Thankfulness

Coming out of the Thanksgiving week (that's right, a whole week of thankfulness), I ended this time by selling three sewing machines in one day. Maybe that is a record for me, I'm not sure. It seems as the weather gets colder my sales are going up so I'm thinking everyone starts to prepare to stay indoors for this long winter we have in Minnesota. I'm more than happy to provide sewing machines to help fill that time in a productive way.

It started with Sara, a long arm quilter by trade, who got in touch with me a week or two ago about my White embossed model 31 sewing machine. We had left the texting conversation a bit up in the air so when she wrote back that she was ready to pick it up I was a bit confused until I figured out she was serious this time and not just testing the water. But she couldn't come just yet because I had ordered a new hand wheel to replace the deeply pitted with large holes hand wheel! As it turns out, the hand wheel package was out for delivery and would arrive in just a few hours. It arrived alright and fit onto the main shaft but could not be seated as close to the sewing machine as the original. After some maneuvers I got it to fit closer and then just had to move the motor pulley out to engage the wheel. I wrote all of this to Sara and she was willing to buy it anyway and use the original wheel yet pay for the second wheel to use on other model 31's.

White model 31: look at the hand wheel for holes!

The dust hadn't even settled on that sewing machine when I got a call from someone else who wanted to buy the Kenmore 16, a beautiful sewing machine that was my first Goodwill Online auction purchase. I love, love, love that sewing machine, in pristine condition with a full set of cams and accessories including a buttonholer. The only drawback was her heft: she had to weigh over forty pounds so even though she came in a portable case, she was far from portable. But this drawback was okay because the buyer had a cabinet she was looking to fill so measurements were made and she was going to fit. I remember bringing this baby home only to find out it must have sat unused for several decades because the cam mechanism and the zigzag motion were not moving. At all. Many weeks of going back again and again to try and figure she out, I found the ideal solution: heat from a hair blower and Tri-flow oil. After such a treatment she started to slowly move and eventually became fully functioning. I had never used cams before and these were double sided so I had much fun playing around. She was on the market several times and finally someone looked at her and said "she's mine!"

Kenmore 16

A third call came from Ken who was coming to pick up his Singer 201 that he looked at last week. I had to check out the wiring and make sure I had what it needed. As it turned out, the Singer 15 that he didn't take was the one who needed the new plug and some wiring work. I needed a new set of needleplate and slide but I just used the one from my own 201 for Ken's and I'll get the new one. Man, are they pricey! The slide plate for a Singer 66/99 is about $7 but the same for a 201 is $22. Ken showed up an hour earlier but we were home and waiting for the pork chops to become a bit more tender so this was all good. We heard more about Ken and his hobbies and about his own children. Yup, I meet the nicest people in this business!

Singer 201 for Ken

He got a great deal because it was not in good cosmetic shape so when we plugged it in for a final test and it just purred, Ken said "Yeah, it's okay that it's not pristine because now I won't worry about keeping it in good shape." There is a right sewing machine for everyone and the three people I sold sewing machines to today have just proven that. Yeah.