Yahoo! Groups : wefixit, this is where it's at for Shade Tree Sewing Machine Mechanics

Yahoo! Groups : wefixit

Not that long ago, repairing sewing machines was just a job that a few people had. When your machine wasn't working, you'd take it in to the sew and vac. Four months and five hundred dollars later, you'd get it back. Meanwhile, you'd sit on your hands, because that was the ONLY sewing machine you had. This was how the world worked, and we were stuck with it.

It was irrational, really. I mean, my dad used to get out on the weekends with his little gapping tool, and his set of screwdrivers, and he'd tweak the car in the driveway until it purred like a kitten. I won't bother telling you what he said about the guys at the local garage, because I'd have to put an "inappropriate for minors" warning on this blog. If my father, who was essentially a suit, could repair something as critical as an automobile, why couldn't I fix a sewing machine?

Wasn't I a Suit too??

It took a while. My first solution was to get a brand new, top of the line sewing machine. After all, I just wanted to sew, right? Right. The idea of getting a new machine was great, but I was characteristically foolish. In the excess of love, I got it for my daughter instead of myself. Seven kinds of fool~! Indeed.

When she was gone and the machine was gone with her, I felt morose, but with a bit of hope, I headed out to the local sewing machine shop. Where they wanted more for a sewing machine than they would for a car, for heaven's sake. I couldn't afford it. Oh woe was me.

In pure sorrow, I drove off, and noticed a thrift store right there next door to the Sewing Machine store. Laid low, I went in. And in the back, there was a dirty, rusty, scratched up, totally abused and absolutely not working ancient Singer 99. What was I thinking? I didn't know how to fix sewing machines, and if I took it back to the sew and vac, it'd cost me the amount of a used car.

I bought it anyway. That was the beginning of the slippery slope that lead inevitably to Wefixit.