Surprise Packages

I'm not much of a surprise person, preferring to know what's coming up rather than having it sprung on me but once in awhile it can be nice. This busy weekend I had two or three nice surprises so read on.

Goodwill online is always a bit of a crap shoot since they do not stand behind what they offer and it is always "as is." My husband and I agreed we could take a chance on a Huskylock 905 serger  since it was only one cent for shipping. The only problem was it didn't work and only the light turned on but we figured maybe it could be fixed. What would be the worst? Electrical connection? Bad motor? Let's just see what we get. It shipped fast and I got it before the weekend, well packed, and seemingly with no damage:

Huskylock 905 serger

It even came with four cones of thread, all ready to sew. When plugged in, the light did turn on and what-did-you-know  it worked! I got to thinking about it and figured out that it was a somewhat newer model that had the safety feature of not running when the door was open. It also doesn't run when there is even a tiny hitch in the door that makes it look like it is closed but it needs an extra push or slide to seal that connection. They just didn't have the door shut all the way. Sweet surprise, and it stitches very nicely, too.

Natalie and I spent a morning together with a private lesson with her new-to-her Elna 9000, known as the Diva. It was fully loaded but no manual, just a workbook, and a notebook type of holder with zippered compartments of snap-on feet. Most were not Elna but there were photos and labels so we could figure out how they worked. It was a nice machine but computerized and a bit confusing if you have never had that type of sewing machine. We worked on the basic functions and then learned how to use the blind hem foot, narrow hemmer foot, and a blanket stitch. It was fun for me and helped Natalie put this machine to use instead of sitting in a box.

My next stop was to pick up a Bernina 1010, a very nice sewing machine that came with all of its bells and whistles and is in fine shape. Barb is a fine sewer with many machines so we had to have a bit of show-and-tell and, wouldn't you know it, I came home with a Bernette 334D serger. It does have its problems that I was hoping I could figure out but after much disassembly and reassembly it still hesitates on the startup. I hope I don't have to spring for a new power cord/foot control because they are a bit pricey for this model:

Bernette 334D serger

My daughter, Kelly, came over with fabric today that I picked out from photos she sent last week. We are all getting ready for the Textile Center Garage Sale on April 14 and she really purged this year but asked me first what I would like from her stash. Here's what arrived today:

Cotton fabric donation

That's 15 pieces of cotton prints I can make up into hot mitts, my best selling item at the craft fairs. Aren't they cute? I'm always energized by new fabric and these are nice quality and kitchen-y for your oven, stove, and microwave hot dishes. It's my hope I'll be able to resist buy too much at the sale when I already have new fabric at home. I can only hope.

Little Critters

In this land of cold and snow we have to be careful what we store outside since winter is below freezing for months at a time. Sewing machines are not too happy to be frozen as this can solidify oil and grease and wears on the finish of the older black Singers in particular. This past weekend I bought a Bernette 234 serger that had a little surprise waiting for me.

I arranged to meet with the seller at a half way point and we simply exchanged the serger, cones of thread, and a Bernina walking foot for cash now in her hand. The machine had to sit in my car all day while I worked a Saturday shift. When I got home and plugged it in I could see it was pretty dirty but I pushed the foot control to find it still stitched so it went back in the box until the next day. Sunday afternoon I got it out and looked it over. I had this model before and had trouble with it not going really fast but the new owner, Jane, said she was fine with that as she wasn't into fast these days. My newer Bernette 234 serger would go really fast but I needed to clean it up first. Feeling fearless, I turned it over and took off the bottom plate so I could get to the mess underneath. Here's what I found:

Little nuts saved up by some little creature

My my, someone has been busy! When I mentioned this to my husband he thought it had to be a mouse because there were no marks from gnawing on the plastic, something a squirrel might do. Yuck. The bottom plate actually got washed with Dawn dishwashing detergent and came out very nice but I needed to clean up all of the oil and mess on the rest of it. It does seem a little strange that the usual accumulation of threads and fluff from a serger wasn't present but oil spatter was. I took off the front cover so I could see where oil might be coming from and found this:

Under the front cover there were even more

Now everything was going to get a very thorough cleaning. It sure cleaned up nice and needed very little adjusting. This little lovely is going to Haiti, getting picked up soon so it will be a carry-on on a late flight. It will no longer be subject to freezing temperatures but might need to guard against rust in such a warm and humid climate. When I sent a photo and note to the last owner of the serger she was shocked with the news about all of the nuts and then confessed it had been in the garage last summer. Now she wonders what else was out there and maybe there would be surprises in them, too. Yes, indeed.

