Home Ec Machines

I am ready for sewing students this morning. I now have four in the Beginning Sewing class. We are going to make pillowcases, so yesterday morning, I spent a few hours prepping pillowcase kits. One of the side effects of teaching classes independently is that I can provide kits. Stores like to have students purchase their class materials at the store, which is completely understandable, but sometimes the stores don’t have exactly what the students need. (I do try to let the store know the needs ahead of time.) Sometimes the students wait until they get to class to purchase supplies, which takes up class time. Even if I give students a list of suggested fabrics, one or two will show up with material that is completely unsuitable, hasn’t been prewashed, etc. Providing a kit means that I know each student will have exactly what is needed for class. The price of the kit is built into the cost of the class. If students want to buy an extra kit for practicing at home, they can.

I bought all of those Joann remnants for a reason, even if I didn’t know it at the time. 😇

I took my tables, chairs, ironing board, iron, and cutting mat up to the church yesterday afternoon. When I got home, I thought I would look over my sewing machines but the husband had come home early from work. He and I went out and did some garden cleanup in anticipation of the bad weather coming in. I looked at my machines after we finished.

I have—ahem—a few sewing machines. Not all are in useable condition. Some just require a good cleaning. Some need parts. I have half a dozen Singer 403s and Rocketeers which eventually will become my class machines. (Thank you, Nancy!) If they were good enough for high school Home Ec classes, they are good enough for me. They all need new foot pedals, though. I always put new electronic foot pedals on any machine I rehab because those old carbon pile foot pedals run the risk of catching on fire. I made a list of what I need to order and will get those on the way. Apple didn’t invent the practice of changing power cords willy-nilly. Singer was doing that back in the 1960s. Some machines (same model) need an integrated power cord/foot pedal and some need a separate power cord and foot pedal.

For today, we will use some of the other machines that have been serviced and are working nicely. And I am looking forward to tinkering with machines again. It has been an age.

I had someone text me and ask about a Serger 101 class, so that’s on the schedule now, too, along with a Kids Sewing class at the end of December. The Kids class was requested by a mom for her two daughters for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

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I am very glad that I am not driving across the passes this weekend, although the Jeep does have its snow tires on. I expect to see snow on the mountains by Sunday morning. We are under a Wind Advisory from 6 pm tonight until 6 am tomorrow. This weather is coming in as a back door cold front, which means we will get that east wind off the mountains.

And after that, who knows? It looks like another ridge of high pressure builds in, but the temps aren’t going to be much above 60F, if that.