When you are new in an interest, hobby, or obsession, those who are farther down the road seem a bit awesome. They are now where you want to be and how can you get there the fastest way possible you might be asking yourself. I was in that place only a few years ago and marveled at how much they knew, how generous and patient they were with all of my questions, and how glamorous their lives seemed to be. Wow...to have all of those sewing machines to play with! That must be heaven! And now I know better.
This weekend I spent many hours in my garage, getting cabinets ready for sewing machines that are languishing right now. Yup, it's the Sewing Machine Garage Sale again. I had full cabinets to get ready but also quite a few that only needed tops refinished so that was my big goal this weekend. Friday night I stripped off the old finish, Saturday found me sanding, preconditioning the wood, and staining over four hours. Then on Sunday morning at 7 am I put on the first coat of water-based polyurethane, either semi-gloss or satin, depending on the rest of the table. After church I gave them all a light sanding, reattached the tops to their respective tables, and applied coat two:
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| Looking towards the back of the garage |
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| Looking towards the front of the garage |
See what I mean? It's very unglamorous. It's hours and hours of slow work and sore muscles. Between coats two and three I did get to mow the lawn (it's been so rainy I was actually
glad to find a time to mow), have dinner and a Dairy Queen (this was my husband's idea!).
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| All done with their third coat on |
I'm also working on a bentwood case for a Singer 201 that is getting sold next weekend but I'll have to write a separate post about that one. So all of this took my entire weekend! I never even went off our property all day Saturday but worked on these babies. And now they are done. So am I. It will be great to get machines back in them and work at getting them in a final state for sale. I can't leave everything to the end so some will get finished now and marked as ready as I see what else I'll have time for.
Big news flash! I'm going to the River Rats TOGA in September! I'm so excited because I thought I was going to have to pass this one up (again) due to no-room-at-the-inn but a lovely woman volunteered to share her large motor home with two of us and I responded fast enough to get in. We have all sent emails back and forth and I can't wait to go now and meet these nice people and enjoy the weekend. So what is a TOGA? It's a Treadle On Gathering and Academy, a weekend where those who love people powered sewing machines, and just sewing machines in general, gather to exchange ideas, tips, and general fun. After the TOGA in the middle of the month, I'll get ready for the big garage sale at the end of September so I better get planning. No, I better rest up!
4 comments:
The cabinets you refinished look great! I haven't sold off any sewing machines lately. But if I do I'll consider refinishing part of the cabinet. Sadly, sewing machines in my area are not a valued commodity. I don't know if the time and energy spent on refinishing a cabinet will be appreciated. Has refinishing cabinets helped with the sale of your sewing machines? I'm in the process of stripping a colonial dresser I purchased at a thrift store for $20. I'm staining it black and I plan to use it as a buffet in my dining room. I started with a chemical stripper, sanded it down yesterday and I'm off to buy stain today. It was more work than I thought it would be. I bought a palm sander but couldn't use that on all the curved parts.
I consider a refinished cabinet or table "added value" but doubt it actually sells them. For me, it's a point-of-pride to sell something that is in good condition and something I would gladly have in my own home. But, like you said, it's a lot of work!
I'll be pleased to meet you...
HH
Helen, you are one of the main reasons I'll be going! It will be nice to finally meet you.
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