Sewing Machine Day Update 2013

By Diane Forrest

Twenty-five years ago when I moved to my current city, I remember going to Wal-Mart to the sewing department.  There were 2 rows of tables with stools there.  You could pull up a stool and look through books and books full of patterns from Simplicity or McCall’s.   Once you picked the pattern you wanted, you would go to the long filing cabinets, pull out a drawer and find your pattern.  There were rows and rows of material, and bolts of material stacked on tables.  There were even two ladies working back there to help cut your material and answer any questions you had.

I would get all my supplies, take it home, cut out my pattern and pin it to the material.  Cut it out and set about sewing on my mother's old Singer sewing machine. I could even make some things just by designing it in my mind.  I made all of my son's Halloween costumes, recovered an old couch a few times, and made several throw pillows with that machine.

As the years passed by - the sewing department at Wal-Mart has gotten smaller and smaller.  Today it hardly exists at all.  The country has seen a decline in the use of the sewing machine that was once a standard in every household. Most of this generation has never even seen a sewing machine, much less know how to operate one.  Sewing has become a lost art, with people buying premade clothes and home items, and where alterations can be done at a laundry/dry cleaning or by a few little old ladies at home.  My great grandmother did alterations from her home as well as my mother in law. .  My mother was not a "craft" person, but I did learn how to use a sewing machine from my dad and while in school during a home economics course.   While I am proud to say I can whip up a skirt or set curtains in no time flat, I am ashamed to say I never taught my son to use a sewing machine.  This concerns me because what if he has a child that needs to have a pumpkin costume for Halloween, or a clown?  What if he needs a cape to be Dracula?  How will he make these?

Today is Sewing Machine Day.  Thomas Saint patented the first design of the sewing machine in 1790 and it has since undergone many evolutions. This hallmark of the Industrial Revolution allows for efficient creation of clothing and other stitched items.  Sewing machines did not go into mass production until the 1850's, when Isaac Singer built the first commercially successful machine. Singer built the first sewing machine where the needle moved up and down rather than the side-to-side and a foot treadle powered the needle. Previous machines were all hand-cranked.

Why not pull out your old sewing machine, or your mom's or grandmothers and try your hand at recovering a pillow or making a quick skirt.

Universal Music Day

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest

It’s a cold, cloudy rainy afternoon, so I'm sitting in front of the television watching a movie that I taped a while back, well actually there are three of them.  It's the series of High School Musical.  I love watching them and singing along with the songs.  I have always wondered why nobody at my school never broke out into song and dance.  Every time I'm feeling blue, a musical will always pick me up.  I love the show tunes, and think about singing in the rain with Gene Kelly.

There is nothing better than brightening your mood than to sing a song.  I love singing, since I was small I sang at church, then later I was in several choirs at school and church, and when I became a mother I sang to my baby every day.

I have a friend who will go out for breakfast in the morning and start the day rocking to different songs on his earphones.  I have a special CD I play when I travel in my car, it was my husband's favorite, and I turn it up and sing the songs over and over until I reach my destination.

My family sings as well.  My father used to sing in the church choir until he began having throat problems, my mother makes a "joyful noise" at church, and is often seen out shopping singing "Jingle Bells" no matter what time of year it is. My son is not much of a singer, but he loves to play the guitar, and loves listening to music.  In fact he went out of town to hear a concert this weekend.

(Google Image) 

Today is Universal Music day.  The goals for this day include:

• to support the 80% of people who WISH they could sing or play an instrument. They will then be your best supporters of the Arts.
• to keep Music in the schools
• to bring Music making into corporations
• to bring MUSIC to the bedside for sick and dying.
• to bring MUSIC back into the home.

(Google Image) 

According to their website at universalmusicday.com, their mission is to Encourage people to make MUSIC — sound, silence, vibrations, from their HEARTS with the intention of creating LOVE, JOY, BEAUTY, COMPASSION AND CREATIVE LIVING.  Music is something that just brings people together, and there are all kinds of styles and types of music.  There is rock and roll, classical, jazz, country, opera, rap, heavy metal, and others.  According to Plato, Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.

So today, on Universal Music Day, Sing...sings a song; sing out loud...sing out strong!!!  Sing of good things not bad....sing of happy not say, Sing, sing a song, make it simple to last the whole day long...don’t worry if it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing...sing a song!!!!

(Google Image) 

Sewing Machine Day - 2012

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest

Twenty five years ago when I moved to my current city, I remember going to Wal-Mart to the sewing department.  There were 2 rows of tables with stools there.  You could pull up a stool and look through books and books full of patterns from Simplicity or McCall’s.   Once you picked the pattern you wanted, you would go to the long filing cabinets, pull out a drawer and find your pattern.  There were rows and rows of material, and bolts of material stacked on tables.  There were even two ladies working back there to help cut your material and answer any questions you had.

(Google Image) 

I would get all my supplies, take it home, cut out my pattern and pin it to the material.  Cut it out and set about sewing on my mother's old Singer sewing machine. I could even make some things just by designing it in my mind.  I made all of my son's Halloween costumes, recovered an old couch a few times, and made several throw pillows with that machine.

(Google Image) 

As the years passed by the sewing department at Wal-Mart got smaller and smaller.  Today it hardly exists at all.  The country has seen a decline in the use of the sewing machine which was once a standard in every household. Most of this generation has never even seen a sewing machine, much less know how to operate one.  Sewing has become a lost art, with people buying premade clothes and home items, and alterations can be done at a laundry or by a few little old ladies at home.  My great grandmother did alterations from her home as well as my mother in law. .  My mother was not a "craft" person, but I did learn how to use a sewing machine from my dad and while in school during a home economics course.   While I am proud to say I can whip up a skirt or a set a curtains in no time flat, I am ashamed to say I never taught my son to use a sewing machine.  This concerns me because what if he has a child that needs to have a pumpin costume for Halloween, or a clown?  What if he needs a cape to be dracula?  How will he make these?

(Google Image) 

Today is Sewing Machine day.  Thomas Saint patented the first design of the sewing machine in 1790 and it has since undergone many evolutions. This hallmark of the Industrial Revolution allows for efficient creation of clothing and other stitched items.  Sewing machines did not go into mass production until the 1850's, when Isaac Singer built the first commercially successful machine. Singer built the first sewing machine where the needle moved up and down rather than the side-to-side and the needle was powered by a foot treadle. Previous machines were all hand-cranked.

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Why not pull out your old sewing machine, or your mom's or grandmothers and try your hand at recovering a pillow or making a quick skirt.

(Google Image)