My 30th present - a new sewing machine

I recently had my 30th birthday. My husband was looking at getting me a new cellphone, as mine is getting to the limits of what I can do with it. He was talking to a friend of his about this, and complaining that he wanted to get me something that would last, as it was a significant birthday. However he had no other idea what to get me. So a cellphone was bought, and returned as it was faulty. A replacement was purchased, and returned as he was unable to install recovery software on it. After a phone call to the seller to check that recovery software could be installed, a third cellphone was purchased. This is now sitting on my husband's desk, while we try and get the seller to accept a return (Consumer Guarantees Act states a product must do what we were told it would). I was a bit down over not getting anything and my husband was annoyed at the hours he'd spent trying to sort out a new phone for me.

Then last Friday, I was getting something out of my car when he arrived home from work. He told me to stand behind the boot. When he popped the boot there was bouncing and spinning and squealing from me, as I saw a new sewing machine there for me. Not just any sewing machine, but the sewing machine that I had looked at last year, had seriously considered buying, but had decided I couldn't justify buying when my old machine was sufficient.

This is my gorgeous new sewing machine:

The limited edition that Singer brought out for their 160th Anniversary. It sews like a dream. 

I have spent the past week trying to work out why I'm so happy with this, I'm still bouncing over it, above being bought a new sewing machine. I've worked it out. I learnt to sew on my mum's treadle Singer. I've always wanted a singer. My first machine was a second hand Bernina record, that my parents bought me when I moved out of home. The first machine I bought myself was Bernina Bernette that I purchased 5 years ago. I wasn't getting myself anything other than a Singer or a Bernina, and the Bernette was the cheapest. What can I say, I was a student at the time. 

So what it all comes down to, is I now have my dream machine, literally. Sure, I've got a treadle Singer, but it's not operational, needs a new belt, who knows what else as well as whole lot of love before I can use it. This is a sewing machine I can use to create amazing things on, expand my skills with, teach my daughter on and hopefully pass on to her one day. This is William Morris at it's finest, as it's both beautiful and useful.

My first project using it is a new apron for myself, using a panel for an owl apron bought in the post Christmas sales. 

Here is a bad photo of the body of it.

I'm having issues with the pockets. They're meant to be lined, but the pocket and pocket lining printed on the panel aren't symmetrical. Which means when I put them right sides together, they don't fit properly. So I'm having to kinda fit them together. It's not all bad, as I'll be turning them through then stitching them down to the body of the apron, I might just run two lines of top stitching to secure them, so that it looks good and so that nothing falls out. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the right side sticks out further. 

You can also see the pile of straps, 2 x neck and 2 x waist, that I'm having to turn through. Anyone know any good ways to do it? Because it's taking me ages. It's taking long enough that I'm tempted to stop and go work on something else. But I'm determined to get this project finished before moving onto something else. Actually, I'm determined to get better at finishing projects in general. 

But it's late, I should either go work on turning those straps through, or I should head to bed with a book. But first, here is a photo of the pile of fabric I need to sort that I mentioned yessterday. I should get onto it, I'm sure there are a few bits that could go into the 'Swap your Stash' That pile really is taller than I am......