Stumbled Upon

Every weekend brings another adventure, it seems. I was all ready to go to a local shop after work and try out a Viking that was only $15 because it was missing the power cord. I had the cord at home but it was a Viking model number that I wasn't very excited about so there was no rush. Before I left home I checked the local Craigslist ads and saw a Singer 401A in what appeared to be an excellent cabinet for a fair price. It had been listed two weeks ago! How did I miss that? I set up an appointment to stop on my way home from work and the Viking was forgotten (opposite end of my journey).

The Singer 401A was in great shape, gently used, but the dials for the stitches A-J and K-S were not moving. Hummmm. Would oil and a hair dryer take care of that? I hoped so but offered less and they were only too happy to get that cabinet out of their garage and into my car.

On the way home, not wanting to wait too long in traffic, I took a back way and ran into several garage sales. I bought some very nice rubber feet to use on portables and caps to use on cabinet legs. They are fairly pricey when paying full price but were only twenty cents for each package at this sale. As I got closer to home I found a garage sale with a cute little old Simplicity Babylock SL800 serger. It's a simple (to live up to the name?) one needle, three thread serger but can do a couple different stitches:

Simplicity Babylock SL800 serger

It did sew but didn't cut and I broke the needle while trying to get it to work. Maybe guilt made me buy it but it was "for a song" so I could hardly resist. Once I got it home and started to figure it out, I decided I needed a manual, DC x 1 needles, upper and lower cutting blades, and the stitch finger I broke. Woe, that all came to $37 so my cheap serger was no longer cheap. Yet these older models are such tanks that it's hard to say no when there are no electronics to go bad and they hardly wear out, just need to have some parts updated. I hope this isn't a mistake.

I'm getting ready for the upcoming garage sale at the end of September where I'm going to aggressively sell those cabinet models so I can get my car into the garage for the winter. That means there will be some great deals! In preparation for this event, I'm refinishing cabinets since the weather is cooperating even when my body is not. It's hard work to strip, sand, stain, and varnish/polyurethane so many pieces. Right now there's a Singer 99 in a Combination Table 301 all ready for the final water based polyurethane:

 a Queen Anne cabinet  number 40 for a Singer 15:

top lid for a Kenmore cabinet in cherry with a built in chair, and the top sections of a Necchi that was painted several times in hopes of covering the poor condition of the wood. I only stripped that one and hope to give it a sanding of it's life! All of this leaves my back tired and my hands sore but I do get to rest up between these jobs since they take several days and coats.The worst part is now done and the coats of polyurethane are fairly simple, just putzy when I need to sand between coats. But the end results are pretty spectacular!

Stay tuned to see the finished pieces and the whole garage sale extravaganza!

Oh Baby

I typically don't buy the white plastic type of sewing machine for several reasons. First, they can rarely be fixed; they were meant to be used until they break, especially the low end models. A repair charge would be more than the purchase price! Second, they were not meant to be opened and maintained by the user. Screws are hidden, parts snap together, hence they don't "unsnap" easily, oil spots are not open as in a vintage sewing machine. About the most you can do is clean the outside and try to vacuum out any lint. But I'm a sucker for any machine I have not tried out yet so the following came home with me last week:

 

 

 

 

Babylock 2300

She is so cute and very basic so I plugged her in and she moved so I brought her home. It was seniors day at the thrift store so even a discount! I managed to sneak the straw of the oiler into a few of the moving parts to give it a nice lubrication and she sounded quieter, ran nice. I went to thread it all up and noticed this Baby has been in an accident. The spool pins on the back were gone, only two screw holes remained. One of the thread guides also looked like it had snapped off so Baby definitely took a tumble. Looking at my spare parts and donor sewing machines I found an old Kenmore double spool pin holder. The screw holes didn't match up but I could use one of the holes and my husband suggested using double stick tape for the mis-aligned holes:

Babylock 2300 with Kenmore spool pins

Looks okay and functions quite well so it's a win-win. The thread guide doesn't need to be replaced but I'll still look to see if I have something. I made up a stitch sample and although it stitches fine I don't think the satin stitch (close together zig zags) is all that even but that's to be expected from a low end machine: they are simply menders and sewing small simple projects.

Straight and zig zag stitch with a practice buttonhole

This seems like a nice machine for a young girl who wants to see if she's interested in sewing or just for travel so Baby will get added to my stock for a future sale.

Here's an update and photo for the Pfaff 130 repaint project:

Pfaff 130 with about 4 coats of black paint

I'm hoping another 1-2 coats will make her ready for the clearcoat and then the decals. It's so exciting to see how these take shape! I hope this post wasn't a case of whiplash, going from modern to vintage so quickly but that's what happens sometimes: old and new right next to each other. Stay tuned!