She's Crafty

I spent two glorious weeks holed up in my sister's basement this summer. Although she felt a bit bad that I was locked away underground, I was exceptionally happy with the arrangement because my sewing machine was in her basement. I have had access to a sewing machine for as long as I can remember. Not only was my mother kind enough to not freak out if I used hers when I was a child, but I also had more than one plastic version of my own. By my third(?) (second?) year at university, I got a proper sewing machine, although I had finally worn out the gearing through overuse about five years ago. That's when I upgraded to the beautiful machine that is at my sister's house.

And then I moved to Beijing. I spent all last year without a sewing machine. Oh sure, you can take pants to be hemmed, but I never did. It just felt too wrong to take the time to go down the street, make yourself understood in a foreign language, and wait for them to be hemmed, when you can easily do it yourself. Well, you could if you had a machine.

I kept a look-out for machines, but sewing machine shops aren't all that prevalent. Machines exist, but most of them are old, beat-up tailor machines. I need a nice, simple household version. Towards the end of the school year, I mentioned finding a machine to my Handler, and he told me that all things can be found online.

And right he was.

Yesterday, I decided enough was enough, and I was going to find a machine. I went to TaoBao (Chinese eBay) and searched for a machine. I found a decent-looking Brother and sent the link to my Handler. I also explained that I needed a rotary cutter, a self-healing mat, and some specialized needles. He took on the challenge and found the items and placed the orders.

I thought maybe I'd see the boxes trickle in towards the end of the week.

He came in the office today, and pointed to a box in the corner of the room. My machine was here! Everything arrived today. (There was too much to carry, so I'll bring home the mat tomorrow.)

I ran a test through the machine, to make sure it works (there is a 10-day guarantee on any product purchased through TaoBao). And it works! Although it is the loudest machine I've ever owned. There's a rather loud electric hum to go with some rather big chunking, but the stitches appear even and straight. And she's just my type.