If you’ve read my blog posts over time, you know that I derive much pleasure and peace from my sewing activities. The knowledge that my grandchildren share some of that love with me makes me very happy. So imagine my joy when my grandson, known as Co, texted me last week to tell me he wanted to get a sewing machine, and asking if I had any ideas.
Co is two months short of 21, and a junior at the College of Wooster in Ohio. He is a lover of all things artistic, including especially dance, musical theatre, and photography, and of helping people who are struggling in one way or another.
I helped him make a t-shirt about 10 years ago, and he’s been helping out in the costume shop at Wooster, so this sewing machine discussion was not just a statement from nowhere. He had been trying different things with fabric and using glue to “sew” it together – wondered what that garment piece would be like actually sewn. When I told my partner about this conversation, he suggested I give my grandson one of my machines. WHAT?!
Co doesn’t like to ask me for things. I knew, when he asked, that he was figuring he would pay for this machine himself, and was thinking maybe he could get a machine for around $125. (I started saving for his education when he was born, and he frequently expresses his gratitude for the college tuition payments and the fact that he will graduate in a year with no debt. So he tries not to ask for more.)
I called him yesterday to ask if there was any space in his schedule to meet me in Cuyahoga Falls at Barnes Sewing Center to look at sewing machines.
When the owner, Chris, was free of customers, we started walking around the store and talking. I bought my second Juki and a Baby Lock coverstitch machine from him a year ago. I told him I was thinking of Juki or Baby Lock or maybe Bernette. When I said I wasn’t so sure about Bernina anymore, he said the Bernettes were made by Janome. I liked that the Baby Locks I was looking at were small and lightweight – perfect for a dorm room. He told me they were made by Brother, and we walked over to the Brother table, where Co fell in love with the Pacesetter Innov-ís PS500. We ended up getting the machine, extra bobbins, decent sewing shears, five spools of thread, a small purple Oliso iron and and ironing/cutting surface, three packs of needles (11, 14, and denim), and a marking pen, along with a trolley case that he can store everything in, in his room. I hope/believe that once he is properly equipped, he will fall as deeply in love with sewing as I have. I think I’ll make up a couple of bag kits out of my stash to see if he also falls in love with bagmaking.
When I was a child, and it was time to add another musical instrument to my skillset, my parents would get a good, new instrument. When my children were young, I would do the same for them. When Tyler started playing drums and asked for a drum set, I traded in my 30-year old clarinet and oboe to buy a new drum set for him. I didn’t want Co to be learning on a used machine and then have to drive many miles to get the machine adjusted or repaired. I’ve never bought a used car. I buy new and take very good care of my purchases, making them last as long as possible. That’s just the way I was raised. May this new Brother sewing machine last Co for 30 years of contented stitching.
The love of sewing, passed from my mother to me, and down to Co and Celeste, continues.
