When You Are Popular

It seems I have some popular sewing machines. This kind of thing seems to defy logic. Why are the Featherweight sewing machines, those Singer 221's, so sought after? They have their good points (lightweight, excellent stitch) but other sewing machines have these qualities, too. They are just popular! This takes me back to high school when certain classmates were seen as being the ones you wanted to be around: they were popular. Were they nicer than others, smarter, richer, physically more appealing? Well, yes, usually it was some of those assets. The same can be said for sewing machines: easier to use, pricey, and can do a few things very well. But it also boils down to a hidden factor that is unpredictable: everyone else wants them, too. So I have some popular sewing machines that I could sell over and over again.

One of my popular sewing machines is the Brother Select-O-Matic. I'm still getting calls about it! There are searches that bring up closed ads from Craigslist, Ad Hunt'r is one, so it is possible to get calls from interested parties months after your ad has closed. That means I can get emails from around the country asking if I would ship a sewing machine. No. But there are still interested parties in that gem of a sewing machine:

Brother Select-o-Matic as two tone

and in teal

Next up in popularity are vintage Berninas and there aren't any bad models, it seems. Right now I have three listed locally: 700, 807, and 1001. They are all very different from each other and manufactured decades apart but are beautiful stitchers, not as heavy as some, with a reputation for excellence:

Bernina 700: straight and zigzag stitches

Bernina 807 Minimatic: six stitches 

Bernina 1001: so many, many stitches!

 For my money, I would choose the 1001 because of the stretch and decorative stitches but I'm selling, not hording. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Update on the recipe card tea towels: my daughters got theirs for Christmas and loved them. It took a moment for them to realize it wasn't just a random recipe on a towel (oh, Mom is so weird) but their grandma's recipe card on their very own towel "that I'm never going to wash!"

Kelly and Alison with their towels

 I also just received two more of the printed recipes of my aunt Marcella's that I'm going to hem and send one to my youngest sister, Mindy, and then have one for myself. Mindy, if you are reading this, expect yours in the mail next week. Now I should write a letter to my Aunt Marcella and tell her about her recipe card popularity; I hope she will get a big kick out of it. You see, it's all about popularity.