You Don't Really Want to Buy That or Adding Stitches to My Pages

"Oh, you don't want to buy that."

That's the response I heard from the sales associate at JoAnn's when I asked where to find the portable, hand-held sewing machine.

"It's terrible. You don't want to ever sew with it. That's why we don't even carry them anymore. Everyone just kept returning them."

The disturbing thing was, I really did want to buy it. I had my 40% off coupon of the week, I had read all the online reviews, I had wandered through all the parts of the store, and I still wanted it. I was committed to owning it. And the more she denigrated it, the more I wanted it.

There was a time when I would look at pages that had stitching on them, and think, "That's crazy. Who wants to put paper in their sewing machine?" I do have have sewing machine. It's old and stubborn, but works great for the two times a year that I take it out of it's built-in cabinet and fire it up to make curtains, pillows, or mend jeans. Other than that, it just sits in the corner and holds random jigsaw puzzles of Hello Kitty and fairy adventure books. Using it for scrapbook pages just seemed like a lot of extra work.

After a while, I did want to have the look of the sewing on my pages. So I used the stickers that looked like stitches. Then I used rub-ons that looked like stitches. I even made faux stitches with markers. I thought about hand sewing, but discovered paper doesn't forgive the way that fabric does. Besides, it was too much like sewing those cards with yarn I remembered from elementary school. I poo-poohed the stitching embellishment as long as I could, but finally it got the best of me.


[Christmas Fun 08 - not only did I use my stitching for the first time, I also tried out my $.49 cent pink stapler for the ribbon border.]

That's when I decided there had to be a small portable machine that might work for sewing on paper. I jumped online and searched for handheld sewing machines. I read user reviews of a few different models. I pick low cost one that sounded like it might actually work. But, alas, my search as JoAnn's was fruitless and discouraging. When I got back home I ordered it online. (Red Cordless Sewing Machine) Now that's the only way you can buy it. Maybe it's JoAnn's way of avoiding the pitying looks one would receive in the store when buying it in person. Now I can be anonymous in my seemingly foolish purchase.

When it arrived, I had my doubts, but the test runs on the paper were exemplary. True, I would never see the stitches lasting beyond a single use on actual fabric, but for paper, fantastic! Of course, the true test will come when I want to change the bobbin, but with the assistance of the enclosed directions written in what I assume is clear and concise French, I will be just fine. No one has to know I even own, especially the helpful staff at JoAnns.