As far back as I can remember there has been a sewing machine in our home. My grandmother  and my mother both sewed all their own  and family's clothes and furnishings.  I remember as a little child sitting next to my mum  chatting away, with the sewing machine whirring and her turning a piece of cloth into a pretty dress that I was so proud to wear. I got my first seining machine on my sixteenth birthday and have sewn ever since.  Back in the day  there was no such thing as 'ready made' curtains so we made our own curtains. These days you can buy a variety of curtains ready made. Sometimes you are lucky and they are the perfect size but generally they need to be taken up to fit exactly. Sewing machines have also  moved on  and I use what is called a Blind Hemmer Machine to do curtains and as the name suggests, you can barely see the hem stiches giving them a professional finish.