Les instructions sont en français...

I spent 6 years of my life in French Immersion, but it has been at least 5 years since I have studied the language let alone spoken or read the language. I bring this up because the only instruction manual I can find for the sewing machine is half French and I am guessing that the other half is in German. I do understand part of what I am reading but it requires a whole other level of learning just to force myself to have the mental capacity to understand what I am reading. If the manual didn't have pictures, I would literally be a lost cause right now.

Since the machine is my mother's, I asked her some stuff and she was helpful in telling me what I needed to do to wind the thread on the lower bobbin, but she quickly walked away without actually showing me what to do. I am more of a hands-on learner, so to have her walk away after an explanation didn't help me a whole lot. I did attempt to read the instructions and follow the pictures but I was unsuccessful:

Clearly, not what was suppose to happen. I ended up calling for my mom to come back to help me, which she did do after I summoned the 5-year-old in me and whined, "¡Mamiiii, necesito ayuda!" For the non-spanish speakers that means "Mom, I need your help." I may be 23, but I still am and will always be my mother's little girl. Anyway, she helped me and the result was a significant improvement:

My plan for today was to make a stitch sampler, but instead it turned into me trying to figure out how to stitch the fancy embroidery in a straight line. I was unsuccessful, but I when I wasn't trying to be fancy I managed to stitch in a straight line and for now that is most important. In the process of taking this photo I didn't realize I cut off the the last stitch line, but it's not any better than the others so I didn't feel it was worth trying to capture.

On a very good note, my mother came home today with some really great scissors for cutting through fabric. I had to cut some of the fabric so that I could have some pieces for several attempts at a stitch sampler and I found that the scissors I had were not the sharpest. I never told my mom this, but it's as if she read my mind and when she came across a great pair at a great price she knew that I needed them. She's leaving for Honduras for almost three weeks in a couple of days and I am already beginning to question how will I fare without her assistance. She raised me to be an independent person so I know I don't need to be overly concerned, but I'll miss her nonetheless. My dad only tends to come into the room to ask me if I'm good enough to stitch him a pair of pants or to fix a hole or two, whereas my mom asks how my progress is going and even though she laughs at my inability to keep a straight line, she always manages to offer words of advice and encouragement.

Over these next couple of weeks I will really need some luck to as I attempt to make a sewing machine cozy with an inner-liner. My friend Jenna says that I should scrap the liner but if I do that the cozy will be incredibly flimsy and it won't have any real structure to it. So, I am going to be overly ambitious and give it a try. I figure the internet will be a useful resource in helping me figure out what to do and if I really need to I'll just go to the fabric store and ask for some guidance.

Wish me luck!