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You are here: Home / Updates & Project Progress / A New Machine!

A New Machine!

December 30, 2009 by Jodi 11 Comments

For Christmas, along with a very cute gift of mittens, my husband gave me the go ahead to purchase a new sewing machine.  I had been leaning towards a viking for a while (there is a store within a local Joanns), but in hunting for competitive pricing I found a Brother dealer.  My husband drove me out there yesterday and I spent a long time chatting with the owner and playing with her machines.  She sold me on a Brother NX-450, and when Andy came to pick me up, he was able to bargain with her down to a lower price.  It never hurts to ask for a lower price.

So this is actually my second project on it , a “comestic bag” that I will use for holding all the awesome gadgets my machine goes with.  (The first project was a cushion for my daughter’s wooden booster seat, but it didn’t turn out so well.  I’ll post pictures once I make a better one.)

I used this Craftster Tutorial. I hate zippers and found them close to impossible on my old Bernette 50.  So I thought I would give it a try now.  Over all, it was a lot easier to sew, but I still don’t feel confident in my sewing of zippers.  As for the tutorial, I don’t think it was the clearest.  Although if you read through it a couple times it starts to become clear and she didn’t mention any seam allowances.  I assumed 1/4″ and it worked out OK.  Also, I used a 7″ zipper and it was a pain to work around because it was too long.  A shorter zipper would have made for simpler construction.  Despite those frustrations, it came out beautifully.

Before all this sewing, I had to clear off my sewing table of Christmas mess, but once I started cleaning this morning I couldn’t stop.  I ended up working most of the day (the kids were so cooperative!) and cleaning out about half of our basement.  Then, I took pictures of my nicely set up sewing area.

Oh… and I think I might have named her already… “Tabitha”  which means “gazelle” and she appears in Acts 9.  She was very much loved by those she made clothing for.

Welcome home, Tabby! 🙂

Filed Under: Updates & Project Progress

Previous Post: « Merry Christmas to Me!
Next Post: WIP: Sew Hip “Patience Corner” Quilt »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth says

    December 30, 2009 at 2:11 pm

    Wow, that is so cute and really nicely made! Impressive.

    Reply
    • nerdymommy says

      December 30, 2009 at 2:28 pm

      You could make one too! The interfacing is what really does it. It gives it a lot of shape.

      Reply
  2. Karen says

    January 13, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    Awesome! I love my Brother too! 🙂

    Reply
    • nerdymommy says

      January 13, 2010 at 8:09 pm

      It was your hearty recommendation helped me in my decision. I have been really happy with it so far. Worlds better than my old machine and much more reasonably priced than the vikings I was looking at.

      Reply
  3. Laura says

    November 14, 2014 at 11:36 pm

    Hi Jodi,
    My trusty old singer that was my dad’s wedding present to my mom in 1980 has needed fixing to the tune of $80 a pop twice in the past year. Not bad, but I’m wondering if I’d better start looking in case it craps out completely. When I look though, I get overwhelmed! Any recommendations for a sturdy but not too complicated machine? Help please!

    Reply
    • Jodi says

      November 18, 2014 at 12:03 pm

      Laura,

      My recommendation is to find a local sewing shop and try out the machines there. Just don’t let them talk you into extra stitches or the like, if all you want is a basic machine.

      Reply

Trackbacks

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    July 17, 2010 at 3:29 pm

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  3. Tutorial: T-shirt Bloomers | Sew Fearless says:
    July 17, 2010 at 3:30 pm

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Jodi - Sewing Advocate - Mother of 7 - Lover of Swings and Deadlifts - Catholic

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