A Sewing Machine Review, Because…

The bad news is that my beloved sewing machine of eight years died on me during one of my projects.  :(

The good news is…

I got a new one!

I bought it from Overstock.com, which is where I got the old one too.  The great thing is that it’s a model with more features and stuff, but a smaller price.  They were having a deal on it that made it about $10 less than my old sewing machine. 

And I got free shipping, shipping that took longer than normal though.  It took two weeks from when I ordered it to receive my package.  I think this was just bad luck because it normally only takes the usual 3-5 business days.

I bought a refurbished Brother JX2517 sewing machine, on sale for $49.99.  Brother is the same company that made my old machine, and my mother’s sewing machine, and my sister’s sewing machine, etc.  Yep, we have a lot of their machines running around here.

It’s been my experience that Brother sells a wide variety of sewing machines that are quite affordable (some more so than others), well built, easy to run and last a good long while.  Which is why I love them. :)

Anyway, here is my new sewing machine!  Isn’t it pretty?

As you can see, it comes with an instruction book, a DVD, the foot peddle and plug…

…and some accessories!

Extra bobbins, extra needles, zipper foot, a buttonhole tool, etc.  Plenty to get you going.

My old machine was a very basic model and didn’t have many built in stitches at all, but this one has several.  I’ve already tried out a few of them, with good results.  The instruction booklet has a list of all the stitches and their use, very helpful.

What I wasn’t expecting was the deal with the bobbin, it’s a top loader.  I had never used one before, but thankfully, I found it really simple.  The instuctions and markings on the machine made it easy. 

Both threading and running this sewing machine is a breeze.  It runs really smoothly and seems quieter than my old machine too which is a real plus.  I find I do my best sewing at night and a quieter machine is less likely to wake people up.

But, speaking of my old sewing machine…

Here is the poor thing. :(

It’s a Brother LS-30.  As I’ve mentioned before, it’s an extremely basic machine.  Good for a beginner or for someone who does very minimal sewing.  Though it can work wonders in the right hands, I made this dress with it among many others.

It served me well for over eight years, but it’s time to go.  I will probably donate it or something.  Hopefully somebody else can still get some use from it if they can repair it or just use it for parts.

Goodbye old friend.  You were very useful to me until the very end.

Read More »

Saturday Shuffle: Sorry!

Sadly, this week’s blog hop has been canceled.  But don’t worry your pretty little head, it will be back next week. 

In the meantime, please check out some of the other fine blog hops I have listed on the side of my blog.  They would love a few new faces. 

Enjoy your weekend, and look forward to the next week.

Read More »

Good Bye Angel

Some of you may have heard from my twitter account that I had to take one of the cats to the vet yesterday.   It was Angel, he was completely blocked and in critical condition.  He had to be move from the clinic to a 24 hour emergency center.  It was from there that I got a call last night at about 10:00 pm.  Angel had gone into cardiac arrest.  It was a shock for us as well as the doctors, that’s not exactly the sort of thing that happens with urinary obstructions in cats.  In case it isn’t already obvious, Angel didn’t make it.  It’s hard to describe how I’ve been feeling about all of this.  Shock, fear, sadness, guilt, the list goes on and on.  All the what if scenarios keep on running through my mind.  If only I had done this, if only I had noticed that, etc.  My niece and nephew have been taking it fairly well, sort of.  My nephew was told that we “lost” Angel and misunderstood.  He now thinks Angel is just somewhere outside.  My niece gets it.  She has lots of questions too, and she now knows what epinephrine is and what cardiac arrest means.  Overall, I guess we are just hanging in there.  All we need is time.

Rest well Angel.  We miss you and will never forget you.

Read More »

R.I.P. Birdie

My last post was about an injured pigeon I was taking care of, I started to call him Birdie.  And I confirmed it was a “he”.  Well, Bad news.  On Sunday morning Birdie passed on.  Apparently his injuries were too much for him.  At least his last days were pleasant ones.  And I also learned a bit about pigeons, mostly from Wikipedia.  I still don’t know where the crop is.  FYI, it’s the name of a part of the pigeon’s anatomy, I’m not talking about corn.  Apparently they produce milk from them.  Strange.  In the meantime, I think I’ll continue to read up about these fascinating birds, in memory of Birdie.

Read More »