SMS Contest for Husqvarna s21 Serger

I can't compete with the previous/other posts.

Alls I can say is this: I've never been to your blog, I've never commented on a blog, I've never written on a sewing page - but, tonight, I decided I was FINALLY going to get a serger machine and I got on my computer, searched, and up popped your blog on my computer - I feel as if your contest was meant for me!

I believe in things intersecting at exactly the right moment - just as a serger does - and I believe your blog and my life are at an intersection.

If I was chosen to be the winner. . . the Serger would be loved, well taken care of, shared, and have many (MANY) hours of happy use!!!! In fact, I think I'll name him Sweet Mr. Serger (SMS) A man serger though, since he's doing all the hard work!

I'm very thankful I've found your blog, very thankful to be a member, and very thankful for the chance of winning a Serger!!!!

Three Reasons A Serger Would Make My Life Better:

1) I entered a baby dress in the County Fair's 4H home ec contest.  It was so exciting to see a 2nd place ribbon on my dress until I saw the judge's comment, "Needs finished seams!"
*A serger would mean. . . First place next year!
2) I have fallen in love with making clothes using jersey and other knits.  Currently, I'm doing my best with a walking foot (aka- poor man's serger).  My sister has even pledged to be an "investor" in a serger for me, expecting her money back in cute clothes.
*A serger would mean. . . A happy sister and a happy me!
3)Who has never swooned over a shirt until they tried it on and realized it would need to be a little shorter or a little slimmer?  Or wished they could make that gigantic (but cute) sports tee a little more girly?  I certainly have plenty of clothes I would love to alter or transform without it looking like granny fixed it.
*A serger would mean. . . Clothes that fit like they should (and no one knows a thing)!

Thanks for this amazing opportunity. Here is a link to my blog post:

http://fyiforyou.com/2010/08/30/to-serge-with-love/

I'm a new-ish sewer. I only recently started getting serious about it (dreaming about patterns, hoarding fabric, the works!) now that I have a toddler daughter who I can make the cutest little clothes for!
Oh, listen to this sad little tale....
We went to a wedding! My brother-in-law got married, and I decided, how cute would it be to sew matching flower-girl dresses for my one-and-a-half year old, and my 5 year-old niece... Well, word to the wise, don't start fancy sewing projects when you are working full-time, have an active toddler, and are in your ninth month of pregnancy :-)
Anyways, I worked at it, slowly but surely. I made up my own pattern, and hopped right in... Each step was a learning experience - how to add the lining, how to sew an invisible zipper - exciting and exhilarating! (and as I explained to eyebrow-raising family member, very therapeutic activity for forgetting the aches of a big belly).
The dresses have a beautiful fabric for the bodice, lined. The bottoms are full circle skirts of satin and organza - super-flowy and twirly. Here's a picture of my niece in hers - quite the model!



Ah, now here is the sad part of the story. A month before the wedding, the dresses were just about complete, sans the hems, and I had my second baby. Wow, life was a bit hectic, and definitely no time for sewing! But I found a bit of time, and set to work on the hem on the smaller dress... Yikes! Too much fabric to fold over and sew down, not to mention it being a circle skirt. I bought a rolled hem foot, and tried that. It made a nasty mess of the organza. But I managed a pathetic looking hem on the satin. I ended up doing a very tight zigzag on the organza, which ate up and stretched the material, and it was, well, awful.
see for yourself, my sad sad seams...



oh how i wished i had a serger! and just serge the edge away in a beautiful crisp satin rolled edge!

Well, there was no way I was attempting the larger dress and the zillion yards of material in that hem. I took to a tailor, and she charged me $25.

Ouch.

It hurt. I had to pay a hefty sum to finish off my own creation, and the shame! Oh, I can see them clearly at the tailor's, wrinkling their noses, "what amateurish sewing! look at these terrible edges!"

And so, there it is. I will not be attempting fancy sewing in the near future, not without a serger (ahem hem). We'll stick to unfinished knits and their rolled-up edges.

Oh please, won't you encourage a novice sewer and send a serger my way??

If I won the Husqvarna s21 Serger I would be able to continue sewing again. My parents house burned down 3 months ago with all of their belongings and also my sewing machine was there. I want to start working on some projects for my new nephew (arriving soon). Thanks!

http://sewinginlaraswrld.blogspot.com/

okay....here's my link....i hope i did this right...

fingers crossed and i hope i entered this and you actually GET  to my blog.

you'll most likely be the first person to ever get there...   

Why do I need a serger? When I was reading 'show us your sad little seams' in the giveaway post I was saying to myself "I have those, lots of those!' I could take lots of pictures of all my sad little seams. And pleas from my kiddos. Yes! I have three of those and they want mom to win this. I love to sew and want to cover the world in handmade goodness, particularly recycled handmade goodness. This machine would give so much love in return if we won. I can hardly sleep at night with all the creative ideas I have going through my head and this serger would allow me to bring those ideas to life. My little sewing machine just can't cut it when it comes to sewing clothing items. I've been wanting to take the Wardrobe Refashion pledge for a long time but I've been holding back because I feel like I wouldn't wear the things I've made for myself because they wouldn't look very nice with unprofessional seams and loose strings. I upcycle clothes for my kids but with a serger I feel like I could do so much more for them. Having a serger would also allow me to sew clothing to sell and make it possible for me to remain a stay at home mom. I sell bags I make at a local handmade shop but what I really want to make and sell is upcycled clothing. Maybe even eventually have a real brick and mortar shop of my own.
Also my husband is a firefighter in the USAF and I am constantly sewing patches on uniforms and hemming jackets and pants for all our friends.
As you can see I would put this serger to use in so many ways. I feels cheesy saying it would change our lives but I really feel it would. I sew everyday and I really feel we Need this serger. It would definitely be put to good use right away if we won, and change our lives.
Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity.

