Bird's Eye View

I hate to sound ungrateful or even picky, but when I find an upgrade to a favorite sometimes I just have to abandon an old favorite. This is a story of going from best to excellent, as if that was possible!

I have loved my Singer 66 Red Eye, in excellent condition but also such a nice stitcher:

Singer 66 Red Eye

I had it in a standard treadle cabinet and then in a drawing room cabinet that was quite ornate:

Drawing Room Cabinet

I wrote about this beauty only a year ago in Easy Peasy and have enjoyed showing everyone how it rises up on a lift. It's an engineering marvel! I have enjoyed sewing on it and have made items for the Treadleon exchanges so why would I ever want to let it go? Here's what came home with me only yesterday:

Drawing Room Cabinet in Bird's Eye Maple

You could say it was plain or even simple compared to the ornate details on the previous cabinet but it's bird's eye maple! In excellent condition,the previous owner was downsizing and letting some of their precious antiques go and I was there to snatch it up. It's deer hunting season here in Minnesota so my husband had the Jeep I use for hauling and her husband was out hunting so she was missing the muscle we both needed to get this thing in the back of my vehicle: she held it about ten days for me! It was love at first sight:

Singer 66 Red Eye in maple cabinet

My previous Red Eye was in terrific shape but this one was nearly flawless. I even wondered if it was a repaint but no, there;s a bit of wear on the back left corner. It absolutely spins with a touch on the hand wheel. Just like the first drawing room cabinet, the mechanism is fully enclosed:

Treadle wheel behind a door

and the leather belt was in good condition even if it was joined with black electrical tape: it works! So how did I get this into my house? I did have to puzzle this one out and finally called Ellie who has strong men sitting around her house. She came right over with two men in tow and she talked them into helping me put summer outdoor furniture up into the garage attic and then trade out the drawing room cabinets. That was some muscle! I'm so grateful for their willingness to help me even when it was last minute.

Open and ready to sew

I didn't even clean it up with my usual furniture cleaner and polish yet but just had to get it all into place. What a beauty: now I will need to get sewing on it. Yes, it came with a nice set of back clamping feet that are also pristine but not in a puzzle box, just in the drawer. I might have to rectify that. What happened to the other drawing room cabinet? It's going to grace the home of someone else as it's now up for sale. If you are in the Twin Cities, come and see it, perhaps to buy, but let me give you fair warning: it will be hard to resist.