Let's start at the very beginning

I pulled my mother-in-law's Singer Fashion Mate 257 (circa 1972) out of storage, dusted it off, and took it to the doctor. When I went to pick it up, the gentleman at the Singer repair shop (who probably owned the joint, and had since before this model was made), asked me if I would rather just purchase a new machine instead. That did not seem to bode well- I was worried.

However, this little green machine has some life in her yet! Don't misunderstand, she definitely has quirks and limitations, and is certainly not as user friendly as a fancy new machine, but I like her. And I'm determined to employ her as long as she'll have me.

My own mother (who taught me the basics of sewing when I was a kidd), passed me a dress that wasn't working for her. Simple, black, thick knit jersey- which would never have made my rotation in it's original form. So, channeling inspiration from a blog I'd recently stalked (NDAD), along with good old trial and error, I chopped and hemmed, and chopped and hemmed some more- and was super excited with the result! And encouraged enough to sew another day...