Friends

Many times I have enjoyed the generosity of friends and this post is about one of them. Deb and I met when she came to a sewing machine class I taught at a community center. Full of enthusiasm and patience, she brought her teenage daughter along, too, so they could sew together. Sometimes teenage daughters aren't as loving as they should be but Deb was wonderful, not saying too much and stepping back when needed. By the end of class her daughter was laughing and enjoying her new skills: maybe mom wasn't so dumb after all! Deb and I kept in touch a bit but when I got an email from her this spring I was blown away: she had several sewing machines she wanted to give away and would I like them? Of course I would so we arranged a time, put on masks and gloves, and unloaded her trunk:

Portable Models

Fleetwood Deluxe in table

I've been working on them and by now they all in working order and ready for sale. First up is the Brother with red trim:

Brother VX-1010

I've had a few like this before so all it needed was a cleaning and adjustment. It came without the storage compartment but I had one that almost fit. I could finagle it into place but it needed a rubber band to hold it there; not ideal but it worked. It's a good starter sewing machine.

Next up is a Singer 538. I kept her hidden because I knew there was going to be a bit of trouble with this one and I was right: upon turning the handwheel I could hear a crunch. That's never a good sign so I opened it up to find out two of four gears just fell apart. I ordered a new set, replaced another one, and now just need to settle in and get that job done. Another nice beginner's sewing machine.

The Riccar was another good machine that only needed some cleaning up:

Riccar RZ-208B

Another good strong sewing machine with straight and zigzag stitches. I have a couple men in mind for this one.

Then there is a blue Universal, another good machine that needs to be babied a bit: even after many adjustments you still need to give the beginning stitches an encouragement by moving the handwheel to get going:

Universal

This one went out as a loner while their machine was in the shop and we were all frantically sewing masks. It was returned, never needing to be used after all. All in all, a clean machine with a good variety of stitches.

I'm saving my joy for the Kenmore 385-1950280, a machine I was familiar with since I had one years ago. The first one needed a foot control and it was a very different type so was expensive. I got it anyway only to discover there was another bigger problem with the machine so it went to parts. When Deb brought this one and apologized for the missing foot control I told her I was pretty sure I already had one. Isn't it amazing how we recall our failures with such clarity? Sure enough, same model, still had that foot control set and she was up and humming:

Kenmore 385-1950280

And finally, the Fleetwood Deluxe, a table model that was just too swanky to resist. After a cleaning and adjustment, the table needed refreshing and that's when I noticed the cord set was full of exposed wires.  After several attempts to install a safer knee control, it's finally done:

Fleetwood

Stradivario cabinet

One of the knobs on the front of the Stradivario cabinet was missing so I had to replace all three with wood knobs but they look okay in the end. She runs quiet and smooth and will be a great addition to someone's home. I love the "fins" on this one!

Ready for cruisin' with these fins

Now I have them all up to speed and ready to sell; while I was still working outside the home (although with COVID19 we were working from home) this just took too long to do. It's my hope to speed up this repair process and get more done but not until I have cataracts removed in the coming week. At that time I will be officially retired, vision restored, rested up from a week of sitting around, and ready to, at least, sew again. A big thanks to Deb for her contribution of projects that will be sold reasonably to deserving souls. Then I can say "let the quilting begin!" as I get back to what I love to do (besides repairing sewing machines).