Stumbled Upon

Every weekend brings another adventure, it seems. I was all ready to go to a local shop after work and try out a Viking that was only $15 because it was missing the power cord. I had the cord at home but it was a Viking model number that I wasn't very excited about so there was no rush. Before I left home I checked the local Craigslist ads and saw a Singer 401A in what appeared to be an excellent cabinet for a fair price. It had been listed two weeks ago! How did I miss that? I set up an appointment to stop on my way home from work and the Viking was forgotten (opposite end of my journey).

The Singer 401A was in great shape, gently used, but the dials for the stitches A-J and K-S were not moving. Hummmm. Would oil and a hair dryer take care of that? I hoped so but offered less and they were only too happy to get that cabinet out of their garage and into my car.

On the way home, not wanting to wait too long in traffic, I took a back way and ran into several garage sales. I bought some very nice rubber feet to use on portables and caps to use on cabinet legs. They are fairly pricey when paying full price but were only twenty cents for each package at this sale. As I got closer to home I found a garage sale with a cute little old Simplicity Babylock SL800 serger. It's a simple (to live up to the name?) one needle, three thread serger but can do a couple different stitches:

Simplicity Babylock SL800 serger

It did sew but didn't cut and I broke the needle while trying to get it to work. Maybe guilt made me buy it but it was "for a song" so I could hardly resist. Once I got it home and started to figure it out, I decided I needed a manual, DC x 1 needles, upper and lower cutting blades, and the stitch finger I broke. Woe, that all came to $37 so my cheap serger was no longer cheap. Yet these older models are such tanks that it's hard to say no when there are no electronics to go bad and they hardly wear out, just need to have some parts updated. I hope this isn't a mistake.

I'm getting ready for the upcoming garage sale at the end of September where I'm going to aggressively sell those cabinet models so I can get my car into the garage for the winter. That means there will be some great deals! In preparation for this event, I'm refinishing cabinets since the weather is cooperating even when my body is not. It's hard work to strip, sand, stain, and varnish/polyurethane so many pieces. Right now there's a Singer 99 in a Combination Table 301 all ready for the final water based polyurethane:

 a Queen Anne cabinet  number 40 for a Singer 15:

top lid for a Kenmore cabinet in cherry with a built in chair, and the top sections of a Necchi that was painted several times in hopes of covering the poor condition of the wood. I only stripped that one and hope to give it a sanding of it's life! All of this leaves my back tired and my hands sore but I do get to rest up between these jobs since they take several days and coats.The worst part is now done and the coats of polyurethane are fairly simple, just putzy when I need to sand between coats. But the end results are pretty spectacular!

Stay tuned to see the finished pieces and the whole garage sale extravaganza!