My Sewing Machine Timeline

I am so in love with my current sewing machine, but as a long time sewer I've both used and owned my fair share of machines, some great and some not so great. The first sewing machine I ever used was my mom's Singer Touch & Sew 750 in the early 1970's. Mom used to sing in a band and made all her fancy gowns on that machine as well as dresses for me and my sister, Barb.

After I got comfortable using my mom's machine my Aunt Mary loaned me her Singer Featherweight for a while to encourage my sewing. I made a lot of clothes during my teen years using both of those machines. When my Aunt Mary passed away in 2002 my two male cousins asked if there was anything of hers that I wanted as a memento. I told them that if their wives didn't want it I would like the little sewing machine in the black case. Thankfully, they were not at all interested, so it is now one of my most treasured possessions.

When I went off to college to study Fashion Arts I had to buy a new machine because Mom wasn't up to letting me take hers with me. Go figure! Because I had used her Singer and my aunt's I went straight to the Singer store and found a machine that I thought would serve my needs.

Well, even though I paid a lot of money for it (in 1980 dollars), it was a pile of junk that didn't sew well, the tension was always a mess, and it wasn't reliable. I reluctantly used it for about 4 years (due to a shortage of funds as a student), but found I preferred to stay late at school to use the industrial machines instead of finishing my garments at home on my crappy machine. I eventually sold it to a lady who only needed it for occasional mending. (No, I didn't sell it to some poor, unsuspecting woman...she paid a fraction of what I originally spent and knew of its history.)

After that I purchased a White 305 which I looooooved! It was an amazing basic machine that was quite a work horse. I believe it was in 1985 that I bought it and at the time it was considered “semi-industrial” because it was much faster and heavier than regular domestic machines. Along with my White 534 serger I made money taking in alterations, contract sewing, and doing wedding parties. I had both machines for years.

In 1997 my wonderful husband surprised me with a “coupon” for a new sewing machine for our 10th anniversary. He was smart enough to know that I would want to choose it myself because I wanted specific features for my quilting. At the time I was working for a shop that was a Husqvarna dealer (for my American friends, that's Viking to you) and was able to try out many different machines. I decided on the Husqvarna Lily 555. It had an extension table, you didn't have to remove the upper thread to wind a bobbin and the stitches were incredible for free-motion quilting. Loved it.

Our machines have a way of finding a new lease on life with the right people once they no longer meet our own needs. Such is the case with my beloved White 305. Since I was now sewing exclusively with my Husqvarna I listed the White for sale on Kijiji and within just a few hours I had many people emailing and asking “Will you take 50 bucks for it?” NO. This is a quality machine that needs the right person, not some bonehead who's going to turn around and try selling it again for a profit.

I stuck to my price (which I knew was fair) and a few days later got an answer from a lady who wanted the machine very badly and didn't balk at the price. She already owned one, but because she had a sewing business, she wanted another one and they were really hard to find. The only problem...she lived in Texas! And I'm in Ontario, Canada. After our back and forth email communication and needing to trust each other with both receiving money and sending product, that Canadian machine is now an American and she's with someone who truly appreciates her.

In 2007 my wonderful husband once again surprised me with a “coupon” for another new machine for our 20th anniversary. This time I know he'd been listening to me gripe about how small the throat area was in my Husqvarna for making larger quilts and that the extension table wasn't big enough. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the machine, it just didn't meet my quilting needs anymore. My daughter, Kate, took that machine with her when she moved out on her own.

When I started working at The Ultimate Sewing Centre in 2005 I was introduced to the Janome brand of sewing machines. Having the opportunity to work on store samples while at work, I was able to try out the variety of machines that were stocked in the store. I fell deeply in love all over again with the Janome Memory Craft 6600 Professional. This machine was amazing for a quilter...needle up/down feature, automatic thread cutter, extra large throat area, knee lift, large extension table...and on and on and on. This was my anniversary machine.

I honestly thought, at the time, that that would be my machine for the next 20 years. Well, Janome came out with the Janome Memory Craft 6700 Professional...my machine, only BETTER. It had an even larger throat area, an amazing needle threader, an easy pop out needle plate, and the best thing of all...you could program the front screen with 10 of your favourite personal stitches. Guess what I got for my 30th anniversary in 2017?!

It's a pretty heavy machine and I often get together with my buds for sew days so a year later I picked up a second, lightweight machine to take when we get together if I'm just piecing tops. My little Janome Canada 150 is perfect for that.

We really do become attached to our sewing machines...they are an extension of our creative selves. What machine has got you in its grip?