A New Brother

Don't worry, it's not that kind of brother.  It's the kind of Brother you can sew with, specifically a serger that was gifted to me by an amazing, anonymous person.

About a month ago I came home to find a large package wrapped in red and white striped paper and tied up with a bow sitting on our doorstep.  There was a card attached to the package with my name on it and a note inside that said  

I would love to know who I should thank for this wonderful gift, but there's not much to go on.  The note was typed so I couldn't glean any information about the giver from the handwriting.  I really only have two clues.  The notecard had the initial S printed on the front so it's possibly someone whose last or first name begins with S.  Also, because we've recently moved, it's probably someone from church since our new address is on the ward directory.  Oh, and Jared did take a video but it's totally lame because my reaction didn't really reflect the level of excitement I was feeling.

This gift was totally unexpected and so thoughtful.  It's only been in the last four years that I've started sewing more frequently and have begun to develop my sewing skills and a love of taking a piece of fabric and turning it into something useful and beautiful.  Often I would think how nice it would be to have a serger because it would help to make the things I sew look more professional and also make the sewing process much faster. However, I never mentioned this wish to anyone and barely even allowed myself to think about it - a serger was a sewing luxury and definitely something I didn't think I would ever have.  

At first I was a little intimidated by my new machine.  I've never used a serger before and the four spools of thread, two needles, and cutting blades (eek!) all combined to give me some major anxiety.  It took two weeks to finally get over myself.  In the end, I couldn't let this wonderful gift sit on my sewing table gathering dust.  I found a quiet morning and sat down determined to get to know my machine. The manual and I quickly became best friends as I read it in it's entirety trying to learn the basics of serging.  After I had read all there was to read, I felt confident enough to actually turn the machine on and try it out.  I did a couple of test runs on some scrap fabric and I decided to try and sew something.  It doesn't sound like a lot but this was a big deal for me.  That day I was able to make a simple skirt and the whole thing came together so much faster with the serger than with a regular sewing machine!  It was pretty exciting and I wanted to share that excitement with everyone else when they came home.  However, I'm the only sewing nerd in our house and it wasn't nearly as exciting for everyone else as it was for me!

So here's my big THANK YOU to my secretive friend, whoever you are.  I'm so grateful to have good friends in my life.  It is humbling to be thought of and cared for by such a wonderful person.