Welcome, 2013!

On the last day of 2012, came showers (cats and dogs, really, Yishun town should be entitled to some special rebate for contributing significantly to Singapore's water reserve -- for pouring when every other town across the Island is pouring and for pouring when no other town is pouring...),

and bruises. ("And I've got the pictures to proooooove it to you~" <- Gosh, you know you're home-grown and truest of all blues when the first thing that popped to your mind is this, albeit with more subtle nuances... Ref: [in]famous local podcast)

On my upper left thigh, for doing a great job in assisting to prop my 'new' sewing machine up when both my arms were trembling to grip on tight to the hard case handle that came with the machine, in my hour-long struggle to lug the machine back home (and, if I must admit, an entirely over-ambitious feat on my own...). And it usually only takes me 10 to 15 minutes to get home, if I'm without a 20kg load that is. No, really, it can't just be 10kg... I can deal with a bag of rice and a tub of cooking oil just fine... = =|||


But I'm getting ahead of myself, ain't I? So! The lovely day of 31 December 2012 began with the Husband sleeping way past the hour that any self-respecting salaried employee should wake up for work, and we decided to enjoy half the day together rather than think about some terribly nasty aspects of the Job. Made a trip to Daiso (no, dear Husband, the crayons are NOT for cooking! I would find a use for them, promise... So you can kindly stop laughing at my shiny new box of crayons, thankyouverymuchly!), spun two rounds in Spotlight around the quilting fabrics area (grabbed two bolts, saw ten persons in the Q, put the bolts back), had a quick snack with the Husband before he hurried off to a friend's wedding banquet across the causeway -- Congratulations WS! ^0^

I was feeling so blah by the weather, cos' I really do Want Need. My. New. Sewing. Machine. Today!  It's the last day of 2012, it's a pressie for myself, I've already waited 3.5 days after purchasing it on Friday, so, so... So! (Took a loop route bus to have a look at the progress of the WIP plot of land that is to be my future home with the Husband+future children [can I have four....?] +parents, and the divine powers from above must sense the grievous desire from me should I not be able to bring my machine back home today, cos' the rain slowed! ^0^) And there I was, wrestling with a really, really heavy machine up and down the stairs, and up and down the bus on my way home (a Janome 672 I believe, second-hand, sews beautifully when I test drive it at Uncle Freddy's shop, and comes with 22 pattern cams -- I've never played with cams before! Neither has my mom, the previous machine before my current Singer was a Juki industrial -- the Juki is one powerful machine, though it only sews a straight stitch but it sews the BEST straight stitch, and it's FAST, so fast that I boggled at the speed the home Singer machine sewed at initially... I really miss that machine... Whoever bought it third-hand from the mechanic that we sold it to, I hope you're treating it well! It's not fancy, neither is it expensive compared to the new fancy home machines of modern times, but it's the machine that my mom worked with for almost 30 years. It's the machine I learned sewing on when I was 13. Sometimes it's not about a tangible price tag, but rather the shared memories. One day, hopefully, I might be able to own another one...).

Finally, it's home.

(Expect more pictures in the following two days ^0^ I take craptastic photos though, it's times like this that I wish I know how to take better photos, or own a better camera than the handphone camera *lol*)






To showcase my craptastic photography skills (or lack thereof), I've snapped a couple pictures of a music box (a sewing machine-shaped music box, how cute is that!) that Uncle Freddy gifted me and my mom ^0^ -- great service, sound advice, nice guy!(The lugging around a machine is entirely my stubbornness, to MUST have the machine right that moment despite Uncle Freddy's many attempts to convince me that it'd be an arduous feat and a much better idea for him to deliver it to me... ^^||)

The box^^

^0^

(Please pardon the clutter... I swear there's some sort of organisation amidst the mess...)

Details of a pattern book and shears! ^0^

More details! ^0^

The foot pedal moves as if it's sewing -- Awww
too cute! I love it!











Thanks Uncle Freddy for the lovely gift, and the wonderful advice. I would not have known the beauty of an (very?) aged, used machine if not for your recommendation. To be honest, I wasn't even considering a Janome -- I wanted a Juki! (I still want one, maybe in future when a unit on that WIP plot of land becomes finished goods, and is delivered to me and the Husband...)

More on that in next post, along with pictures of the machine itself ^^

A quick recap of what I managed to complete in the recent one-two months:

Some mistakes at the last few rows... Ugh! Far from being done though, it still needs decorative embroidery and a bag lining ^^

Craptastic hand embroidery, I have since unpicked those awful Portuguese stem stitches and plan to try Japanese stem stitches next, hoping that it'd look less disgraceful...

(Hmm, I've also sewed a piece of lingerie for my first year wedding anniversary with the Husband, but let's just say I'm not gonna post the pic of it here...)




Happy 2013!