After college and had my own apartment, I bought my first very own sewing machine, a Singer with a cabinet! The cabinet cost at least as much as the sewing machine, but my sewing machine would never be tucked away in a closet. It would always be ready for my nimble fingers and fabric. Sometimes neatly in it’s cabinet…more often than not out and adorned with an ongoing project and all the glorious clutter that accompanies each project. Yes, right out there for all the world to see. Talk about being extravagant. I definitely embraced that decadence!
Only a few years passed before I bought another machine, a Viking similar to the one owned by my mother. But I held onto the Singer and cabinet. I took the Singer out of the cabinet and replaced it with the new machine. Sadly, tucked the Singer in a closet, until I had room for a second cabinet. Years passed, and several moves occurred, before I found space for a second cabinet…or three. I no longer have that original old Singer, however, I still have the cabinet.
My original Singer cabinet, circa 1983
One day as I was getting ready to move across the country, I pulled my old friend out to clean it up to prepare for a move. Oops, I found out what happens when you abandon one of your machines in a closet unused for years on end. I did a deep clean and servicing of the Singer and packed it up for the movers.
For years, I never owned more than two sewing machines at a time, because I simply didn’t have the room. But eventually, my husband and I found our forever home and I now have a collection of machines for every practical purpose. I never dreamed of owning a quilting machine and frame, but now I do.
Sadly, that aunt mentioned earlier has been gone many, many years. But I can’t help but wonder how extravagant she would think I am. Not only do I have a number of sewing machines, but I have a room entirely dedicated to my sewing and quilting obsession.