Hello Don,
Well done, bravo bravo! It is wonderful to see how much you have enjoyed sewing with the hand machine.
It is a myth that hand machines are difficult to use. They are the best machines for a child to learn to sew with because you have total control over the speed, far more so than with a treadle. When doing small scale work the brain more naturally tunes in with what the hand is doing than with what the feet are doing.
Why should it be considered girly to use a sewing machine? Traditionally, tailors were men, and there are still plenty of tailors today. Just think how many tailors there are in places like India and Africa still working away on treadles and hand machines.
When I was researching my family tree a couple of years ago I was delighted to find a great-great-great grandfather who was a tailor. He would have done all his sewing by hand - machines arrived too late for him. His daughter was the original Elizabeth Lenard, my great-great grandmother, after whom I named my blog. She in turn was the mother and grandmother of several tailoresses.
Perhaps you have it in the blood, Don!