Sew Wistful

I learnt to sew mainly from my mother (may Allah illuminate her grave and grant her the highest abode in Jannah) when I was nine or ten years old. By the time I was twelve, we rarely bought any of our clothes or soft furnishings. On an old re-conditioned Brother industrial machine, similar to this one, Amma and I made everything we needed, including curtains for the entire house which are still hanging over 20 years on, Masha-Allah.

I've stopped making home furnishings for many years, but now I've got the urge to sew again, I was thinking about some of the gorgeous quilting fabric that I've been buying and thinking how nice it would be to have a nice pair of cotton pillowcases in one of my favourite Free Spirit fabrics which I managed to get quite cheaply on ebay. It's a lovely range of fabric that has a soft silky feel.

I was about to share a quick how-to for making pillowcases here, when I stumbled upon an excellent tutorial at Alternative Windows, a really good site with easy to follow instructions for making all kinds of home furnishings. Lots of practical ideas for making bedding, curtains, blinds, cushions and trimmings masha-Allah.

Makes me want to make all kinds of things, with Allah's help. At the moment though I have a sad little Toyota that jams up regularly, and simply doesn't go as fast as that old industrial one. (Oh, fond memories of how it could sew through several thicknesses of fabric - and even my finger once).
Should I indulge myself with a new machine?