sew very sweet
Just about 3 weeks ago, I received a present from a very nice guy. I’ve now had some time to try it out, and I have to say, it’s sew very sweet.
It’s a brand new computerized sewing machine, the Brother XR9000. Up until now, I’ve been working on the machine I got 20 or so years ago when I was about 14. It was also a Brother, and it’s a workhorse. Over the years I’ve had some problems with the tension, but the solution was a simple matter of either cleaning/oiling, or, more often, changing the needle for a new or correctly sized one for the fabric.
This one has 80 built-in stitches, and a sweet little alphabet font. We got it at Costco for a much better price than Amazon, and Costco also has a great return policy.
I did quite a bit of research online before deciding on this one. I was surprised to find that Brother is considered by some to be a better machine than Singer now, since Singer no longer uses all metal parts inside.
I’m really happy with its performance so far. Here’s my first project, made entirely on my new Brother! It’s a sort of “ground blanket”, something I can throw anywhere- bed, floor, grass, sidewalk- for Zia to play on or lie on.
I backed it with an old flannel sheet and the inside layer is a fleece throw blanket I’ve had lying around. The top, as you can see, is a U.S. map panel, surrounded by scraps that I pieced together. I lightly machine quilted it and edged the whole thing with a strip of homemade bias tape.
In some spots, I was sewing through up to 10 layers, including all the folding and seam allowances! The machine trucked right along. I just had to use my denim needle; I accidentally started out with a ball point, and things got a little tangly!
Here’s where Zia lives, smack-dab between Kansas and Missourah. Just like she sings – “Home is where the heart is!”
