Weekend Warriors

It was a busy weekend with the first craft sale now over and a fun garage sale in my neighborhood that netting some great finds. We started out on Friday night setting up our tables at the local high school where the long-standing craft fair is a benefit of the Swim and Diving Club. We figured if we got our tables and stands all set up the night before we would be that much ahead for Saturday morning but when we got there we were in for a surprise: the students not only unloaded your car and brought everything to your booth, they also would help set everything up. As we looked around we could see everyone else had their products out so we figured why not? Another dash home and loading up the Jeep, we returned to have the same great help in getting set up. They did really mean 6-9 pm because at 9 they announced they were closing and we had to leave but could return at 6 am. This seemed fair since we now had so much set up it would only be a matter of rearranging in the morning.

Double booth space and set-up Friday night before the craft fair

Jim had great helpers again to put necklaces on the stands and even made a sale as one of the girls couldn't resist an item of jewelry. Kelly joined us and added her memory wire bracelets and flannel burp cloths, help in proper display set up, and we were off and running. It's always fun talking to everyone but by the end of the day I'm pretty well talked out and exhausted. I only bought one item from a fellow seller, a pair of LuLaRoe leggings that are buttery soft, and a jar of jam from my hairdresser, Kathy, who shows up at some of my venues, too. How can you resist strawberry basil jam? It's truly delicious!

We are in business!

Coming home exhausted isn't exactly our idea of fun but we were prepared for this and I had barbecue venison in the slow cooker, all ready for dinner. Since we have another craft fair in only two weeks, we left our tables and stands in the garage and stored the bins and boxes in the spare guest room so no hauling everything downstairs. At the end of the day when we tallied up our accounts we could see that we both made money but it's not spectacular.  This was our first time at the high school and we would sign up again if our schedules allow but life has a way of intervening and it gets tricky to keep these commitments.

The next day dawned bright and clear after a very rainy and cloudy Saturday at the fair (what did we care since we were inside all day!) and we visited a neighbors garage sale. My husband was there on Friday and said we needed to go back because they still had some things I might be interested in. Did they ever: I spied an Elnita 140 sewing machine in pristine shape with a large amount of accessories included:

Elnita 140 with extension bed in place

Print manual, bobbin box, accessory box with snap-on feet and other extras

The price was right and the accessories included feet, bobbins, and thread I was interested in. She also had machine embroidery stabilizers that came home with me but I missed the Bernina thread box, already sold to someone right ahead of me. Win some, lose some, but I'm thinking this was a decent deal. I get everything home and sorted but don't have time to play with it until the next day.

I did put the Elnita 140 to the test as I made up three ironing board covers to test out the stitches and then put together two cobbler aprons that were requested.

Busy prints to hide cooking foibles!

The quality of the stitching was good, ease of use went down when I had to remove the extension bed every time I changed the bobbin. With the pink trim on the aqua background fabric I was changing the bobbin often and it wasn't horrible but not convenient either. Conclusion: it will make a nice occasional sewing machine or a first timer. Here's the results:

Bias tape foot with zigzag finish

Flat fell seam near pocket

Make no mistake, this is not an Elna sewing machine but for the price point, it will get you sewing and should lead you to a better sewing machine when you are ready for one. Yes, it was a nice weekend after all!