Compact and Cute

One of the ways I like to find sewing machines is through Goodwill Online Auction. If I can find one that is to-die-for I can offer more because I don't have to deal with shipping and handling charges. Recently I got a cabinet model because it was local pick-up only and was one I was intrigued by, Another cabinet with a built-in chair:

After the cleanup and refinished top

I'm just a sucker for this type of cabinet and hoped the sewing machine was "worthy" or I could find one that was. Unfortunately, it was a run-of-the-mill straight stitch Domestic 725 that wasn't very appealing to me. Due to the opening being a sharp cornered rectangle, it was only going to fit an older Kenmore and a few other models. Still, I have many Kenmore's and hoped I could find one that was worth such a great set-up. Here she is:

Kenmore 158-1430

Only the top leaf was in poor shape so it was stripped and sanded, given two coats of stain to try and match the deep red of the original finish, with two coats of semi-gloss polyurethane. The rest of the cabinet only needed to be cleaned up, leaving just a quarter sized white mark on the inside where your hand might rest while sewing. I don't want to mess up that slick finish so I decided to leave it as-is: no one is pretending it's a new cabinet. The seat with two drawers for storage is flat wood and probably uncomfortable for long periods of time. I decided to make a new cushion for it using some nice indoor/door cushion fiber and even adding piping for the trim. Did I need to add that? Probably not but it's a skill I need to work on and this was a good example of necessary skill building. True confession: I'm not good at piping!

My love for these compact cabinets started when I found a beloved Phoenix in one that I completely refinished. It languished on Craigslist but it was kept in my kitchen and I learned to walk around it and admire it on a daily basis. I got a call last week and it was sold in just a brief interaction with a very nice couple from one of the Twin Cities suburbs. After looking at the above cabinet and comparing it to the Phoenix, he announced she would now have to make a decision. She liked the look of the Phoenix cabinet the best and it was sold. After we sealed the deal they confessed it was probably going to be used to hold a bird cage. I must have blanched because they said they would have a piece of glass cut to protect the top and she was only an occasional seamstress and this would do nicely.

Phoenix 283 in compact cabinet

Lesson learned: don't get too attached to a project unless you are going to keep it!

Repainting season

While the weather is mild, or even hot out, it's time to work in the garage and get the repainting projects done. I have three planned before it's too cold to paint, mainly 50 degrees, and have one well underway and paint for all three. Here's the progress on Mr. Green Machine:

Starting life as a humble Singer 99, this baby was worn, scarred, and in need to something. I took a vote earlier for a repaint of a Singer 15-91 and it seems people like a classic look. Not one to follow the crowd, I decided instead this little gal was going green, a lively green apple:

Singer 99 painted green apple green

I have found this older Singers are easy to strip with a chemical stripper, much work to mask off the parts that don't get painted, and after painting two black machines this green one was so much easier. No, I don't think I've gotten much better but it might be the actual color goes on smoother, fewer flaws. How to trim a sewing machine that is a color was a real dilemma: gold or silver decals? I don't think there would be enough contrast. Other colors? Pretty much just black but there wasn't a huge selection of styles. I finally decided a Singer 301 decal set in black would give the look I'm going for.

Singer 301 water slide decal set

I like the clean rectangular lines of the prism decal set and think it's not too pretentious. I could have used a Singer 221 set that are also fairly sleek but those are for the Featherweight and I didn't want anyone to think I was trying to pass off the repainted 99 as a Featherweight. The decals came today and were applied tonight:

Singer 99 in green with black 301 decals

I've been struggling with paint removal on the Phoenix 283: that paint is on there to stay! I'll give it another try but I might have to settle for a good sanding and then primer. This is really ugly looking:

Phoenix 283

I'm still going to paint it the original metallic green but, so far, this is way more work than it is worth.

A final repaint is going to be PINK! I love pink, I'm a pink kind of gal and just have to paint one pink. It will most likely be another Singer 99 but I do have a Singer 15-91 that is in need of a repaint but . . . pink? Even I can't picture that!

Finishing Up

What a great feeling to be finished! Here are the results of some long time posts that you might wonder "Does she even finish anything?" Not always, but today I need to show you the end results.

Here's the Pfaff 130 repaint in the refinished cabinet, ready for sale:

Not so glamorous in the garage but she was up on bricks over the winter and I looked at her every time I parked the car in the garage. It was closed up and the top was covered but now she is done, complete with the Pfaff 130, working quite well. I'm missing the knob for the feed dog drop and there are a few tweaks to the repainting (like infinitesimal pieces of blue tape lurking under edges of metal buttons) but those are minor issues that I will keep working on until it is as perfect as it can be. This was a cabinet and machine that were left on a back porch for many years, hense the repainting, but it has been a wonderful journey and a satisfying final destination.

A quiet machine in a demur cabinet that takes up so little space is the Phoenix 283:

I was only going to refinish the back of the chair but it turned out so well and was so easy to strip off the original finish that I went ahead and did the entire outside of the cabinet, too. I had the fabric for the chair cushion already from another chair project (does it look familiar Sarah?) and it was a perfect match for the metallic green tone of the Phoenix. This is one beautiful machine and now is in a cabinet that also is beautiful. It is so compact yet has great storage in the chair seat plus a lift-out caddy for all of the accessories for sewing including thread and bobbins. a wonderful sewing machine with a compact cabinet that anyone would be proud to own.

