As I write this on Saturday, I am celebrating National Sewing Machine Day! And what am I doing today? Mending a bedspread and curtains. In my great-grandmothers’ times those chores would have been done by hand. We tend to take these machines for granted most of the time, but I can tell you that through the pandemic, there is no entry-level sewing machine to be had. Perhaps now a supply of basic machines is starting to trickle back into retail stores, but I am told that over the last few months every basic inexpensive machine was snapped up. And why? Because of the massive army of sewing volunteers who rose up from quarantine to sew masks and PPE for their communities.
But that is just the start of this tale. I am hearing so many stories of people who lost jobs or were furloughed indefinitely, and decided to sew masks at home. Their friends and neighbors asked if they could buy masks. The demand grew until, they found they had a new business and needed to upgrade their machine pretty fast!
Everyone has their story of this event, but I am gathering stories about sewing and quilting from our friends, customers and industry contacts, about what we have all been doing for the last few months. There are a lot of stories about pulling Grandma’s dusty old machine out of a closet, and learning how to sew again. There are a lot of people out there (male and female, young and old) who have rediscovered the joy of sewing with a machine. Yay! That makes me smile!
(But make sure you clean and oil those babies, and take them for a tune-up with a sewing machine tech when things open up again.)
You have probably noticed that we stopped listing my travel schedule and our classroom schedule at the bottom of the newsletter. We have cancelled all of our events, including our 5-day workshops with Paula Nadelstern and Susan Carlson in October. We all agreed it was the right thing to do. I have no plans to travel in the foreseeable future. When we come through this there will be an explosion of activity and opportunities to get together to sew and make art.
I miss all of you SO much but I am also deeply honored that so many of you chose to use our service for your fabrics and sewing supplies during this time. For those of you who have been rediscovering your Super Power of Sewing for making masks, we are proud to have supplied your heroic efforts at your sewing machines.
I have had many sewing machines throughout my life since childhood, and many years ago I finally got a Bernina and never looked back. I know that all of you are deeply attached to your machines, and those hours we spend stitching bring us so much joy, and so much relief from the troubling times we live in now.
with Hope for the Future,
Luana and Paul
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- BarbFlowers on Where the Wild Things Are
- BarbFlowers on From Boulder…With Love
- juliehq on Profile Article – Luana Rubin – on Create Whimsy
- sunnysewsit on A Day in the Forest
- quilter501 on A Day in the Forest
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
Categories
Meta
Follow Us