Bernette 234 serger all cleaned up

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Scarlett O'Hara was right, tomorrow is another day so when I sold the Bernette Funlock serger I knew there would be another serger but didn't think it would be so soon. Of course, I was looking for one and liked the ad and condition of a Euro Pro 534DX so I went to take a look. This serger was bought with the best of intentions because his mother loved to sew. A good idea with all things new is to take lessons but his mama didn't speak any English so his wife would have had to go along for all of the lessons and that just didn't work out. How many years the serger sat I do not know so when we turned it on there was no movement. The handwheel was solidly stuck and we suspected it just wasn't on the correct settings and this was a safety feature. No manual. After a few trips back and forth to the computer to check on ideas for getting it unstuck, he finally gave it a real muscle turn and there was movement, slow movement, and finally it would turn.

Euro Pro 534 DX

That was great so I put some fabric under it to see how it would move and it didn't. The feed dogs looked like they moved but only had forward and backward movement and they need to move in a somewhat circular mode. We finally had everything unassembled and I could see where I thought it should move as per other machines but it was stuck fast. I have now been in their home for two hours so I finally said I would take it for about half of the asking price and he jumped at it. I got it home and took the old hairblower to it but no movement. I went to bed a little hopeful but mostly disappointed.

The next day I went to yoga and as my usual routine I stopped at the Goodwill on my way home. There it was, a Bernette 234 serger:

Bernette 234 serger

 No power cord was around but another woman and I found the thread rack and how to attach it. It was a no-brainer since the price was a ridiculous $10 so it went home with me. I was pretty sure I had another cord but it might have to be shared until I could buy one of its own but at least I could find out if it even worked. As luck would have it (wasn't the price lucky enough?) I not only had the power cord and foot control but it was one that was an extra, taken from a machine I no longer owned. I worked on her for a couple hours and finally was rewarded with this:

Bernette 234 stitch sample

I wouldn't say its stitches were perfectly balanced but it was pretty good. In fact, it was better than my Elna serger that has so many features (if you can get it to actually do them). This was a clear win-win. I found free manuals for both online and that will help, too. I think I can continue to oil and heat the Euro Pro and get it to run plus it came with a complete set of feet so it is valuable for parts yet that little Bernette is going to keep going for years to come.

Moral of the story? Sell when you have a buyer and you can always get another. Maybe two.

Saying Goodbye

My sewing machine adventure began by trying to upgrade my older Kenmore sewing machine. This was strictly for personal use, a bit of sewing that I sold at a couple of craft fairs each year. Three short years later it has blossomed into a small business that I struggle not to let run my life. But last night I had to talk myself into selling two machines that I wasn't ready to say goodbye to.

Only two weeks ago a woman came to buy a sewing machine for herself and one for her neighbor. Isn't that sweet? She recommended me to another friend who bought one last week. Really sweet! I got another call this week asking if the sewing machine for a friend could be exchanged for a table model. Of course, I want every sewer to have what they really want so they came back. They looked at a machine I had in a cabinet that had stitches already built in so was easy to use. It was okay but she was drawn to the Necchi across the room: could she try it? I pointed out that I only had it three weeks and it didn't have a light (bare wires!) but she could certainly try it out. I loved that classic Italian sewing machine, so sleek, so smooth as I ran the fabric under its needle with my hands. It came to me with the zigzag completely frozen and I nursed it back to life, learning much along the way. As you can guess, she loved it, too, so would I sell it?

Only photo I had (she was cleaning up nicely with TR3)

Next they were interested in sergers, something that had been mentioned before but I had forgotten. This time I took them downstairs, totally unprepared to have these women see my own sewing area. I showed the Viking Huskylock 431 first since it worked well but was a bargain due to the broken thread holder. Then we looked at the Elna Pro5 DC, fully loaded with an LCD display screen, many attachments, manual, the whole works. There was much discussion about the differences in the quality of the stitches and then they spied the Bernette Funlock 004D serger. No, no, no, not the little Bernette! I loved that little girl who never let me down, used regular needles, always worked, and the manual was easy to read and understand! They both loved it. Of course, what's not to love? Would I sell it? I told myself I could not keep them all, I still had the newer Viking that also worked well and is more versatile, but I loved that little Bernette. We placed her in her travel bag along with a small pouch of accessories (all she really needed), printed manual, and added another cone of white thread so she could use it as a 4-thread serger.

Funlock 004D (and she was fun!)

As we walked upstairs I took one last look at the black Necchi, then we folded it down into the cabinet and walk it out to one of the cars. Yes, I sold the Necchi. Yes, I sold the Bernette serger. My business funds have swelled but my heart was now feeling the loss. I moved things around to cover the space where the cabinet stood. I went back downstairs and moved things around so there were no sergers in boxes on the floor. Things were looking better but my heart was sad. I remind myself it's a business and my husband tells me I'll find another serger. Of course, of course.