I'm happily sewing up dresses and hope to have enough done by this weekend to put them in my Etsy shop. It doesn't seem like much of a new item to only have a couple but I should have a dozen ready for photos very soon. I can hardly contain how much fun they are but maybe because they are fairly quick to make, unlike hours of work on sewing machines and cabinets. Oh wait, they do take hours to make and there is ripping out involved and hot irons...but a cute dress in the end and it brings back many happy memories. I'll hold back from posting photos of my own daughters when they were miniature size and wearing my home-made creations. But I remember.

Daddy's Little Girl

Today was Father's Day, something of a non-holiday in my life since my own dad has been gone thirty years, almost as long as I knew him. So today as I thought about my dad and went on with projects of my own, I thought I'd share what an eclectic day it was.

After our church service, which is outside in the summer under the oak trees, my husband went off to an assisted living center to conduct a worship service and serve communion. I thought it would be a good chance to get the house ready for summer by a big vacuum job and rolling up rugs, cleaning the hardwood floors, and washing the tile floors. I like the cooler look of fewer rugs in the summer but I hate all the moving of furniture, etc., but now it's done. Then I started making some of the little girl dresses I had cut out and have waiting for me to sew up. Using Simplicity 2828, I made up this little cutie in just a few hours:

Simplicity 2828 size 3

I used the blue fabric left from the dress I was making for myself and found the cotton eyelet panel in my stash. I wasn't sure about how I was going to sew it all together but the pattern lent itself to it so nicely. The bodice was lined with the same fabric and I only had to treat the lace like it was part of the bodice until I sewed the skirt on. Thinking about how it might wash, I made all of the seams flat felled so there would be no raveling to deal with or the seams were all inside, as in the bodice. I got out a serger for the edges of the back seam so they would be extra nice, too. I'm very happy with this version of a "daddy's little girl" dress.

I go from cleaning to sewing to stripping in the garage. That's right, I go out to the garage to strip furniture. Up next is the cabinet from the Phoenix sewing machine, a compact version with a chair that I've already refinished so now I better get the rest done. The old finish came right off and was so quick!

Cabinet for Phoenix 283

I only did the top lid (both sides) and the top opening where the machine sits, but might do the sides, too. It's going to look pretty stunning when it's done, all for that marvelous Phoenix.

I tie this all together because my dad was handy and I think he would approve of my sewing machine hobby/business and did support my learning to sew. I might have spent the majority of my day quietly working, but I was thinking about my dad, too. Thanks, Dad, for being my dad, all those years ago.

Phoenix Bound

I have a dear friend in Phoenix, AZ, whom I love to visit (especially when the winters get long in Minnesota) and now I even have a Phoenix Automatic 283 sewing machine. Of course, it's not exactly like the warmth of Phoenix, or my friend, but a girl can pretend, right? This isn't my first Phoenix but I ruined the finish on my first one and it's in the lineup for those waiting for a paint job. When I read the ad for this one, especially in the cute cabinet, I got ahold of the owner right away and it was SOLD. I went to pick it up last night and, as always, I met a nice couple who were ready to tell me stories about this great find. It was bought at a church sale and used many years but now she was given a Husqvarna (Viking) and didn't need two sewing machines. I didn't tell her how many most of you enjoy since I wanted this one and she didn't so it got loaded into my car. Here she is, ready to sew:

Cabinet closed with chair tucked away

Phoenix Automatic 283

Open with Phoenix pulled up

Chair with storage under the seat

 Isn't she a beauty? Phoenix sewing machines were made in Germany and I even have paperwork for the "Lifetime Warranty" showing the date of sale, in Minneapolis, on August 13, 1956. There were letters and offers for cleaning and a tune-up for $1.75 when it was new and $3.50 in 1964. Things sure have changed! There are two manuals, one for  model 282, a straight stitch and zigzag only, and then the 283 manual to be used in conjunction with the 282 manual, but it has information on how to use the cams for decorative stitches. The  accessory box, with the Phoenix name on it, included all sorts of feet and attachments and three were duplicates, to be shared with my other Phoenix. There are 14 cams that can be stacked in sets of four and inserted into the back of the sewing machine. To the left of the stitch length lever on the front is a lever with markings one to four. You choose the number to match the order of the cam disks inserted. It seems a bit odd but if you only have to put in one set of cams and get four design by moving a lever, that is pretty convenient.

Phoenix 283 accessories: feet and cams!

The machine took very little work to get it running as intended. After cleaning and oiling, I tried out some stitches but I needed to adjust the tension disks on the front and noticed they were way, way off. It needed to be turned several rotations and that's not how it is supposed to work but this is a much older sewing machine and when made in another country it's possible there was no stop on zero and nine. It works fine now so I don't need to worry about it. It does not have any extra bobbins so I'll have to check and see if they are special or just a standard class 15 bobbin. The needle size is also imprinted on the needle slide plate so I'll need to compare that, too, but I suspect it has a standard needle in it right now.

In the photos of the Phoenix I have already cleaned and polished it with TR3 Resin Glaze and she shined up nice. I can see that I'll have a bit of work on the cabinet but it is mostly the chair front and top edge of the chair and cabinet. The rest of the cabinet just has surface scratches that should smooth without having to strip off all of the finish. Don't you love a compact cabinet like that with the chair all snug up to it? This is perfect for the occasional sewing job and just look at how much could be stored in the chair base! The removable tray could hold your sewing supplies such as pins, thread, scissors, elastic, buttons, and then the base could hold a box of patterns and folds of fabric. I think this will be a real stunner when it's all back to its original glory. I would love to keep the original vinyl on the seat cover but it needs to have new padding since it's rock hard and not every comfortable. Maybe something that would coordinate with the green and brown of the machine and cabinet? Stay tuned!