Come Stitch With Me

On Monday, enrichment classes resume at City Academy. There are so many choices on the menu this semester that class sizes are much smaller than last spring. That’s a good thing. Right now, I have 13 students total with 6 students as my largest class size. I’m sure numbers will increase slightly, but I can do so many more hands-on activities with smaller groups of students. The calendar also has several built in breaks, which is really nice!

Therapy dog activities are once again in full swing. Sadie and I head for a conference at the Classic Center in Athens next week and we’ll end the week with a visit to Camp Peach Pals at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta. We’re scheduled to resume reading at the Smyrna Library in September. I debated not returning due to the stupid library policy change last spring; however, the other team retired in July. I committed to monthly visits through the end of the year. We have a core group of kids who participate in the program. We also have several READ teams in training who need to get their field visits done, and the Smyrna Library is convenient for them. My group leader knows how much I’d like to do a school-based READ program. She advised there should be some slots available soon. Keep your paws crossed!

CraftLAB resumes and I meet with the SQTM rep soon to get the scoop on fall classes. One of my CraftLAB ‘tweens has earned the privilege of having her own sewing machine. She’ll go home home this week with a sewing machine of her very own (serviced by yours truly) and a basket of sewing goodies courtesy of my Friday sewing squad. I’m so grateful for these ladies.

My itch to travel has resurfaced with a vengeance. The school calendar shows no classes the Monday after our anniversary. We should be able to go somewhere. Hmmm…I wonder where?

I’m beginning to think there’s some truth to the old wives’ tale that things happen in threes.

We built our current home 11 years ago. This the longest we’ve lived in any one place. To celebrate:
(1) The garage door springs broke and we were housebound until the repair guys could come the next day.
(2) The ice & water dispenser in our fridge has gone haywire, so that’s on the schedule for next Monday.
(3) The plumber was here today to replace the sink stopper & drain assembly in the main bathroom.

Insects love me. So far I’ve been bitten/stung by:
(1) Many, many mosquitos – annoying and itchy
(2) A spider – on my finger
(3) A bee – on the back of my arm and very painful

I am now “officially” retired. First real paycheck in two years hit the bank account today. Two more things left to follow up on (health insurance premium adjustment and sick leave add-on) until everything is done. The mental load I’ve carried for the past two years as we navigated uncharted waters can finally be thrown overboard. I’m past ready.

The third time trying to get reading dogs in my former school district was not the charm. We meet all the requirements under the new Animals in Schools policy, yet the AAI focus is so narrow all we can do is show up and get petted under the guise of mental health services rather than help with reading intervention. I’ve decided to just move on. We have as small city school district inside the larger county one. Sadie and I may be taking over an existing program there.

My desire to teach sewing classes at Monday enrichment did not materialize for yet the third semester. Initially, there wasn’t going to be a sewing class. Now we have someone doing fashion design and sewing with machines. Guess I’ll have most of the boys again in my classes since I’m opposite the sewing class on the selection menu. The sewing instructor had a lot of interest during meet & greet and she’s definitely more talented than moi when it comes to garment sewing. She did seem open to collaboration between our classes. We’ll see how it goes.

This lovely little lady is 1934 Singer Featherweight school bell edition. If you look to the lower right of the sewing machine, you’ll see a silver plate. This is the bobbin tension device. It was dubbed a school bell because…well…it’s supposed to look like a vintage school bell. Yep, the bell’s missing here. It screws on the business end of the screw you see sticking out. School bells were made from 1933-1935 and are considered highly desirable by serious FW collectors.

I like to visit area estate sales for vintage sewing notions and kitchen ware – especially Pyrex. Normally FWs are prominently featured in an estate sale ad. Not this one. I just happened to be there because a couple of sewing friends told me about the massive Pryex collection for sale.

All I can say is that is the stars certainly aligned for this transaction to happen. After I looked over the FW, I left to go research options for replacing the missing school bell. If I could replace the missing part and if the FW was still there when I returned, it would be coming home with me – provided the FW was eligible for the 50% off last day discount. It was and the estate sale rep even took off an extra $50 to pay for half of the school bell replacement part.

A sewing machine repair shop label on the bottom of the machine indicates she once lived in the Tampa, Florida area. The cobwebs on the box and peanut butter like grease stuck on the gears tell me she was sitting in someone’s attic or utility room for quite some time. The sewing machine’s actually in great condition other than being extremely dirty. Her case is a hot mess on the exterior, but sturdy, clean on the inside and definitely restorable. BTW, she also sewed beautifully right out of the box.

I’m going to put my FW skills to work at servicing/cleaning the machine and restoring the case. The missing parts have already been ordered. We’ll see this 1934 FW gets flipped or I keep her and sell Jane to a FW restorer who’s looking for a 1935 transitional to repaint for client.

Anyway, this will project keep me busy and engaged for the next couple of months – exactly what I need right now! Inflation is putting the squeeze on everyone. Parents are definitely cutting back on extracurricular activities. I’m still teaching private sewing lessons/sewing classes, but it’s about half of what I did last year at this time. The profit from selling either of the FW machines will help offset not teaching as many sewing classes.