My First Bernina
Description
I have loved sewing most of my life. I was raising my little family consisting of 4 children under the age of 5 and trying to make ends meet on my husband’s income. Life was simple back then. I loved being a Mother and found great joy in caring for my family. I had an older Singer machine that didn’t always work well to use as I sewed the family’s clothing.
Christmas 1974 was the usual. Trying to make special gifts for each member of the family: new dress, new PJ or a new outfit. Opening presents that morning was delightful. The kids were old enough to be really excited about their gifts. One last box under the tree remained unopened It had no name on it….I was informed it was mine. It was heavy! I carefully opened it to find a new Bernina 830 Record. (My husband had been delivering machines to the local dealer and in talking with them, found a used Demo machine. He saved his lunch money to pay for this machine for me.) Oh how I loved it!
My neighbor was an excellent seamstress and taught me many of the finer skills. I learned to make cloth dolls much like the Cabbage Patch dolls of the late 70″s for the girls. Sh taught me how to make levis for the boys. Sunday suits for my husband and son. I learned how to make tricot ruggle dresses for the babies. Then she showed me how to embroidery cute things onto their clothes and levi patches. A new world opened up for me. I began watching for simple pictures that often came home from school that I could copy and sew. I was hooked on embroidery done simply by moving a wooden hoop with my hands.
I kept my Bernina busy teaching my own children to sew, the 4H girls for many years, and now grandchildren. It was so nice to have that speed switch to slow it down as they learned. I was able to hem things with a breeze and add decorative stitches to clothing.
In 2003 I bought another Bernina. This time I got an Embroidery machine too, a 185. I loved it. Not a replacement for my old machine just a new family member. At this point in time my Mother and all 5 of my sisters had Berninas too!
It went to Georgia with me for 18 months where I again taught ladies and girls to sew. Of course, I used the embroidery capabilities on my things. Everyone loves their name on something. At times I wished I had two machines to get twice as much work done. Upon returning home I was given the opportunity to buy a slightly used Bernina 200. It came with every accessory made and about 50 CDs of designs. What a bargain for me. Now I could do so much more with less time.
I left again with machine in tow for North Carolina. Again I used my machine every time I could. I loved making things for people. My family kept growing and thus more people to serve. Now we had 30 grandchildren. How fun to make special items for them.
Last year I was worried that I was losing one of my machines, I stated looking for a new Bernina at my local dealer in Logan, Utah. Mike helped me find a B770. I got the embroidery module too. Love this machine. I spend hours sewing for fun for my family and friends. I have expanded to quilts now too. Many of which have embroideried blocks on them. All nine of my children have a quilt from Mom along with many friends and 2 married granddaughters. I have embroideried entire quilts with antique cars on each block, or European sites we have visited, or Mormon Temples, or children in redwork. For Christmas this year I made 75 kitchen towels with embroidery on them for my friends. So fun! What a blessing it has been in my life to have Bernina Sewing Machines. THANKS!
