keelysews... sometimes

A few weeks ago I was hemming jeans in a hurry (because I needed them in 10 minutes and I'm sooo organised that of course I left myself plenty of time...) Anyway, I broke the needle. This was bad enough (did I mention I was in a hurry?) but then I couldn't find all the needle and the machine wouldn't turn because something was jamming the bobbin casing. I had to rush and spent the entire pantomime a jibbering wreck thinking I'd broken my poor machine. Luckily, a couple of hours away meant I could approach my machine calmly and logically when I got home. I ended up taking out the bobbin casings etc and the bottom cover of my machine to find that a piece of needle had pierced the hoo-dakky-whatsit (I think it's the race?) that holds the bobbin hook in. In spite of myself, I was impressed, especially after the effort it took to pull that bit of needle out with pliers! Unfortunately I didn't think to take a photo of the needle in there - I was too busy crossing my...

Last week the number of sewing machines in my house doubled. First up, my parents gave my DD a second-hand machine for her 12th birthday. It's an old one - a Brother 803 (in fact I'm sure it's the same model I had in sewing classes when I was 10) and it doesn't have a manual, but it's simple and easy to work out. DD is very excited to have a machine of her own and has set it up in her bedroom. This did necessitate furniture reallocations and shuffling, but hey, this is encouraging another sewer/sewist and I need help getting that stash down. :) Then came another second-hand old machine. A Husqvarna 6440 which, according to the original warranty certificate, was bought in 1977. This was on Trade-me and I got it for $26. Apparently the main cam is broken. I've phoned the repair place that looked at the machine for the previous owner (that's the advantage of a small city - there are only a few places to check) and I can expect a bill of about $90 to fix it. Ev...