Saturday, February 27, 2010

Bereft

I feel like part of me is missing. Two of my sewing machines went into the shop for service because they were having issues of one kind and another. In truth, the Kenmore machine is long overdue for a tune-up and it was no wonder it was acting up. The featherweight was having problems, though, and that bothered me because I hadn't used it in 3 years at least, and I thought I had it serviced before we moved to Germany. Hmmm.

Anyway, I dragged the 3 kids down to the sewing machine repair place on Wednesday - first time I've ever been there - and was hoping to speak to the repair technician directly, so that I could explain the problem I was having with the Kenmore. He wasn't there but the shop manager/vacuum cleaner repair technician assured me that he would have the man look at them in the morning and call me.

I should say that I've never left my machines to be repaired overnight anywhere, but it didn't even cross my mind. But when I got home I felt weird, as though I'd left one of my kids overnight with a new babysitter. I'm actually missing my sewing machines. I think most of this was concern over how much it was going to cost me to service them, but I did catch myself looking at the dining room table where I'd had the Kenmore set up, so that Tallon could be in his jumperoo and I could sew but still be in the same room as he was. He likes company and fusses if I'm not in the room with him while he's jumping.

I waited as long as I could on Thursday to call, but by 2:00 pm I hadn't heard from the repair shop so I called them. It turns out he had just finished checking the Kenmore and was looking at the Featherweight. He sort of got snippy with me about the Kenmore, saying that it didn't look like I'd ever had it serviced. I had to explain that I'd lived overseas for 5 years and no one would service it for me while I was there. He sort of grunted, so I'm not sure he believed me. Granted, I've been back in the States for almost 3 years, but he doesn't know that. He said there was nothing wrong with it, that it just needed a tune-up. Since I suspected it just needed a general cleaning and tension adjustment, I was glad. We'll see what happens when I try to make a buttonhole, though.

The Featherweight he said had some kind of problem because it was running way too slow. Frankly, I don't mind that it runs slowly - I was planning on having Maeve use it for making doll clothes for her American Girl dolls, so a slow pace would have been fine. He said that he really likes Featherweights and wanted to get it running well for me, so it would take him a day or so, but that they both should be ready by Saturday and that he would call me. Then he told me the price - $99 each!!! I almost choked, but decided that it really needed to be done and I'd figure out how to work it into the budget. Payday is Monday, after all.

So now I'm waiting for my machines to be done. I don't want to start anything new until I have my current project done, since I'm so prone to stopping mid-project and then taking forever to finish it later on. The current project requires buttonholes, and the Kenmore is the only machine I have that makes them. Actually, my Singer 505 could do them, if I had the right attachment. I had it, but the gears didn't work any more and I can't find a replacement one as of yet. So that machine is a straight-stitch-only machine, much like my Featherweight. Not to mention that at some point during our move here about 7 months ago, the power cord got separated from the machine and I can't find it, so I couldn't use it if I wanted to.

Now I'm sitting here waiting and feeling like a nervous mother hen. I hope the machines are ready in the morning, because I have a hair appointment at 3:45 that I don't want to reschedule and the repair shop will be closed before I'm done at the salon, which would mean that I'd have to wait until Monday to pick up my machines. I might go a little crazy by then.

Update: I was able to pick up my machines on Saturday morning before I went to my hair appointment but didn't have a chance to check them out. Today (Sunday) I got the Kenmore out to repair an appliqué on a shirt of Gwyn's and discovered that I couldn't access my stretch stitches! Somehow the wheel that adjusts my stitch length won't go past 0 now to the stretch stitch mark. Tomorrow (Monday) is gymnastics in the morning and I have to pass the sewing machine repair on my way there. I will be bringing my machine with instructions that it should be ready for me when I come back and free of charge. Sheesh!

No comments:

Post a Comment