Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Aaarrrggghhh!!!

During my marathon Christmas sewing, my Ellisimo machine started acting up toward the end. I would turn it off and on and it would reset so I thought all was well. I now have over 3 million stitches on my machine and it is only a little over 2yrs old as I sew constantly for family & friends. Tonight, I went to do a repair on something for my hubby and my Ellisimo would not work at all. All of the upper buttons that control the needle threader, up/down needle position, presser foot and thread cutter are all frozen. Even putting in the foot pedal would not let me sew a basic straight stitch. It's as if the circuit board has stopped working. I am so frustrated. Repairs are not in the budget as I just spent over $400 today having my oven repaired. Ugh ... I am thankful that I do have the Sofia that I can use but it hasn't been out of its case since October. At least, it is still under warranty if something is wrong with it. I did call my dealer last week to ask for an estimate on cleaning my Ellisimo and was quoted several hundred dollars. I am just very upset right now about this unexpected expense since we have to pay college tuition and buy books next week. So, for the most part, my sewing is on hold unless I set my Sofia up to sew. I won't do that until the house renovations are done. Our new windows are due to arrive this week or early next week. 2013 is not starting out to be a good year.
Happy Sewing!
Marty

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Sewing Plans for 2013

Now, another year has begun and I will start my sewing projects by sewing for others. That is usually what I end up sewing 90% of the time. This year, I am continuing sewing for Threads of Love by making preemie burial gowns. Then I will finish some dresses for Children in Africa as well as make some dolls for the children at St Jude's Children's Research Hospital. These are teaching dolls to inform the children what will be happening to their bodies while undergoing treatment. This will be a fundraiser for our ASG chapter as well as helping out St Jude. We have been asked to make 40 dolls a month. That's a huge commitment so I'm hoping my fellow guild members will help with this project. Starting on Jan 12th, I will resume my Saturday afternoon "Sit & Sew" classes. It is a 3hr weekly commitment from Jan to Oct. Anyone within the community can come in and sew or get help with a project or take sewing lessons. I do have extra machines for those without one to use. In between these projects, I will sew for myself.
Happy Sewing!
Marty