But it's still hard to say goodbye.

Let's Take a Walk

I'm getting craft items ready for this last craft fair coming up next weekend. That got me thinking about some of the items I'm sewing and how I might make this whole project better. I have been using a Pfaff 1222 with the IDT, a really cool built-in walking foot system they have. I've been more than satisfied with the results but there are some strange noises coming out of the Pfaff this last week and I fear I might be working it just a bit too hard with all of the layers. Since I've said I need to sew on the Bernina Record 730 more, I went ahead and attached the walking foot and let her prove herself:

Walking foot is the white plastic protrusion

 behind the needle

It worked really well, keeping all of the layers together since the walking foot moves at the same pace as the regular feed dogs, not less as a regular presser foot would. The results were quite good!

Front and back with walking foot

 Now for the next test: sewing all ten (10!) layers when attaching the bias binding. I used 4 different machines, one potholder on each: Bernina Record 730, Singer 201, Singer 15-91, and Bernette Funlock 004 serger. All three of the regular sewing machines could sew all those layers but the Bernina did more pausing and needed assistance from the handwheel. The Singer 15-91 probably worked the best, yet the Singer 201 had absolutely no problem but I had a heavier needle so it wasn't exactly apples to apples.

Bottom right was serged

It's the serged sample that was the most unsatisfactory. I love how it binds the edge and cuts the fabric all at the same time but look at the edge:

Serged edge with 10 layers

Stitches are skipped, missing areas, just a terrible example! I had to stitch the entire inner edge again so it would be strong enough. This serger is not happy with 10 layers but who would be? That's an extreme that I probably shouldn't be doing anyway. Since I liked the Singer 15 and 201 better, that might be the direction I need to go in. I already was using two sewing machines to make the potholders but maybe now it will be the Bernina with a walking foot and the Singer 15-91 for the binding. Here's the finished product:

Two hot mitts with coordinating towel

It's fun to experiment but sad when it doesn't go the way you predict but I think this will give me a better product and not overtax some very nice sewing machines. Should I tell the Pfaff 1222 and the Bernette Funlock 004 that they are still needed but I'm going to choose projects that are just a bit easier? Nah: I think they already know.

Ingenuity

This has been a long and hard weekend with a lot of driving and then getting ready for a coming snowstorm. I was not looking forward to a 2 1/2-3 hour drive on Saturday for a funeral so I consoled myself by looking on Craigslist to see if there might be a sewing machine along the way. As luck would have it, I made contact with someone to look at a Bernette 330 on my way home. I phoned when I was back on the road and she suggested we meet at a fast food parking lot: that meant I wasn't going to be able to plug it in and test drive it but it was too late by then. We met and when I looked at it from the back of her car the hand wheel didn't turn. The presser foot didn't lift up either. It appeared to have the "varnish" syndrome. I asked if she would take less for it and she agreed so Bernette came home with me.

Bernette 330 (after cleaning)

She did seem to be all stuck up with something that oozed down from the following parts:

Red arrows are points on the needle bar where it enters fittings. At these points there were rings of sticky stuff that I dissolved with alcohol, dried with the hair blower, then oiled with Triflow. How does this happen? Does anyone actually paint varnish on the moving parts? Of course not but some oils will do this or products you are not supposed to use, like WD40 (that's a whole other conversation). After much work and application of heat from the hair blower it started to loosen up and stay loose. I tried to sew a bit, more heat, more oil, and it was okay except the zigzag width wasn't too wide. The green arrow in the photo above shows where the needle bar moves left to right for a zig and zag and it was pretty gummed up, too. After a couple hours of this kind of work I called it a night for sewing machine repair and decided I could try a bit of sewing to get caught up on craft show items.

After the last craft show it was decided I should make more of the hot mitts with coordinating towels. I checked towels, hot mitts, and fabric to see what I could match up and one towel that would go so nicely with 2 hot mitts was missing the fabric I would normally use on the towel. How could I put them together without anything to tie them together? How about the bias trim fabric and coordinating stitches? Here's what I came up with:

Aren't those stitches great with the native American symbols? The sewing machine that I used was a vintage Morse:

Morse 6100

and her fancy stitch cams

The cams made those stitches like it was nothing, kind of boring just centering the fabric and watching the stitches. Very cool though. And that new-to-me Bernette? Here's a closeup of her stitch selection:

Bernette 330 stitch selection: typical

Not bad but nothing like that old Morse. So where does the title ingenuity come into play? I think having the right machine for those fancy stitches was a bit ingenious and using heat, alcohol, and oil to unstick the Bernette is a bit ingenious, too. Sometimes it's just a good feeling we get from bringing new life to something that was rejected, a bit of style added to make my little corner of the world a bit brighter even for a moment.