Paint Removal

It's wonderful when I think I'm too late for an ad only to find out I'm the first one! It happened again this week when I answered an ad for a Necchi whose ad was up about two hours when I found it. Add another two hours before she got back to me to ask if I could come before 10 AM the next day because she had an appointment. You bet I could! Due to my own mistakes in writing down the address, I ended up at a wrong address, driving back and forth in the rain, but we finally connected. The sewing machine head was sitting in the garage and looked very clean with no nicks on the edges, very smooth bed, so I was excited to go see the blond wood cabinet that looked very mid-century modern. Here's what the ad showed:

Necchi in Craigslist ad

Take a closer look at the top of the cabinet when it is folded up. It's on the underside in the photo so you can't see it clearly but keep looking and you can see it has been painted. Painted white. Oh boy. This is not good news but you can't have everything. We take the drawers out, and I take them downstairs while the mister and misses each take an end to bring the cabinet downstairs. When it gets to the outside door and discussion about how to get it out, I wave them aside and pick it up by myself to get it out the door. They make some comments about how strong I am (ha!) but without the head or drawers it might be only 20 pounds. The mister and I get it out to my car and he guesses that I am young, maybe only 40? We all have a good laugh as I point to my gray hair and say they need to add a couple of decades onto that. It makes my day.

Once it is home and installed into one of the few places left in the garage, I take the folding leaves off and apply paint stripper to the larger one. Under the white paint is whatever process was used to make the wood look like a blond finish, some kind of thick beige paint or maybe they had painted it beige at one time. Under that is real wood but it is not in very good shape, as I had feared. Rats.

Stripped on left, painted on right (Yea, I know you could tell)

While I'm thinking about how to refinish the top I set up the sewing machine head in the desk part (screws are missing so I scrounge for some) and get it threaded up to sew. This Necchi is a BF Mira, dated 1954 according to the original manual. It's a straight stitch only but has two speeds, a low and high, so that can give it extra power. Right out of the gate it sews very nice, comes with extra bobbins, a few accessories, and a Greist buttonhole attachment. Very nice. I had asked why they were selling, maybe she was no longer going to sew? But, no, they were moving to California to be near family in their retirement and would not be taking some of their things. Lucky me!

Necchi BF Mira at home (lounging?)

I had another straight stitch Necchi that made her final destination to Haiti in a beautiful desk cabinet back when I was desperate to get the cabinets out of the garage so my car could get in before the snow came:

Necchi Leila

Although their shape and color are different, they are essentially the same machine for function. I love a great straight stitcher but there will be times a zigzag stitch comes in handy so I only sell these to serious quilters or someone who just insists this is "the one" for them. To each his own but these old Necchi's are really beautiful. I don't know what's going to happen to the cabinet and I have my work cut out for me on this one, but it's a moment to celebrate Sewing Machine Day 2015 with a classic. Stay tuned: this might be a two post day!

Attachment

When it comes to straight stitch sewing machines, they only do one thing: make a straight stitch. Once you find one that makes the best straight stitch, feels good, sounds like music, you have found your dream machine. But it only does one stitch. Seventy years ago that probably was about all there was but sellers of sewing machines got clever and knew if they could show you anything extra it might make a sale. Enter attachments! These are little additions, usually to the presser foot area, to make sewing versatile or easier. Most of us in the vintage sewing world have come upon the Singer puzzle boxes that contain a huge set of attachments but then there are smaller sets that get passed along with sewing machines. Here's a Greist set that is pretty typical:

Greist attachment set with manual

I was selling a couple Sewmor sewing machines and had a set of Greist attachments with one of them but a young mother got in touch with me and wanted the other Sewmor:

Sewmor 606 in green

but like the attachment set. Would I swap attachments? Better yet, I found another set, as well as a buttonholer, so she would be all ready to sew. We were both excited about this prospect but then I got to thinking "Maybe they don't all work? What if she asks me questions?" I got out her set and sewing machine (to be picked up next weekend) and gave it a test run:

Cloth Guide

The original set had a manual but I sent her a pdf of the manual. Here are the attachments in the order they are explained in the handy guide. The cloth guide is to screw into the bed of the machine and adjusted to the width you need. This is especially nice when you seam is beyond the markings in the needle plate or if you have an unmarked plate.

Attachment foot

There are several parts that need to attached to another foot, hence the attachment foot. There is a bit of a spring loaded screw to place it under and then tighten. Pretty clever, I think.

Zipper foot

Cording foot

The adjustable zipper and cording foot is just one foot that can be moved left or right to get very close to the teeth of the zipper or cording to make piping. I almost always make sure I have a zipper foot with each sewing machine I sell because it's so essential but here it comes with the Greist set. They work wonderfully and I wouldn't be without one.

Gathering foot

This little wonder, the gathering foot, is only a simple foot with a small hole so how does it gather? Instructions are given for adjusting stitch length and tension and it works! This was so easy and effective I wondered how I could have missed something as simple as a gathering foot.

The Quilter

This handy arm, called the quilter, attaches under the screw with the gathering foot and can be adjusted for any width you like. I've used these with walking foot attachments and they are quite handy to keep your lines even and straight. Humm, I should use one more.

Narrow hemmer

I cannot say I had great success with the narrow hemmer foot. It was difficult to start and the end result wasn't great. It would take a lot of practice to do something that can be done better with a serger. Not a fan of the narrow hemmer.

1/4 inch hemmer

No, that's not the same photo, but the quarter inch hemmer worked much better. You still have to work to get it started but with just a little practice it does a good job. This set also had a 5/8 inch hemmer that was great, less fussing with a nice finished edge.

Edgestitcher

The edgestitcher, another attachment that I thought was a bit strange but it did stitch 2 items right up to the edge, as promised. It worked but I'm not sure about how I would use this one. Not too much fussing even though it looks kinda weird.

Multiple slotted binder

The multiple slotted binder is a nice way to make bias trim but there are limits to the width and why would you make bias tape and sew it to itself? Most of the time I'm applying it to another piece, not sewing it shut. Great tool but a bit limiting in my opinion.

The Ruffler

Saving the best for last, the ruffler was so much fun! There are a few settings and I didn't figure out how to make pleats with it, but the ruffler was quite a success. Easy, variable, used with a lightweight lining for added difficulty, but it gathered up the fabric to make wonderful ruffles.

Now you have seen the whole set of Greist attachments and how I used them with a straight stitch sewing machine, the Sewmor 606. As you have read, some I liked, some were difficult to use, but all had a purpose and could be useful to someone. I'm glad I took the time to use each one and I used this blog post as an excuse to get it done but it really was fun to see how a straight stitch sewing machine could apply that perfect stitch in a new-to-me way.