Not just a bookend...

Remember the beautiful blue sewing machine that I got for ten bucks at the thrift shop?  The one that I couldn't get to work, and I was afraid would become a(nother) funky, retro-looking bookend? Well, somewhere in the midst of all of our packing I schlepped it in to the wonderful folks at the Des Moines Sewing Machine Company (Who in the world dreamed up that clever name?) and they were able to wiggle some metal thingies around and pop them into place, and bam!  She ran like a top.  Except that at the time,  we didn't actually check which direction she was running in.  Since it was a freebie (Golly, I love freebies!) the nice man made the stuck part unstuck and plugged the machine in.  She whirred, I purred, I offered to pay, he deferred, and we left.  When I got around to actually carving out an hour to sit down and put the machine through her paces late one night this week, I was gobsmacked.  She sews backward.  Exclusively.  The reverse button is well and truly jammed in, so I sewed an entire tote bag in reverse.  (Because I was far too lazy to go downstairs and bring up The Green Machine, or to figure out the tension issue I've been having with Old Faithful.  Much simpler to crank out a Backward Bag!)  I just thought you ought to know...