Thwarted at Every Turn!

So, in my last post I had a sore thumb, and although I couldn't spin or knit, I figured I could set up my old faithful sewing machine and run a few lines with her.

I've had a couple of knitting project bag designs swirling around in my head for a few months. Given my thumb injury, I used the knitting/spinning downtime to get my designs on paper.  Following an hour or so of sketching, cutting, taping, and re-designing, I was ready to put fabric to the metal!

But what was this?  My automatic needle threader was on the fritz!  Darn!  I hate having to manually thread the teensy eensy tiny little needle.  Since I'm blind as a bat, I had to remove the needle, thread it, and then re-insert it!  Painful.

Nevertheless, I churned out two project bag prototypes.  One was carefully filed under SC, and the other required some further tweaking.  Armed with my amended pattern and gorgeous fabric, I was ready to sew some bags for my badly neglected and stockless Etsy Shop!

La, la, laaah.  La, la ... SNAP....!  Oh for pete's sake what now?  In my right hand I was holding my reverse stitching lever!!!!!!  Argh!  It had snapped off high up in the belly of my sewing machine.  Why are the Gods against me?

I made a few calls and finally tracked down the only Singer Repair and Service Centre in London.  Of course they are located on the other side of the city and their hours clash with my working hours.  I did speak to a sales clerk though, and following that conversation, I knew what I had to do...

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW!

The parts, labour and service was going to cost half of what a new machine was worth!  Plus I had to get the machine over to the Service Centre and then pick it up again!

I googled sewing machine sales in the London area, and found a store in Arva - North End Sewing Centre.  Seems it was my lucky day.  They had a Bernina Bernette 92c shop demo model for sale at 45% OFF!  This machine does more than I really need, but because of the sale, it was the same price as a lower end Bernina.  So, I took it for a test drive...

Key Features
- Adjustable and Second Spool Holder
- Free arm and Full Length Stitch Plate
- LCD display
- Quick Reference Guide with Graphics
- Improved Hook System
- Automatic Buttonholes
- Two Thread Cutters
- Optimum Sewing Light
- Automatic Needle Threader
- Reverse Sewing Button
- 150 Stitches including alphabets

My purse was shaking, my credit card coughed and gurgled as I handed it over to the sales clerk.

As my shiney new Bernina was lovingly wrapped and put in its box, I couldn't help but whimper with the thought of NOT getting that lovely new spinning wheel for Christmas afterall...