My new BFF

Hi there, I've been AWOL for a few weeks, mostly because I've been working slowly on several projects with not much to report.  I'll have a catch up in a few days but today I'm just here to introduce you to my new friend.  Those of you who follow me on Instagram will not be surprised to learn that I' treated myself to a new sewing machine and it is very pretty indeed!

Now my old sewing machine was actually not that old at all, maybe a couple of years and despite never really loving it I wasn't really considering replacing it until a few months ago when Stu mentioned how loud it sounded from the girls bedroom.  I started halfheartedly researching quiet sewing machines and quickly started discovering new features that I all of a sudden couldn't live without!  I decided to slowly save up some money and take my time deciding which machine to buy when the time came.  To cut a long and boring story short, after considering many very good options I found that I had my heart set on getting a Pfaff with IDT because for me the built in walking foot type affair was exactly what I needed.  They are pretty pricey so I set about squirrelling away a bit of cash each month so I could get what I really wanted.  My machine was perfectly adequate so there was no problem waiting.

Of course, somehow my old Singer found out that I was plotting to replace it and decided to get it's own back by messing with me big time.  On a couple of occasions I was in the next room and heard it going  by itself for a few seconds.  Naturally I blamed the cat and thought no more about it until one day it just kept doing it and wouldn't stop.  After profusely apologising to the cat I decided that we obviously have a ghost.  A ghost that's totally into sewing!  Unplugging the foot pedal stopped old ghosty in his/her tracks but also stopped me sewing too (sad face).  Resisting the urge to just replace the stupid thing I ordered a new foot pedal and hoped that would solve the issue.  Ultimately it did but it wasn't terribly reliable, working perfectly one minute and refusing to do anything at all the next.  After a day of shouting at the foot pedal and then at the machine for being unwilling to do something as simple as sew a buttonhole Stu suggested that I should probably just buy a new machine before our children learnt any more new swear words.

So I did.  Recent events did colour my decision a little, I had been considering the Pfaff Ambition Essential but it doesn't have a start stop button and suddenly the ability to sew without actually needing a foot pedal seemed rather a good idea!  The Ambition 1.0 has that feature and is a rather fetching shade of pink and that was pretty much all I needed to plump for that one instead.  At this point I've only had it a day so I can't really draw many conclusions, but so far I LOVE it.  It is ridiculously quiet compared my old one, the amount of info on the screen is fantastic and I'm really very in love with the little storage compartments.  Simple things!

I'll report back when I've had a chance to sew some different types of projects and fabrics and let you know how we're getting on then.  For the moment it's Happy Hannah, over and out.