Did she ever begin?

The short answer is yes. I did start sewing my napkins last night. This is my fabric. Pretty, no?

How did it go?
Sat down to la machine at 8pm and began sewing.
8:15- refill bobbin, rethread machine.
8:20- walk into kitchen to help Abu with his cupcakes.
8:30- needle stuck in housing. Tear machine completely apart. Realize that somehow the flippers holding the bobbin housing in place had gotten moved- see photo. (Don’t ask me, I didn’t do this.) Put machine parts back together again.

8:38- walk into kitchen to help Abu with his cupcakes.
8:45- start sewing.
9:00- REFILL BOBBIN. The second time, I figured out what I had been doing wrong initially and managed to fill the entire bobbin, therefore expecting to be able to cruise through the remaining four napkins. Remember, I started with six.
9:10- rethread machine.
9:15 rethread machine.
9:15:22- quit before I throw machine through dining room window.
9:15:35- walk into kitchen to help Abu with his cupcakes.

Do you see a pattern? I mean, come-on, it’s freakin’ napkins! How hard can this be?

As to the cupcakes. They turned out delicious. The recipe is from the world famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC (yes, of Sex and the City fame). Abu had made them, strictly according to directions, the other day as a test run. He’s serving them tonight to his book group, and wanted to make sure they were edible. Abu is a fantabulous cook, but a novice to baking. This was only his third foray into confection sweetness. When he made them on Saturday night, they were, quite honestly, not that great. The recipe calls for them to bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I told him that’s way too long for cupcakes, try 15. But no, he doesn’t listen to me. They also said to remove from oven and let sit in pans for 15 minutes before removing. Once again, they are basically cooking that entire time. The first round was dry, dry, dry.

This time, he baked them for 12 minutes, let them sit for 5, and then cooled on wire rack. Perfection! He also sifted the flour, which just made them even lighter and fluffier. Finally, when he made the frosting, instead of a buttercream version, he made it with cream cheese and put a couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder in. Seriously, these are now fantastic cupcakes. Which, of course, made me wonder- what’s the deal with Magnolia Bakery? Read more here and here.

I realize I have not yet addressed here what I’m going to do about my sewing machine problems. Today I will get in touch with Ms. D and see if she can help me figure out what I was doing wrong. I have to assume it’s something as simple as threading incorrectly. If only I could find the manual to la machine! Perhaps buried in a drawer in the kitchen?