My Mom bought a new Singer model 15- in 1957. She made lots of clothes for my sisters and I as we grew up. Eventually we all learned how to sew on this machine. It's a great workhorse, it just sews a straight line, forward and back. No fuss, no muss. Somewhere along the line, I ended up with this machine. It's been sitting around for years with no one using it.
I even had it for sale at our moving sale for $30! Only one woman looked at it, and when she sewed with it the belt broke, and I wouldn't drop on the price so she didn't buy it (good thing).
When our granddaughter, Victoria, age 11, expressed an interest in sewing I took the machine in to be cleaned and serviced (and to replace the belt). I was saying to them that the machine probably isn't worth what it was going to cost to tune it up, but they said, oh no, this machine is probably worth about $175 today, with the cabinet and all. It's a great machine.
I figured this would be perfect for Victoria to learn on because it is so basic. Nothing too tough to figure out. And a simple one on which to learn how a sewing machine works.
She picked some fabrics from my stash. I cut the 4-1/2" squares (I didn't want her using a rotary cutter. She wanted a big red square in the middle. She arranged the squares on my work wall. She was fascinated that the fabric would just stick there by itself!
We talked about seam allowance, I put a piece of blue tape on the machine and told her to line the fabrics up with that. I even started her off without pinning the fabrics together.
I can remember making my first quilt. Every piece was pinned together, then one at a time, into the machine, back-stitching at the beginning and end. Pulling the piece out and snipping the threads and starting all over with the next piece.
Victoria didn't have to go through all of that. I showed her how to chain-piece and she was off and running.
She was very excited about it, and wanted to get it finished as soon as possible. She worked for hours at a time, getting the top finished within a few days.
She quickly pieced together the back. We pinned it and she quilted it on my Bernina with the walking foot. I thought the binding would be beyond her skill level, so I did it myself, just folding it over the top and top-stitching it down. It is about 48" by 72", perfect for a little lap quilt.
This is one great first quilt. We are very proud of you, Victoria! Good job.
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| Victoria's First Quilt Completed |
