A sad thing happened. I was sewing last night, making some pants for Fern to hopefully help cheer up my sick little one. I was using some old curtains, so the fabric was thick to begin with. I went over several layers at once, and all of a sudden she got stuck. So stuck that I couldn't turn the wheel manually to get the needle out. Eventually I got it to turn over enough to get the needle out of the fabric. It was then I realized, it wasn't a thread jam problem; the needle wasn't broken.....it was my machine. She died.

 I brought it to a sewing machine store nearby today, and he told me that either the whole feed mechanism was out of whack and they could take it apart for me and maybe fix that, and that would cost about $80-$90; or it was a broken gear and in that case it wouldn't cost anything, because in that case she was toast. 

So good bye old friend. You have served me well over the past 13 or so years. 

The good things that came out of it were that:

1) I did get a new machine to play with. I think she needs a name. She's pretty basic, as was my other old girl, but the budget definitely doesn't allow for a fancy upgrade at this time. It doesn't exactly allow for a replacement machine in general, but the house can't be without a furnace, washing machine or sewing machine. It doesn't function well without those things.

2) I found a nice little sewing machine shop! Helpful folks and a great place to buy supplies. 

3) I picked up some leather needles without having to venture into Joann's (where who knows what else might have landed in my cart)

4) I had a nice conversation with a man that answered some basic questions for me about my intended forays into quilting.

5) This is a good opportunity for me to read the manual on my new machine and remember some basic things that I was probably forgetting. 

6) My new machine came with a buttonhole foot!! Perhaps I don't hate buttonholes as much as I thought I did...

So instead of sewing today, I added some rhinestones to some of Fern's pants. She hates to wear warm pants. She is not generally practical with her fashion sense. In the winter anyways. She is one of those warm weather people who is so happy when she doesn't have to wear layers. She is perfectly happy to wear bloomers under her dresses, but she pretty much hates any pants that aren't stretch pants. I found a metallic purple pair of jeans for her at H&M that have a heart shaped purple rhinestone snap, and she will wear those. So I figured we needed to do some bedazzling to a few of the plethora of hand me down pants that we have. (The girl literally has dozens of pants to choose from and never wants to wear any of them). 

I had some little heart shaped rhinestones left over from decorating her crown on halloween, and I picked up some Tulip crystal adhesive for a Christmas project. So I went and added some small doses of sparkle to four pairs of pants. We shall see if it increases the wear-ablity factor or not. (I'm having trouble finding some images here, but maybe I'll be able to add some pictures soon). 

A happy sewing thing that I have to share is this lovely pencil:

It is so so beautiful. Two dear friends gave it to me for my birthday, and I swore I was never going to write with it. It is so gorgeous. But that is no way to appreciate a gift. Better to admire the beauty and utilize the function. So I have designated it my pattern drawing pencil. The only time I use it is to draw out sewing patterns. It is perfect. Now I feel like it is a special occasion whenever I take it out; it will hopefully not get abused and destroyed, and I am able to think of my friends whenever I am in the middle of a fun creative moment, which is wonderful.