Monday, September 10, 2018

Super Select-O-Matic Twins

I have written ad nauseam about the Brother Select-O-Matics (just keep clicking if you are bored with me) but I have now come across two Super Select-O-Matics. As you can guess, they are super, too. What makes them super? My hunch is when they made the newer models they had to call them something so they add words or numbers onto them to indicate new features. The Supers' are a bit more intuitive, but not much, and I think they still need a manual A scanned copy was found as well as a nice article about this model (even the same color scheme) in The herd is growing again! by Stitchified. Once you have used the first iteration of the Select-O-Matics, the newer ones do not seem to be a great improvement and I think I like the looks of the original one better anyway. But like all things, the newer models are usually bigger and with more features:
Cream and blue Super Select-O-Matic

Okay, just a bit bigger but the functions are exactly the same. They still have the fun two tone look of an older car, in cream and blue or pink and teal. They are so smooth, quiet, and  understated. Everyone should have a sewing machine this nice.
Stitch selection: I got crazy with thread while making this one up!

My first one was given to me and I kept it quite awhile. It was pretty beaten up but that was part of its charm, a history I could only imagine! It also came with about fifty bobbins, most with a dot of pink on the outside: nail polish? Someone wanted to keep theirs identified from all of the rest, I guess.  It lived in a portable case, not a great idea for a machine this heavy, so when I found another one in pristine condition, I found a way to add another cabinet into my sewing room. The first one now lives in South Dakota, I'm proud to say, as I wrote about in  Letting Go. Hope Linda continues to enjoy sewing on that little girl.

So now I have several of this model, some in two-tone pink and teal, some in aqua, some are Super and one has no model number at all. Portable, in tables or cabinets, they are all a sweet sewing experience and I'm all about the experience! The cream and blue model came in a table that I was ready to get rid of  but once I got it home and looked at it carefully I could see it was decent and maybe could be fixed up a bit. I got out the electric sander and went to work on it, taking it down to the wood surface on the open top, closed top, drawer fronts, and the rest of the front.
Table sanded

I could leave the sides and back so only had to use Howards Restore-a-Finish on those parts. I stained it with walnut and then red mahogany with a final 2 coats of water based polyurethane in satin and semigloss. I'm pleased with the way it turned out:
Nice edition of the mid-century modern look

Rather than returning the same Brother Super Select-O-Matic, I think I'm going to put the teal and pink model in this table. It seems to make a better statement? Well, I'm going to have to see if the cords all fit first. I'm also working on getting the right belt and working out the vibration and extra noise.
Super Select-O-Matic in pink and teal
Sorry for the long delay between posts but I've been sewing up a storm with the deadline coming for the three craft shows I've signed up for. So far I have about 80 new hot mitts with about 40 left to sew but they are all cut and sandwiched, stacked and ready for the industrial. Yesterday I took them out to the garage and sewed on the Singer 78, a great walking foot model. It was nice for a change and it seemed the process went faster than the Reliable Barracuda but I just can't keep something that large in my house and the Singer 78 has to leave the garage this year. Sigh.If only I lived in a warmer climate? No, this is keeping me from hording and someone else will love this industrial. Could it be you?
Singer 78 industrial walking foot

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