Sew what?

My mom gave me her old Singer sewing machine. She recently had it tuned up and the guy who fixed it said it was a good machine. I'm going to bring it to my studio this weekend and if I have enough time I'll play around with it a little bit . I don't know how to use it yet, but it came with a book written during a time period when apparently the idea of a man using a sewing machine was inconceivable.

"A wonderful world of color and design is open to the woman who sews."

The book seems like it will be helpful as far as figuring out the various parts and functions of the machine, as well as learning proper sewing techniques. One of the projects that I'm currently working on will require lots of sewing, so I hope I get the hang of it pretty quickly. If this works out, it could open up a whole lot of options for making work that avoids the typical weight and storage issues of most sculpture. Either way, I figure it's a useful skill to have.