New Toys for My Sewing Machine

I have been having a diffcult time seeing the markings on my sewing machine as I sew and I felt like I did not have enough light. I could not seem to aim the light I have attached to my sewing table to be effective for me. Today we stopped at Hancock's after church, something we do often. Anyway, I noticed a magnifier and a light I could attach to the machine.

The above picture shows the packaging from the light I bought. It is called a Mighty Bright Xtra Flex Super L.E.D. Craft Light. It was on sale which I did not realize until I was purchasing it. That was a pleasant surprise. I was able to attach the clamp to the carry handle of my sewing machine and use the flex arm to aim it right where I need it.
Then I also got the Magnistitch Sewing & Craft Magnifier, which was also on sale. Hooray!! I am beginning to get the aging eyes and have trouble seeing the small stuff comfortably. The picture shows how it should be attached to the sewing machine. I thought this should work pretty good. My husband was surprised I needed a magnifier. Probably forgot I am getting older too since he says I keep him young.
This picture shows the finished set up. A side note to my daughter, yes the lamp is purple. For those who don't know, purple is her favorite color. Or at least it was. I have done some sewing today with the new set up. I found it takes getting used to. But the light definitely helped and I could see better just where I need to sew with the magnifier. One thing though, it sure makes a 5/8" seam look big. I had to keep double checking to make I was not accidently making a bigger seam allowance.

I am hoping this will help to take away some of the frustration I had been having with not seeing as clearly as I would like while sewing. The magnifier will also help tremendously when I need to rip out a seam, which I do now and then. That is especially hard when sewing on dark fabric.

Since McCall's patterns were on sale at 99 cents each, I browsed through the pattern books and found one for myself and two to make things for my granddaughter. I got myself a blouse pattern. No fabric yet. The two for my granddaughter are kind of Bohemian style, or I can probably make it Bohemian style with the fabric choices. So if my daughter-in-love is reading this, I need updated chest and waist measurements for our granddaughter. Hint, hint. I want to make sure I make the correct size so she can wear it right away or grow into it later. I definitely don't want to make it too small.