Not sew much!

*SIGH* No one can say I didn't try.

I really wanted to learn how to sew, just so I can have the knowledge if it's ever needed in the future. Evan supported my desire and bought me a beautiful purple starter sewing machine for my birthday. At the time I didn't have anything I needed, or wanted to sew. I was just planning on taking classes first.

I went online and called some places to get information and sign up for classes. All the classes I looked at you needed to basically have an idea of what you wanted to sew and they would show you how to do it. That wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I was hoping for a class that would teach me general tips and lesson's on just getting started sewing. What the purpose of different stitches are, how to measure fabric, all the fundamentals. I don't want to take a class for every little thing I want to sew. I want to get all the knowledge and be enabled to make anything I may want through out my life.

A blessing came to me last Sunday...or so I thought....

In Relief Society on Sunday there was an ever so brief announcement that the temple needed scrunchies. I was so excited, I felt like Heavenly Father gave me a personal invitation to do service and break in my new sewing machine. I had made lots of scrunchies as a youth. For a while, every time I would go to our family friends house, The Weiss's (11 kids in the whole family) A few of the girls and I would get together and make scrunchies with their moms left over fabric. I loved it then, I knew for sure I could do it again.

So come Monday right after work I went straight to the fabric store picked up 1/2 off white fabric, enough to make 35 scrunchies, (*Thought*- "I'll come back for more next week when I'm done with my first 35 scrunchies"-)some elastic and I was off and running!!

I came home, busted out the Purple Nightmare (as I'm now calling it) And got to work!!!

But wait...

I didn't have any white thread. No worries, I had light yellow, I guess since the stitching will be on the inside it won't matter, right?!

Problem 1 averted! I will not be stopped. I'm going to bust out 35 scrunchies in no time, just like when I was a kid!

I cut my fabric, just a rough cut, I'm not expecting perfection with the first scrunchy, this is just a trial run. I won't be donating this scrunchy. I pin the fabric just to make it easier on me. As a kid I just folded it in half and went at it. But I wanted to make sure I set myself up for success. No cussing when I'm making scrunchies for church!! I'm going to be calm and enjoy the journey.

Sewing along for a whole 30 seconds when my work comes to a halt. Not sure what happened but my needle got off track and was bent off to the side and hitting the base. No worries, I'll just bend it the other way and straighten it! Take 2-going along for 3 seconds then another halt. It's bent again. "straighten" it one more time and I'm off again...3 seconds later...Needle is now broken. =( I'm still having fun and can laugh at myself. If you look closely you can see the broken needle.

Luckily the Purple Nightmare came with a replacement needle. I read how to change it and 10 minutes later I'm off again!!

For some reason things just weren't working out, my fabric would get caught and pucker. But I keep going. Once again I tell myself this is only a test scrunchy it can be as ugly as sin just as long as I make a scrunchy I'll be good.

I sew along the whole length of the soon-to-be scrunchy, and that's where it all goes down hill. The elastic isn't staying. I don't have a safety pin like I did when I was younger but I figure a pin will hold it in place long enough for me to feed it through. It does, but the dumb purple nightmare isn't sewing anything. Something happened with the bobbin now, and NOW, I'm done!!! An hour has now past and all I have to show for it is a white and yellow frayed mess.

I'm now crying and so frustrated. my thoughts went from a jolly, "Oh well, opposition in all things", to, "Why wouldn't God help me and support me when I'm trying to make something for His church?", I had the purest heart and wanted to give service so much, why wouldn't I be helped and guided? I went to my room and cried for what felt like an hour. But studies have shown women don't consistently cry for more than half an hour.

I put myself on a time out from the Purple Nightmare for a few days, and just today decided to try it again. I'm feeling pretty calm and conquerous today!!

I set everything up again and tried to pick up where I left off. After a 15 minute set up to re-thread the whole machine. (it kind of came undone when I threw it off the table on Monday) I did a bang up job threading the whole machine, bobbin and all! I went to sew and it stalled on me. The same exact thing it did just before it ended up on the floor on Monday. So I guess it wasn't the bobbin, although the bobbin had come undone on Monday. Something else had happened to the machine. I still don't know what is wrong with it. It makes a sound like it wants to go but it doesn't. If I manually turn the wheel on the right side of the machine it sews, but I'm not about to do that every time I want to sew something.

So final story. I'm not upset today. I can admit defeat. I calmly put everything away. And I'm done with my New Years resolution to learn how to sew. I admit, it is NOT my thing. Even as I write this I get teary eyed at my failure and feel again my frustration. Yet, I'm still smiling and can clearly see the humor...now. Evan is really good at figuring out how to fix things, if he can't get the Purple Nightmare fixed then I will take huge pleasure in throwing that piece of crap in the garbage!!!!!!