From Chain Stitch to Brilliant Buttonholes

My first sewing machine was a toy chain stitch machine that worked, I do not know how young I was, but I must have been young, as I do not remember not sewing.... from here I dabbled on my mum's Messerschmitt. (Neither of these photos are ours, but they are there as an example and to confirm that Messerschmitt indeed was a sewing machine brand and not just and German aeroplane from WW2).

Between mum and I we have then both had Husqvarna's, Pfaff's, a Lemair, and I now have a wiz bang Brother that can also convert to an embroidery machine.... oh and I did have an industrial machine that I loved and only did straight stitch!!!

So sewing machines have come a long way, and from someone accustomed to making do with the basic straight stitch, was dazzled by the Embroidery component, and I managed to overlook a great feature that I stumbled across today while running a sewing workshop.

My brother machine made great buttonholes, and have been using the great automatic buttonhole with the pull down sizing thingy.... but low and behold, if one puts in the button at the end, it makes the buttonhole the right size.... brilliant!!! That being said, it is brilliant and perfect for thick fabrics such as woollens, but for thin cotton, it is my opinion that the buttonhole is a little big. I like snug buttonholes that do not pop open.... but hey this is a great feature, and I cannot believe it has taken me close to 10 years to utilize this feature.

I now have to put aside my current novel and take the instruction book to bed for my night time reading to see what I am missing out on, as since I came home to test out on my machine, found that the button foot that came with the machine is pretty darn good too, with the option to increase the tightness or looseness of the button, again great for varying thickness!!