My First Sewing Machine

The brainwashing started when I was a little over a month old. Oh wait it can’t be brainwashing when you are that young can it? What’s the word that they use when they trick little goslings into believing that a dog is their mother? I have it, imprinting. OK so I didn’t quite believe that the sewing machine was my mother, but I sure do like them.

All joking aside there is a reasonable explanation. My grandmother, Nevilyn, had just purchased a new Singer sewing machine for herself. One of the incentives for making the purchase was that they would give you this little beauty. Well what was she supposed to do with it? At the time her only other grandchild was a boy. Can’t give a sewing machine to a boy can you? I was the lucky recipient.

When I was a bit older, about 3 or so, I remember it sitting up on a high shelf in my closet and every once in a while mom would take it down and show it to me. Then one day I got to use it. I might have been 4? I have a very clear memory of sitting out on the grass in the front yard and attempting to sew some clothes for my dolls. (The other thing I was imprinted with) But you had to be very careful pulling the fabric out from under the presser foot. This silly thing was a chain stitch machine and if you weren’t very careful you could easily pull all of the stitching out in less than a blink of an eye. In fact one of my brothers delighted in pulling out all of my stitching!

Thankfully that one has been replaced by other better and fancier machines. Machines where the stitching stays put for the most part.

The secret of a good memory is attention, and attention to a subject depends upon our interest in it. We rarely forget that which has made a deep impression on our minds. —Tryon Edwards