It's Still Raining Men

Readers of my blog know about my sales report for sewing machines to men who are not at all afraid to tinker with these old sewing machines and don't mind if they are over 30 pounds of metal. The White in a zebra striped case was reported upon in a previous post when  man and his "teacher" came to try it out and claimed it was more than good enough to learn on. Next up I have two men who are interested in a Singer 237:

Singer 237

This is a very basic sewing machine and it's possibly the same model my sister Sue has. Or maybe she has a Singer 457? Mike has been calling and emailing all week about the "Learn to Sew" ad I have on Craigslist and just knows the 237 will work for his needs. Now so does Jon, right on the heels of Mike. I let Jon know there is someone ahead of him but maybe he would like the Singer 328K, a very good sewing machine that is strong and quite serviceable:

Singer 328K in gray

Jon is fine with either one so now I can get back to Mike and tell him he better hurry or he might not get the 237 (but I think he will like the 328, too). Decisions need to be made.

When Mike gets here, he's all excited to see this sewing machine and tells me his story about what he is sewing and why he needs a zigzag capable machine. Their family does all kinds of crafts and they already have a Jukki industrial machine and mom has a good machine, too. But Mike makes book covers for the kids at church and wants to put their name on the cover in an embroidery style zigzag. The fabric is fairly stiff but as he sits down to sew he can see how easily it feeds and how straight the edges of the zigzag turn out. He is sold! In our conversation I tell him that if he wants a good zigzag at minimal cost I have a Hamilton that is so wonderful....maybe he wants to try that one out? No, he really wants the Singer 237 but could he see what else I have? Here is the dilemma: do I let anyone see what a jungle it is downstairs? In what condition have I left it? Is there even room to try any of them out? It's a chance I take and Mike seems like a really nice guy, so down we go into my workroom and storage central. There are some of my blog readers who have been there and know only too well the tight quarters I work in. Mike is delighted and wants an instant education: he's an engineer by trade so finds all of this quite facinating! We take a look at the Hamilton and hear it run:

Hamilton J-A/3

It just has a different sound and feel plus it makes a wonderful zigzag. Now Mike is conflicted but we go on to look at Singers 403, 401, and 15's. As can be expected, Mike loves them all, but is going to go through with buying the Singer 237. But he has two teenage daughters who are afraid of the Jukki so maybe one of the other machines would work for them? Mike and I agree I will be hearing from him again because he has caught the vintage sewing machine bug.

Just in case you are reading this Mike, I checked my inventory and I do have another Singer 401A, my all-time favorite after the Viking 1100, Brother Select-o-Matic, Kenmore 158-18130, Singer 99 handcrank, Pfaff 1222, various sergers...who can play favorites? I love them all in their own way.