Square one... or 72

Following the untimely demise of my old sewing machine, I decided that I might as well buy a new one locally. This was a pretty simple process, since I could only find only one store here that sells sewing machines (the Singer store) and there were only two models in the store (manual or electric). Sewing machines are basically an afterthought for them, back in a corner past the microwaves and refrigerators and computers and, oh look, the motorcycles. Singer makes motorcycles, who knew? Not me. Anyway, after you pass all that, you get to the two sewing machines. And yes, I did momentarily consider getting the manual one... but I quickly came to my senses and ended up with this number:



It is a very simple machine, and not quite the same sewing experience as my Bernina with its 20+ stitch options and computerized screen. However, unlike my Bernina, it actually works. Turns out that's a pretty helpful quality in a sewing machine.


So, you must be wondering, what did I make first? The responsible thing would have been to make a cover for my machine, to protect it from the black dust that ends up everywhere. (I opened an empty drawer the other day and found a layer of black on the bottom. How does it get in there? I do not know.) There is even a pattern on the Spool website, which I was ready to use, until I got distracted by something else on their site. And so I have ended up with this:




The printed fabric is part of my Christmas present from Chris, which was a big stack of fabric and sewing supplies from Tokyo. The solid cream fabric is a handloomed cotton that I found at Sally Ann, the Salvation Army's store here in Dhaka. I really liked the idea of combining the industrial, machine-made fabric with the handwoven local fabric... and it was fun to put these together.


But why are they not covering pillows, you may ask? It's because I messed up the measurements, and they are now the wrong size. Among people who know me well, this will be a surprise to exactly nobody. I have two engineers and a physicist in my immediate family, and I can barely do basic math. The amount of math involved in figuring out the measurements for all of these little squares was clearly beyond my skill level. Next time I will enlist someone who can actually add to help me with my sewing projects.


In the meantime, now what? I could get pillows custom made to measure, but that would be ridiculous and way too embarrassing. I could make these into something else, but what? A quilt? A table runner? Or, here's an idea, maybe I'll make them into a sewing machine cover. Stay tuned...