Sewing

Tonight started the lessons taught by my wife on how to use her sewing machine.

I want to send pipes out with a nice, handmade, cloth bag. Good for transport and some protection. Plus, it makes for a nicer presentation upon delivery if the recipient gets to open a hand-made bag, as opposed to a pipe wrapped in paper.

She made the bag I sent the earlier mentioned bent pipe in, and she did an excellent job. It is just that she has so many other projects on her plate that I feel bad asking her to make bags for every pipe I make. So, the lessons.

Tonight I learned to spin thread onto a bobbin, the mechanics of her machine, how to get the thread ready to be used, and how to make turns in the fabric. Basic stuff, but since I've never touched a sewing machine before, I feel good. Tomorrow morning she is going to make me another bag while I have my own to make. We'll take turns, with her showing me each step, her working on one, and me fumbling through another.

The one I'll be making will be for one of my personal pipes, since I know there's no way that my first attempt will be something I want to send to a customer. I'll try to make a couple more over the next week that'll probably be for me too. Since I'm making a pretty simple drawstring bag I'm hoping I can get the hang of this one thing after a couple of tries. I would like to have a bag for each pipe by the time the art hop rolls around.

Wish me luck. Jess is heading home to her family for most of the week. I have to stay here because I wasn't able to get out of working on Thanksgiving, so I'll be trying to make nice bags without supervision. I only get the one lesson tomorrow, and then she'll be taking off. Wish I could go with her....