R.I.P. little elna...

Yes... this was me trying to remember how to use the new sewing machine! 

photo - google search - I love Lucy

I say new... I've had it for months now, but after so many years with my lovely little portable elna lotus ZZ, bought before going to art college, this one takes some getting used to. Perhaps it would be better if it came out of the cupboard more often! but having been on a knitting frenzy for some time now where all I needed was a ball of wool and two needles, it hasn't seen the light of day very much. And it's such a palaver getting it out, plugging in, and then finding it's threaded with white when you want black, or vice versa, then having to check the instruction manual because you've forgotten how to change something. The thing is, my little elna almost became a part of me, I knew it's workings intimately and just went into automatic mode when using it.

photo - mine

 But nothing lasts for ever, and after so many years of faithful service maybe it was beginning to get a bit sloppy in the length and tension of it's stitches. Or maybe I thought it was about time I had a grown up sewing machine, something that could do the kind of things the little elna struggled with. What ever the reason, it meant a trip to the sewing machine emporium, which also houses a huge selection of anything to do with sewing / knitting / cake decorating and card making, in other words, when you go there, don't expect to leave with just the couple of rolls of ribbon you went for! There I stood in bewilderment at the array of machines and their capabilities, they even overlocked now! I just wanted something simple to use, and the lovely assistant who knew all the machines like the back of her hand, asked a few questions, and settled me down to try a middle range machine that did every thing I could ever want. So... if I ever do get it together to go on one of the lovely Linda Miller 's machine embroidery days I've been promising myself for years, I won't feel as though I'm taking a toy sewing machine with me.

embroidery - Linda Miller

And my little elna? in the garage with all the other things we don't know what to do with but can't bear to part with.