bring it in to the shop...

We got this great machine at an estate sale last weekend. Beautiful cabinet and the machine works! I decided to oil the machine, which should be easy, given that it is an older machine with no high-tech gadgetry. Well, I took it apart and couldn't figure out how to put it back together. I think, mostly I just panicked. All the parts fit back in place but not with the same results for example: a working machine. I called friends, I called people online...I called the sewing machine shop. Now, I am sure that someone, somewhere has a good relationship with their local repair store. I don't. When I told the woman what I had done, she remarked: Well, that was stupid. Talk about your conversation killers. Then, her only bit of advice was to bring it in to her shop. Not gonna happen. The machine weighs 100 pounds, her shop is across town, she'll charge me 80 dollars to "fix" it and...she just commented on my stupidity.

So, to ease the dull ache of frustration, I went outside to garden. While in the garden, I thought of my 83-year-old gardening neighbor who also sews. I walked down to her house in hopes of pointers. She graciously welcomed me into her home and said, Well, let's look at my machine. She uncovered her machine and it was the same machine I just bought! I could have danced for joy. We prodded the machine and discovered that I merely hadn't tightened the balance wheel enough. Praise the Lord!!

End of story: machine's fine. For free. Oh, it's clean and oiled too. I'm gonna learn to fix my own machines from here on out.