Country1

This is Penny's husband Don, borrowing Penny's membership a moment to share with the wonderful folks here what I posted on our Facebook account last night after a little more practice on our 1934 Singer "Dottie", named in honor of Penny's mother Dorothy. For me, it says it all. Thank you for allowing me to share. And those of you who look at me like I'm strange when I tell you of my enthusiasm for the sewing arts know who you are........

To you men who are not comfortable enough with who you are and your relationship with women to say " I love sewing machines and sewing", I say hey, "Man up.You don't know what you're missing bubba". The mechanical complexity of an antique sewing machine rivals that of any precision, well orchestrated musical assemblage of parts like any other fine tool. My favorite sewing machine is a 1934 Singer hand crank imported back in the day from Scotland. The quiet "tink tink" of the needle as it moves through the material and joins two pieces is pleasing. The coordination required to apply just the right amount of tension to the material with your non-dominant hand while guiding the material in a perfectly straight line and cranking at a constant rate is no different from coordination required when I use my band saw. You have to know exactly where you are going too, and think three steps ahead of your current move.The skill and experience necessary to understand the relationship between thread tension, stitch spacing and characteristics of materials doesn't come easy. This hobby is as satisfying as any I have come across. "Sewing is for women" you sneer? Hey dudes. I laugh and say "give me your grandmothers old machine". Don.