This is my first sewing machine:
Alright…so it wasn’t a golden blinged sewing machine when I got it…but it is now.
Here’s the story:
Years ago (and I mean almost 2 decades ago) when I was a newlywed my mom bought me a sewing machine (this sewing my machine as a matter of fact) for Christmas.
And I HATED it. REALLY HATED IT. Like…I cried. Why would my mom buy me such an archaic, repressive, stereotypical gift? Me! The girl who hated all things domestic…the girl who would rebelled against the word “homemaker”. It felt so…so…1955. Did my mother even know who I was?
Sheesh.
And so I took it home and put it in the basement. Where it sat for years. Until one day my mom dragged me to a quilting class. Seriously Mom? Quilting?!? I taught art…and crafting was a dirty word…what in the world was I going to do in an old lady quilt block making class?
Welllll….I’ll tell you what I did in that class…I fell in love with fabric. I was taken completely off guard and swept completely off my feet! The colors, the textures, the patterns…the POSSIBILITIES! It was like a whole new world opened up where art met crafts and decided to become best friends.
At the time I was a new mom and quickly busied myself with making baby bibs, blankets, and burp rags. Then as time passed I began making items like bags and table runners. It was all so much fun.
But then something happened that again changed my life forever…I gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl…my Grace. And nothing has ever been the same. If I hadn’t converted fully by this time to sewing her birth took me over the edge. Dresses, skirts, and hair bows…Flowers, ribbons, and lace…I couldn’t get enough.
And now years later….after the birth of my second daughter, my delicious baby Ruth, I am a full fledged sewing junkie…clothes, blankets, bags, and home décor items. You name it! If it can be pushed through a sewing machine, ruffled, bedazzled, serged, pleated or gathered you can find me doing it. (And loving every minute of it….especially if I am making it for Ruth or Grace.)
Little did I know almost two decades ago that my mom really did know what she was doing…she knew what I needed before I did. Moms are like that I guess. They can see who we are before we can see it for ourselves…and even if it takes us years to figure it out.
This sewing machine died years ago…but I haven’t had the heart to get rid of it…so again it had been banished to a corner in the basement to wait.
And then a few months ago I decided it was time for it to make a glorious reentry into my sewing life….as we were planning the sewing room for SNAP I decided that it NEEDED to be bedazzled because…why not?!? A golden bedazzled sewing machine would be awesome!!! So before I could change my mind I got to work and before the night was over I had a machine fit for SNAP….or Las Vegas…or Liberace…or…something….who knows what but I loved it. And last week I got to set it at the entrance to the sewing room.
It made me happy.
A gold sparkly sewing machine.
It was just what I’ve always needed.
Thanks mom.
-liZ
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What a fun way to honor your first sewing tool.
That is awesome looking!
it was one of my favoritest parts of snap. i’m glad i didn’t try to steal it…cause i was going to. I just needed to find a dress that was big enough to fit it under!.
I still have my first sewing machine too! I just can’t bring myself to get rid of it. I spent a decade sewing on it. I think it may need some bedazzling itself……thanks for such a great idea! I loved seeing it at SNAP!
You’re welcome! And thanks for not throwing it in the garbage!
Thats pretty neat I would have kept it as well, as a memorabilia 🙂 very pretty now you have motivated me to add a bling to my sewing machine
Love it. The story. How you found your passion in sewing. And this fabulous machine. Love it all! Thank you so much for sharing.
Great story and love the bedazzled machine!
I still use my first sewing machine. My Grandmother bought it for me as an engagement gift (19 years ago), and I was scared of it for years.
BTW, GOLD SEWING MACHINES ROCK!
I think everyone needs one of those.
~Michelle
how fun! looks like everyone had so much fun at snap.
I love your story . . . then after years of NOT using your sewing machine gifted by your Mother, you started sewing. You even fell in love with fabrics and became a sewing “junkie.” Then you “bedazzled” your ‘dead’ sewing machine, shown in all its GLORY — WOW, gold & silver! Your set it in the entrance to your sewing room because it made you happy. And you whole-heartedly thanked your mom! THANKS FOR SHARING IN WORDS AND PHOTOS. Sarah in Minneapolis
Oh man…Love the story and the heart behind it and I also love how the sewing machine looks ;p I may have seen the pictures first and looked over at my singer simple and wondered what sort of paint you used and if it still functioned.
Seriously-awesome!
Bonnie MS