Three of a Kind

This is the season for buying up sewing machines as people clean house and decide they are no longer going to keep broken or unused items around their house. That is where I step in and take the sewing machines they no longer want off their hands: well, some of them, at least. Experience has shown me there are some to never buy again (Singer Touch and Sew, for example), and those to run towards (Brother Select-O-Matic, a favorite of mine). This past weekend I got to pick up several and meet up with an old friend in the buying.

A very cool German hand-crank was offered and I jumped at it on Sunday afternoon. Come to find out, it was from Joe who reminded me I sold him a Singer 66 and started him on this new hobby of repairing and collecting sewing machines. So how did he come across such a fine machine when I had to buy mine off of eBay? Joe is retired so when he saw an ad locally he could fly right out the door after it; there are some advantages to being retired, I guess! My husband and I stopped over after dinner to check it out and were happy to renew our friendship and talk about sewing machines. As we looked at his collection, we eventually made it from the garage workshop into his home where we met his lovely wife who is quite talented in her beading and pottery creations. We could have stayed for hours hearing their stories and admiring their creations and collections. I always say I meet the nicest people buying and selling sewing machines and sometimes it goes both ways with the same person.

Harris hand crank

Once home and examining my petite Harris hand-crank, I had to compare it to my other hand-cranks. It has the transverse shuttle like the Optima, very similar to a Singer model 12, but smoother than the Optima or the German model. It is interesting that all of my hand-cranks are German made, no Singers, but I understand there were far fewer made and distributed in the United States than in the UK where they made and used them long after electricity was in general use. Anyone watch the early episodes of "Call the Midwife" where in the late '50's they use a hand-crank sewing machine on the dining room table? Here in the US we were either using a treadle if electricity was iffy, possibly because he have larger homes and just more space in general in this big, wide open country, but I digress. Here are some photos of my collection of three:

Harris in front, Optima in the center, German at the back

Definitely large, medium, and small sizes

View of their mechanisms

They are quite lovely but each one has its flaws that I will not point out at this time: let there be a little bit of mystery! The next day someone posted locally about a sewing machine they had that looked like the photo they used in the ad - a hand crank! Could I be this lucky? I was patient and waited until she could take a photo of the actual sewing machine and, alas, it was a mere Singer 66.  I should have known it was too good to be true but that is okay with me as she got a bit of education in what she actually possessed and its value.

There are plenty more stories in Sewing Machine Mavin's life just this past week as it continues to be a very busy time for buying and selling sewing machines. Stay tuned for the next adventure!