I am feeling really exasperated. For some time I wanted to start sewing properly. I decided to dust down my sewing machine and to start to use it again. Also I have enrolled in a year course of evening classes in soft furnishings.
My Singer sewing machine is over 30 years old and so I took it into the local sewing machine shop to have a full service done. I picked up the machine today. The service cost me over £60 plus £5 worth of bobbins. Once I had paid the manager of the shop, who had also done the servicing, he told me that he could not guarantee the life of the machine and that it was probably nearing the end of its life (I bought it new in 1973/74). He then showed me an identical machine, the same make and model, and told me that he was about to throw it in the dustbin because it was broken (something to do with the bobbin holder) and it could not be mended, a common problem with that particular machine.
What really gets me is that when we took the machine to the shop the Husband offered to buy me a new machine and I told him that it wasn't necessary, I would prefer to keep on using the machine I was used to.
Anyway, I've brought my old machine home and will keep on using it. But in the back of my mind will now be the thought that it could break down at any minute. Sigh.
3 comments:
Good grief, Val, that must have been quite an unusual sewing machine. In general, sewing machines just keep on going, and going, and going. I can't say that I've ever seen one "break" or be beyond fixing. How well do you know the man? If he's a relative stranger, perhaps he was just trying to scare you a bit??
Cop Car
P.S. Since she is much more "into" sewing machines than I am, perhaps Buffy (or some other well-credentialed sewer) will correct my thinking.
Cop Car, well I thought sewing machines went on and on too, which was why I turned down the Husband's offer of a new one.
The thing was that the man does sell new sewing machines as well and we were standing in his shop at the time. We think it may have been a standard selling shpiel (sp?), in which case it would have been better if we had been given it BEFORE I had paid for all the work done to the machine.
But I know the machine well and I get on well with it. Having said that I've always had a hankering for one of those new ones that do all the embroidery - but I think they cost up to £3,000!)
You exactly caught my meaning: the guy had his own self-interest at heart! I was a bit circumspect in my wording, because he might have been your brother-in-law or dear friend. Your machine will probably do fine for many more years. If you are happy with it, why give it up. (And, yes, the machines that are run by a computer can get terribly pricey!) If you win a lottery, you may wish to allocate some of your winnings to indulging your fancy for a new machine.
Cop Car
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