MAGPIE'S MUMBLINGS

A blog about my interests, which include fabric landscapes and various and assorted other artsy pursuits and sometimes known to contain mumblings of a random nature.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Much cheering, and a new toy too!

Well, there's much celebration happening at Chez Magpie at the moment.  Dare I say that the computer is home and finally working (shhhh.....don't want to jinx it by saying that too loudly!).  Nearly two and a half months of being forced to use the tablet exclusively is finally over.  Don't get me wrong - I like my tablet, but it does have a lot of limitations.  By the time the dust settled I also had to invest in a new monitor, which wasn't a big surprise because I knew mine was old and getting crotchety.  

For the new toy part of this post, I thought I'd share with you what we hauled home across Canada.  See?.....




She's a beautiful treadle sewing machine, made in 1904, and gifted to me by our #2 son and daughter-in-love.  She's absolutely beautiful (both our daughter-in-love AND the sewing machine!!!).  She needs a new belt but otherwise is in perfect working order.  She even came with her original instruction manual and all the attachments, along with a number of wooden spools of thread.  The table needs a little TLC but that's not difficult to deal with.

Our son remembers hearing my stories about how I would be allowed to push the treadle on my grandma's sewing machine when I was a little girl and how special I felt.  I was certain I was being such a big help to my grandma (in reality, it was likely I was more of a hindrance).  The kids thought I would like to have this to re-live the memories and to enjoy using it.

Today the quote is from Bibhu Mohapatra.... "I remember an old Singer sewing machine at home that belonged to my grandmother.  It had a pedal.  My mom taught me how to use it when I was 12 years old.  I used to find it so intriguing, how a flat piece of material could be made into an object that had so many uses"

I still find it intriguing!  


14 comments:

  1. My mom had one of them! A lot of clothes were made on it. And the other lovely thing is that given it uses human power, it can't crash! What is the first project you're going to make on it?

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  2. Congratulations on getting your computer back and a new terminal. What a sweet and loving gift from your son and daughter-in-love. Those wonderful memories of spending time with Grandma...Priceless. Happy Halloween Treats for YOU.

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  3. wonderful gift. my grandmother had a similar one. wish i had it now. enjoy.

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  4. What a thoughtful gift! Hours of fun ahead :)

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  5. So glad you have your computer back Mary Anne! What a fabulous new toy! How lovely of your son and daughter-in-love! I hope you will get a lot of enjoyment from your toy! I know I would!! Christine x

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  6. Phew! So glad you have the computer back! Tablets are OK for a while, but you wouldn't want to become addicted! Tee hee!

    My paternal grandma used to have a sewing machine just like this! I expect it went to a scrap dealer or something!
    How lovely that your son and DIL gave you this one! I'm sure you'll have it working soon!

    Hugs, Barbara xx

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  7. Oh so happy for you. She's a wonderful gift. You got some really great kids. Glad you're back in action on the desk top. Our dependency on the desk top shows our age....how do my daughter and grands live on their phone? Shaking my head.
    xx, Carol

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  8. LUCKY YOU!!!! I had one of those, in fact perhaps that model, also with all the attachments and manual. Broke my heart to sell it when we moved to BC. Get treadling! I made all of my clothes in my early 20's on one of those!

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  9. Beautiful machine! Congratulations!
    I learned to sew on a machine using one of those.

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  10. Wow that brings back memories. I learned to sew on my mum's treadle machine. She brought the machine head from England when we emigrated and had to buy a table here. I was about 8 and I could just reach the peddle enough to get some speed going:)

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  11. What a thoughtful gift!

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  12. I wonder what you are going to call your utterly delightful Singer, will you name her?
    What a wonderful gift and yes, well worth hauling home with you - and making room for in the home!
    Lucky you!

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  13. oh you lucky thing! I remember my grandma having one of these but I have no idea what happened to it.

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