Vacation Day 4

This vacation has been more fun staying-at-home than I could have imagined, even with hot, sticky weather. That has kept me from working on cabinets and tables out in the garage but it has gotten me sewing and working on sewing machines. Day 4 of my vacation found me tackling a wiring job for a Singer 15-90 that came to me with wire nuts as connectors. That's not necessarily bad but they should not be exposed so I decided to connect the ends with solder and shrink tubing. It turned out great after cleaning up:

Singer 15-90 with great decals on bed

but to solder without someone helping me to hold those tiny wires while I used the soldering tool was a bit difficult. Then I remembered something I could use called "Helping Hands" designed to be an extra pair of hands. During our errand running, we stopped at Harbor Freight and managed to find this little gizmo for only $5:

Helping Hands (it's actually called that!)

I set it up with an example of how it can be used for the photo shoot but I haven't actually used it yet. I can't wait to try it out! If this is set up on the wood board I used for soldering it will truly leave my hands free to hold the rosin and soldering tool which get very hot.

The little Singer 99 repaint has been sitting on the floor of my sun room and is just begging to be finished up. There was a nice case in the garage I wanted to use but upon further inspection I could smell it across the room: mildew! The covering got stripped off and the wood box was scrubbed up in the utility sink since most of the surface was left with dried glue. The bottom of the case had those black spots of mildew so I even applied household bleach and did it come out clean! Here it is with the repainted body in the base:

Singer 99 repainted with hammered finish in gold

This looks so nice I almost don't want to paint it but I can see this wood wasn't meant as a final finish so black paint will give it a great end result. See the lid behind it in the photo above? That's how the original looks and it's not in bad shape so now I have to decide how badly I want to strip all of it off. Please tell me it will be worth the effort!

As for actually sewing, I came across this pattern at a garage sale:

and I think I might just have to make this groovy dress. My sisters and I wore these little numbers in the 60's and here we are, now in our 60's and they are back in style. It really would be cute but I have to decide if I would also look cute wearing it or if it would look like I just dragged it out of the back of my closet. It's a fine line so I think I'll have to consult with my fashionista daughter, Kelly, who can dress others to perfection so will be able to suggest the right fabric, too. When did this reversal of roles happen? Well, I'm glad I have a fashion consultant in the family.