My Adventure At The Bag Making Class

Sri is my old old friend from the primary school days (see .. we re really old now, but seriously Sri looks younger than her age). She and her sis from Pondok Craft had organized a one day class in Jitra on how to make a bag. I was thrilled and excited of course since my current interest is now all about sewing ! Its about time my skill in sewing buttons be upgraded and expanded.

I was also feeling nervous because until that particular day, it had been a very very very very long time since I last laid my hand on a sewing machine (literally, seriously). In other words I had never used a sewing machine.

I had been to Pondok Craft in Seberang Jaya on its opening day and I must say I was very impressed with the shop .... the fabrics are awesome with a few rows of beautiful American Cotton fabrics to choose from ...! They're really careful with the quality of the fabrics they sell and I also love the choice of patterns and the colors they have.

Ahh....

Ok , back to the story.

I was the first to be in the class and there were 5 Bernina sewing machines on the two tables . So you see, Bernina, is one of the branded sewing machines in the market. When you use a Bernina, especially the high end ones, it means you have arrived ! And those crazy quilters .. they would at least use the Bernina Aurora which can cost about RM7,000-00. The top notch of the brand can be traded with a new Kancil car. They also have the low range set which is Bernette, but Bernette, according to those hard cores, is not the real Bernina, as the story goes they are made in Thailand and not Switzerland.

So it's confirmed that I am crazy to dream using a Bernina Aurora or Activa (the mid range version) when the one I can afford is only a Bernette and another brand Janome. 

There were about 6 of us in the class including two male participants who came with their wife and I'm telling you .. those men, they really know how to sew !!! Not sure if I should post their photos here ... never mind .. just take my words for it. They are good.

This is Sri my good friend who helped me a lot and who must have sworn she should have charged me more than the others

Oh I do want to tell everything in details but it ll be so long winded and I think I ll just sum up everything in point forms:-

. I had caused problems with the machine (they let me use the Bernette). I cant blame the machines because everybody else was doing fine with theirs. Or maybe because its Bernette, but then another Bernette was fine too ... hmmmm .. such a mystery !

. I also cost them more threads than the others because I kept on making mistakes, sewing on one side when I should have sewed the other side ...

. The machine wont listen to me. ! When I wanted to go straight it would sway the other way. Another mystery to me and the teachers too.

. Everybody was already packing their bags to go home and mine was still not finished.

. The teacher had to finish it for me ... because they cant afford to wait for me .. it ll be dark if they let me do it

The Guru Besar who was fated to put up with me

And finally .... after all the trouble and sweat ( to the teachers as well) , ladies ...... heresssss 's (drum role) my bag ! :-

I love love love the bag ... it doesnt matter that I cheated when making it .. its still my bag !!! Yeahh !


All the credits must go to Sri and her Sister for being so patient with me. I would have been sent out of the class had it been other teachers !


I used the bag right away the next day and you know what ...

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the handle came off ....


tsk .... me and my so called hand-made bag ! A typical me and my hand things ... just like everything I lay my hands on


But hey all that does not put me off ...... I am more than ready for another adventure with the PondokCraft team for their next class ....

psss ..... I had a feeling they might want me to find and bring my own machine the next time and so thats why I bought the Bernette.

:-)