My life would be better with a new serger because I'd be able to make more clothing for my daughter and for the kids that I work with at the center for austism. It makes me very happy to get smiles from kids when they find out that you've made something just for them.

My life would be better with a Serger because I am entirely motivated and fuelled by the misery of others. As a man who has no interest in sewing whatsoever it would give me unending pleasure to seize this device from the hands of the more deserving and then parade it in front of them, cackling maniacally. My serger would take pride of place in my Cave of Ill-Gotten Gains and I would position it neatly beside the the mouth organ I stole from an orphaned busker. Upon extracting the maximum ire from sewers worldwide I would then place my serger on e-bay, only to later defraud the highest bidder! Send me my serger forthwith, I salivate at the schadenfreude it would grant me!

First of all, this is an absolutely fabulous giveaway!  How amazingly generous. 

Okay, as for my answer...here goes:

I am a SAHM of two darling children, a 3yr old and a 3mo old.  They are wonderful children and I adore my life.  I have been sewing since high school and love making clothing and learning new techniques.  Unless received as a gift, all of the clothes my kids wear is made by me.  I see no sense in spending our hard-earned money on expensive clothing when I can make what they like and what I like for a fraction of the cost.  This serger would make my life exceedingly easier.  To be able to finish the seams without constantly having to zigzag and make it look so polished would be a dream! 

Plus, my husband wouldn't have to listen to me fuss at my machine for messing up my seam.   

Please pick me.  I promise I'll take extra good care of it!

I don't have as much time, room or resources as I would like to sew and knit and craft the way I would like to... and realistically I don't have room for a serger in my tiny sewing space.  I have long wanted one, since my mom got one when I was in high school and I learned how to use it.  Last year she gave me her 'old' Husqvarna machine, which she bought in the early 90's, now that she has upgraded to a Bernina.  This Husqvarna is like a brand new machine for me and I love it.  I'm 1/4 Swedish as well, so I always feel a little proud to have a Swedish machine.

I wasn't planning on entering this contest because of my limited time to sew and limited time to figure out a serger.  Having two little kids, a full time job, and the need to spend time with my spouse and get some sleep means my sewing projects sit in the little sewing corner longer than I would like. But today is the last day and I am home with a vomiting 3 year old instead of at work.

I love the wealth of sewing on the internet, and it is pretty amazing to be a part of all of it.  But I have to say, half of the time when I am reading the blogs it depresses me.  I haven't been able to figure out why.  I read about the concept of the domestic goddess, in the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach, a book I've been mildly obsessed with since I found it early this summer at a thrift store.  She vaguely references the depression and struggle women have experienced with certain domestic goddesses like Martha Stewart.  Martha makes it all seem so easy and perfect.  I get this same feeling a lot of times from blog reading, and I know my blog probably makes others feel this way, too.  Sarah suggests we instead focus on being our own domestic goddess, and celebrating ourselves rather than feeling like we can't get that fifth dress made or design the popular sewing pattern or make our etsy business successful. 

I am focusing now on smiling at my children and marveling at how happy it makes me to see them in anything I make.  And I'm trying to celebrate the goddess that I am -- one who likes her sewing machine and probably would create all day long if I didn't have other commitments, but who recognizes that doing the dishes is as much of a triumph as a french seam.  Anyway, I don't need a serger, I get by just fine with my sewing machine.  I would love a serger though.  I don't need to sew, create, and put in that extra effort to make custom giraffe pants for a 3 year old.  But I love to. 

I'm a sewing addict in need of a support group!  I only started sewing at the beginning of this year and I can't stop!  I was told today, "you can't just stay at home everyday and sew."  Well, why not?  Can I please??!!!! 

I've made clothes, bags, dog clothes, napkins, placemats, gloves, flowers, and on and on and on.  I've even got a project list of all the things I haven't made yet that I want to (along with the fabric already bought and washed just waiting for me to put into my Singer!)

I feel I am now ready for my first Serger.  It's time to take my skills to the next level and I can't wait! 

I love to sew. I create bags, purses, clothes, baby items, blankets, curtains and more and give most away to friends and loved ones. A serger will allow me to sew better clothes, use more exciting fabrics (oh, to make knit garments!), feel proud of the quality of my creations, and to share more hand-sewn loveliness with all my loved ones. My husband and I made this short video to show you just how much I love sewing yet how desperately my sewing needs to be improved by a serger.
http://www.vimeo.com/14584475
Leana

Thank you, Sew, Mama, Sew, for this sponsoring this fabulous contest; it's really fun to read about all the talented sewers in our world.

If I Only Had a Serger
(sung to the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain")

I could make great seams with ease,
Create whenever I please,
No more silly zig-zagger.
 
And my knits I'd be lovin' while
My progress kept on hummin'
If I only had a serger!

Oh, I could tell you why the hems are rolled over
I could think of projects I never did before
And then I'd sew, and sew some more.
 
I would not be discouraged
Thinking I will never finish
My head all filled with pain.
 
I would sew and be merry
Life would be a HUSQVA-berry
If I only had a serger!