again.

Last year, at the Swap Meet, I bought a little Singer Featherweight 222. It goes fine, but I don’t want to use it until I get it properly serviced (I know it is twelve months ago, but you can’t rush into these things).

Anyway, the three machines are going to visit the sewing machine repair man in Orange next Saturday. He does a great job. I will be machineless for about 4 days, so will have to plan around that. It will be good to have them all going well.

On another note, here is a pic from the party on the weekend. Mick is on the right with the birthday girl and Mick’s brother. It was good for them to catch up.

Now for the Once Project a Month Challenge. This has been a USO for some time. “USO” stands for “Un-Started Project”. I have more of these than UFO’s or WIP’s. Most are not listed in my side bar.

Anyway, Mick’s mum gave me the fabric when she downsized to a unit – that was about 13 years ago – I’m not really a satin person, so it sat in a box. (Zoom in on the photo to see the pretty pattern in more detail.) About 3 years ago I bought the pattern to make some pyjama pants from it…….but didn’t get started……so, last night I got in and made a start and finished them today. A very simple pattern, not even a side seam. They wouldn’t have taken long at all if my machine was not playing up. There was just enough fabric- just as well I’m short.

However, when I put them on they are HUGE!! Yes, I made the correct size. Mick assures me they will be comfy, but I think I will run them in an inch and a half on the legs and the crutch and they will be much better. Mick couldn’t believe that I wanted a photo for my blog, but as I told him, I have to have photographic evidence. They’re good for a laugh at the moment, anyway.