Say hello to my new best friend. He's quiet, burly, and behind that Home-Ec, jheri-curl exterior is a heart of gold.

Seriously. I'm super excited to finally, finally have a sewing machine this side of the Atlantic. After I bought it I had trouble getting to sleep because of those childhood Christmas Eve jitters; I just couldn't stop thinking about it. And even after I finally got to sleep, I had several weird sewing dreams. (Is it possible to have sewing-depravation syndrome and not know it?)

So finally, finally, finally, after months of putting it off and spending my savings on other stuff and thinking maybe I didn't need one at all, I bit the bullet and bought one. But boy was it hard working up the courage to buy it. A year ago it took a lot of emotional energy just going to the grocery store; I didn't understand anything anyone said, I couldn't read any signage &mdash you know, the typical confused new-immigrant situation. I talked about it a lot back then (and I guess I'm still talking about it). And although I feel pretty confident getting around on my tourist Hebrew these days, buying a sewing machine seemed just as monumental a task as grocery shopping did back then. All the specialized words; the fear of getting ripped off and spending a lot on a crappy machine (I could only afford a used one); the inevitable awkward negotiations, alone in a strange, dusty shop far from home; that was enough to freak me out for all these months. Fortunately though, I was bold and ended up lucky. A friend told me about a good place, which was well-stocked, and I was surprised to find that the owner spoke English (I guess I crammed those key sewing terms for nothing).



I had my first really free (post-purchase) day yesterday, so I spent it sewing. I repurposed a street find (a horrible early-90s hoodie-ish thing) into this skirt and fixed a couple of tees that were too big. I'm sure next week I'll have new bags to show (as if I needed more. Anyone out there want one?). Well, I think I've spent enough time away from my little Elnita now, gotta run back home and start a new project. xo