Farewell Old Friend

Today is a day of sadness. My faithful, sometimes temperamental, tough as nails, older than dirt sewing machine finally kicked the bucket. This machine had gotten to the point where the foot pedal had to be in a very specific position, the cords had to be taped to the table, I had to troubleshoot with the placement of the cords and tape them down before I could even begin sewing.


I called her the Bertha or The Old Hag. When she died I was sad, not because I wasn't able to do the alteration I had for a bridesmaid dress, but because it was the end of an era. Bertha was the machine I have been using for the last 2 1/2 years. She was responsible for all my sewing projects that I have done since then. She also helped me to learn to LOVE sewing. I know all her quirks, which made sewing with her easier as I knew her limits and didn't push her past them... often.


However, there is a silver lining in all things. A couple of weeks ago my friend, who owns the bridal shop, had me do an alteration of a GORGEOUS wedding gown for a photo shoot that will be featured on theknot.com. I did the dress and gave it to her the day of the shoot and the dress did not fit at all, couldn't even be zipped up. I didn't actually have the exact measurements for the model, otherwise it wouldn't have happened, so I went off of what I was given. So I get a call that Friday at around 4:00 from my friend. She said, "Name your price, I will pay whatever, but would you do the same style of dress, just a different size and do the alterations again? I need it before noon tomorrow." I said, after throwing up in my mouth a bit, "Ok, I will do it, but you get to buy me a new machine!" This time around, I got the models' measurements, stayed up until after 3:00am, made a pot of coffee at around 10:00pm and had the dress done. It needed a good 4 inches taken in and had lots of bead work that needed to be taken off. The dress was taken away at 8:00 on Saturday morning and I got a call around 3:00 saying that not only did the dress fit, but it fit so well it looked like it had been painted onto the model. Oh yea, I'm good. Lol Or just insanely lucky!

So, I would like you all to see the machine that is on it's way to me. I decided on the Brother CS6000i I have been researching machines for months now and came to the conclusion that I want something that has all the bells and whistles, but is affordable. Seeing as how this particular machine has been voted #1 in Best Quality for the Money for 2 years now, I am excited. I cannot wait to fall in love with the new machine, need to find a name for her and start making things like crazy!


Do you name your machines? If so, what are they and do you have any suggestions for a name for mine?