It was a great sewing machine acquisition weekend with a Singer 185J on Friday evening, Franklin treadle, Bernina 807, Singer 401A, and a Kenmore 158-321 all on Saturday at neighborhood garage sales. But I had arranged to pick up a Singer 301 in a cabinet on Sunday evening and what should have been a real event was almost a let-down after the ringers I had gotten in just the two previous days. I put the address in my GPS and got underway. No, did not even get out of the driveway because my GPS didn't recognize the address. I ran back in the house to find the address on my computer and to print out the directions thinking "What's wrong with this GPS?" Well, there ended up being a bit more driving than necessary trying to find the right roads but I got there 15 minutes late to find it was a new street and subdivision. The owners commented that it happens frequently since they are new. But there, in the garage, was the Singer 301A looking absolutely pristine.:
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| Singer 301A: ain't she sweet? |
There was a bag of "stuff" that included a box of accessories (mostly feet) and a red cased buttonhole attachment. Yea!
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| All those lovely feet |
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| Buttonhole attachment |
The cabinet was pale yellow and in excellent shape so it goes right into my car, I remember to pay them, and take off. Going home is always much quicker so I get this jem into my house (no temporary storage in the garage for this one!) in a prime place in the living room. As I look through everything I notice there are no bobbins. This must be an oversight so I email the sellers and ask if there were other supplies like bobbins. They get back to his mom and she finds a paper manual, another lightbulb, and one bobbin. She says she only had two bobbins. WHAT? How can you sew on a machine since 1955 and only have two bobbins? They offer to send the manual, lightbulb, and lone bobbin but I tell them not to send the lightbulb because it is a common one and would be too much fuss/breakage to deal with. I go ahead and order a dozen bobbins from Cindy Peters at Stitches-In-Time because she's an independent business woman, nice to deal with, and checks her products over for quality so has good supplies. As I look further at this lovely sewing machine, a real classic, I see it has the "cradle" under the machine as it fits into the cabinet. I have only heard about the cradle so am fascinated to see one since my past Singer 301's were portables.
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| Cradle seen as straps underneath |
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| Cradle from the side |
It is a metal strapping device that helps the machine lock into the cabinet and is pretty slick! I'm going to have fun working on a new dress with this sewing machine just to see how she stitches (perfect, of course). This is my third Singer 301A but the most perfect. Life is sweet in Sewing Machine Mavin's life.
2 comments:
The cradle is a revolutionary design! I wonder how many sewists actually take the 301 out of the table and use it elsewhere.
I suspect any and all that came in the suitcase style carrier would have been used on a table top. I think a sewing machine that has a handle on top seems a bit silly in a cabinet, especially when they are lightweight (no need to use handle to pull it up).
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