I TOOK THE PLUNGE

Yes, as the title of this post implies, I took the plunge. It was something I had thought of doing for quite some time now but I wasn’t sure I’d do it. I thought about it and then I researched it and then I thought about it some more and then I just threw caution to the wind and went for it.

Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

Over the past few months I’ve been spending quite a bit of time online looking at sewing machines. The one I have been using I’ve had for nearly 40 years and it has been having some serious issues. I didn’t want to part with it as it’s been a good machine and we’ve spent many hours together. It has features that I’ve never seen on any other machine and I like those features. Because I wasn’t finding anything out there with all of the features I wanted I decided that I’d get the old machine repaired. I found a sewing center in my area that does repairs and when I visited them to see if they could fix what is wrong with my machine the woman helping me made a few calls and discovered they could order the parts my machine needed.  Yippee!!

Of course while I was waiting for her to see if they could order the parts I looked around and I found several of the machines I’d been researching online. Even though you’re pretty sure you know all about a machine because you know all of its features and have seen photos of it, seeing the machine sitting there in front of you is so much better. So, now what did I want to do? I’d order the parts and fix my trusty old machine. That’s the only sensible thing to do, right? So, that’s what I did and then I went home and the next couple of days while I waited for the parts to come in I thought about this one machine that I’d seen in the store and online and I knew I had to have it.

Now this is where the PLUNGE comes in. Not only did I get the parts for the old machine I went ahead and bought the Janome that I knew I had to have.

Here’s my new baby…….

I just finished sewing this.....

First time I did any machine quilting. Nothing fancy, just in the ditch but hey, it was my first time.

I made the quilt for this....

It still needs a mattress and a pillow or two. I picked up this darling little cradle at a thrift store last month which of course led to the need for the small quilt.

The week leading up to Easter a dear blogging friend sent me some baby clothes that she thought I might be able to use for the bears. Even though they were for new borns they were a bit large for my little ones but with some alterations I was able to take two of the dresses and turn them into four bear sized dresses.

Here are Bellamine and Wendy modeling their new dresses with the matching hair bows. I was able to keep the smocking and the style is much the same as the original dress.

And here are Clarissa and Beebe wearing their new dresses. Beebe told me that it was about time she appeared on a post.

Now that I have the new machine maybe I can get some clothes made for Olive and Lavanda who have nothing of their own to wear, just the borrowed jammies.

We’ve been having some strange weather so I think spring must have finally arrived. It’s still cold, windy and rainy but the sun has been peeking out from time to time. The cherry trees had blossoms that have been either blown away by the wind or washed away by the rain and the trees now have leaves so yes, I think spring has arrived.

Until next time, enjoy your day and as always thanks for stopping by.