my new toy

So I got sucked into the 20% off everything sale at Spotlight yesterday, and a $1000 later I got out of there! But I don't have anything I need to squirrel inside and hide from my husband since he was there with helping me carry the purchases, luckily 'cos I don't know how I'd explain that figure on our credit card bill!

Yesterday morning my husband had a molar tooth extracted, and after I convinced him to take the rest of the day off work I dragged him to Spotlight to buy some curtain fabrics I had finally decided to get. After seriously considering buying some curtain fabrics that were around the $50 a metre mark (bearing in mind I need 27 metres), I saw some very similar patterns in Spotlight for only $16.95 a metre. But being the tightwad I am, I knew if I waited long enough that Spotlight would have one of their frequent 20% off sales. So that was the reason for going to Spotlight in the first place, 27m of fabric and curtain tape were purchased and we were about to head out when my husband says 'why don't we look at the sewing machines?'. Clearly the pain killers the dentist had given him had gone to his head, or he's planning a big purchase himself shortly (new golf clubs perhaps?). But who am I to not jump at the chance.

My current sewing machine is a Brother PS-55 which has worked great for the last five or six years, but it is extremely basic and has a four step buttonhole which drives me nuts. All I wanted in a new machine was a one step buttonhole with a number of buttonhole stitches to choose from. Well, I bought this:

which has 70 stitches (68 of which I'll probably never use LOL), including a one step buttonhole and 7 buttonhole types to choose from. Yay! My buttonholes should improve dramatically now. It also has an automatic needle threader, and a fancy function where you can start and stop sewing by pressing a button on the front instead of using the foot controller. So if one day for some reason I can't use my legs I'll still be able to sew (there is a silver lining to everything).

I stuck with the Brother brand for no particular reason other than my current basic one has given me no problems over the years despite never being serviced, and I have bought a few extra presser feet so I figured if I bought the same brand I would be able to use them still (here's hoping they fit). Since I don't do embroidery or quilting I just needed a good mid-range sewing machine.

Anyway now to read the manual and work out how to use these fancy functions and start sewing those curtains (yawn). Wheeee, it's almost like christmas! Which scarily is only 10 weeks away now......