My mother bought a sewing machine and started making my clothes when I was in 1st or 2nd grade. She showed me how to use the machine and I would make doll clothes. In Jr. High, I took home ec. and learned at least a few skills in the process. Since then I haven't sewn very much (never felt I was very good at it) until I decided I wanted to learn to quilt. I bought a decent, but not overly expensive, Kenmore in January of 2010. In February, I had two deaths in the family and that machine wasn't removed from the box until October. I've been playing ever since! :-)