My New Sewing Machine

I love to shop at the local  thrift stores, in fact I love it so much I've been known to drive 1 1/2 hours if someone whispers to me of a good place that they scored some good items.

At the thrift stores I'm drawn to the household items that are made of fabric, such as napkins, tablecloths, doilies, blanket throws, sheets etc.  If the pattern of the fabric attracts me I start to envision how I can transform it to something new and attractive for the home.

I have a large stock of doilies and fabric napkins just waiting to be remade but my 20 year old sewing machine was just kicking and screaming each time I used it.

So off I went to get a new one, just something simple, inexpensive that would do the basics but this Viking machine kept calling me plus the saleswoman was very good at her job of selling and so this not so simple machine came home with me.

The less simple the machine the more of a learning curve there is and I've come to realize at my age I hate, hate learning curves. Having to learn how to use this machine has proved to be a bit exhausting along with my memories of learning to use my new computer, phone, even my rug shampooer. So I set a goal to use the machine a bit each day until I mastered it!

I bought the machine because I really want to keep buying these things I'm drawn to at the thrift stores but to do that I have to start making some things.

So below are two pillows I've made. They are my first with the Viking. The side ruffle one was from an embroidered doily which I made into an envelope pillow with added ruffles, so very shabby chic. Then in my stash of napkins I found the perfect white napkin with a bit of texture that made the perfect companion to the envelope one. I got to use the ruffle attachment to create the flower center. I'm pleased how they both came out, though they are not perfect. 

My son gave me good advice "Just keep at your craft until you are really good at it" and that's what I intend to do. So I look forward to becoming really good at using the Viking sewing machine and  creating new items with my stash of fabric items from the thrift stores.