Far Afield

As much fun as I have in tracking down desirable sewing machines, I try not to travel too far for them. Over the years I have learned if you just wait it out another one comes along and it's closer to home and usually a better price. And then there are exceptions.

Even though I missed out on a Singer 12 treadle, the seller said she had a really nice Singer 15-91 with clear decals and it was a Centennial, born in 1951, the year Singer celebrated 100 years of business. The photos looked good and I said it was a GO but then didn't hear anything else. Win some, lose some, I said to my husband. In the meantime I found a Bernina Activa 145S on Craigslist but it was a bit too far away. Oh, just give it a try, I tell myself, so I emailed and asked if she came up to the Twin Cities. She doesn't but we did agree on meeting closer to me and still not far for her. Traffic was heavy and it was raining part of the way but we finally met up at Perkins where she rolled her baby in to keep it out of the rain:

Bernina carrying case

I said baby because the 145 is a 3/4 sized sewing machine, just a little whipper-snapper but comes with all of the features we have come to expect with higher end sewing machines: needle up, needle threader, LDC readout, mirror image (so blind hem can be left or right), etc. Oh, this is going to be fun!

Bernina Activa 145S

As with so many sewing machines, the accessories are part of the draw, too, and in true Bernina fashion, this one had a nifty storage box that fit on the back of the machine for easy transport and storage:

Bernina accessory box snapped into place

and then opened up to hold the extra presser feet, bobbins, needles, oil, etc.

So many goodies in this accessory box!

There's plenty of room for more feet that I'm sure Bernina would love to sell me but, honestly, they are worth it! With fifty different stitches there is plenty to keep me busy just testing them out. But there is more: an extension table AND a large Sew Steady plexiglass table that is perfect to support the weight of large projects, such as a quilt. But I'm still not done trying things out because there is a knee bar in the bag that attaches to the front of the sewing machine so when you press against it the presser foot lifts: look ma, no hands! I have to admit this one might be hanging around for awhile but we shall see.

Now back to the Singer 15-91 Centennial: I did get an email back almost a week later saying if I was still interested...so we take a 20 minute trip to pick her up:

Singer 15-91 Centennial

I haven't even cleaned her up yet but just look at those decals:

Singer 15-91 Centennial as a bird's eye view

She's going to have to wait, though, because the wiring is brittle and I'm going to have to work on that. It came in a painted table that had seen better days so I plan on using one of my wooden boxes. Besides, she's going to look so good she might just be on display.

So there are exceptions to traveling too far but I hope I don't get into the habit of this. Here's a bit of a confession: so there's this sewing machine over two hours away and we are looking to see if we can make the trip on Saturday. I tell myself I have so many other things to do but maybe a nice ride on the open road would be good for my car as well as me? There are so many excuses and so many beautiful sewing machines!