This past weekend, our district 4-H competitions were held. I had the pleasure of judging high school level Fashion Review. The students modeled their garments, then gave them to the judges for closer examination. One of the contestants presented wearing a wool blend, plaid dress, with a gaberdine coat, and handbag which matched the dress. The dress and jacket were well made, but the hand bag is what impressed me the most. It matched the dress and was also lined with the wool blend, and had a lot of interior pockets. A thick, rolled and top-stitched, handle pulled through curtain eyes, and had an enclosure flap.

After all competition scores were sealed, and I returned her garments and bag, I asked her what kind of machine she had used to make the ensemble. She smiled and told me she had an antique machine that she used for the bag because the multiple layers were so thick, but that she used a regular machine for the dress and coat. I had suspected that she either had an older, or an industrial machine for the bag. The stitches were even with good tension, whereas the dress and coat had some tension issues.

When I make double fleece quilts with high loft batting, the expensive machines bog down and give me over-load messages. The old, faithful, black beauties, of the 60's and earlier just keep on trucking with no complaint. That is why my hunch was correct - experience with thick layers.

What comparisons do you have to share about the old vs. the new?