Cheaper By The Dozen

Editiors note: sorry for the long delay in finishing up this post. I always want to include more photos but while I'm thinking about it I'm cleaning up and putting them away. I'll try harder "next time" 

When it rains it pours and sewing machines have started to pile up here in Minnesota. It started with an offer to buy six sewing machines from a young woman who wanted to start a business in sewing high end clothing. She traveled the world buying fabric, renting a space to work and store supplies but then things took a turn and she decided to go back to school instead. Not only was she selling off all of the fabric, she had six very nice sewing machines for sale: two Bernina's, two Elna's, a Brother and a Signature dedicated to buttonholes.

Brother CS 100

Signature ZigZag

We made arrangements and I picked them up a couple weeks ago. While there I could see how much fabric she had and it was overwhelming and a bit reassuring: I don't have that much fabric! I should have brought my husband along so he could see how fortunate he is that my fabric collection is much smaller! My sewing daughter and I went to her "bundle" sale last weekend, vowing we were just going to look but we each managed to spend $42 for some pretty nice fabric.

How about those machines: they seemed to be very complete with cases and accessories so I got own to cleaning and checking them out. The Elna 8000 was very complete and in good shape but the Elna 9000/Diva is missing the spool pin and doesn't have the extra vertical pin either. That got ordered and in the meantime I tried out all of the cassettes for more stitches, something only the Diva has, not the 8000. Don't let anyone tell you the 8000 and the 9000 are the same because they are clearly not.

The Berninas were also great with accessories and cases. Just a little loving care was needed and I think one might already be going out the door. The Brother CS-100 did sell right away to a grandmother who is teaching her granddaughter to sew, something I heartily approve of! The only one left is the Signature that came with a Singer buttonhole attachment, use solely for making buttonholes. They do work up very nice buttonholes! Here's my bundle of fabrics I brought back from my second visit that includes the stretch velvet, leather like fabric, a nice dress fabric, and some scraps that I couldn't resist for only $1.

From knits to leather, I can't wait to sew them up!

While I was busy with this group of machines I answered an ad for a set of four machines up in Lindstrom so off we went. This was a much more rugged group that I suspect came from an auction. It included a Pfaff 77, Bernina 700, another Signature, and a Kenmore 158-19412. Unfortunately, the Pfaff 77 bit the dust early and I had to strip down for parts, the Bernina 700 has stitch width problems, and the Signature has a bad case of smelly case. The real winner here is the Kenmore: very dirty but working just fine. I spent some quality time with it and she's looking good, just needs a Kenmore case that I think might be in the garage attic. 

Whew! But I wasn't finished. There's also a Singer 301 in a lovely table that included a full set of accessories and the cradle for easy lifting out of the machine from the table for transport. I'll have to tell you about the fabulous Elna Quilting Queen I picked up and even a New Home/Janome MyExcel 15S that works perfectly (and was free). Now I have to stop buying and need to get these sewing machines in shape so someone else can revel in their "new" machine as I have. Sew on!

Friends

Many times I have enjoyed the generosity of friends and this post is about one of them. Deb and I met when she came to a sewing machine class I taught at a community center. Full of enthusiasm and patience, she brought her teenage daughter along, too, so they could sew together. Sometimes teenage daughters aren't as loving as they should be but Deb was wonderful, not saying too much and stepping back when needed. By the end of class her daughter was laughing and enjoying her new skills: maybe mom wasn't so dumb after all! Deb and I kept in touch a bit but when I got an email from her this spring I was blown away: she had several sewing machines she wanted to give away and would I like them? Of course I would so we arranged a time, put on masks and gloves, and unloaded her trunk:

Portable Models

Fleetwood Deluxe in table

I've been working on them and by now they all in working order and ready for sale. First up is the Brother with red trim:

Brother VX-1010

I've had a few like this before so all it needed was a cleaning and adjustment. It came without the storage compartment but I had one that almost fit. I could finagle it into place but it needed a rubber band to hold it there; not ideal but it worked. It's a good starter sewing machine.

Next up is a Singer 538. I kept her hidden because I knew there was going to be a bit of trouble with this one and I was right: upon turning the handwheel I could hear a crunch. That's never a good sign so I opened it up to find out two of four gears just fell apart. I ordered a new set, replaced another one, and now just need to settle in and get that job done. Another nice beginner's sewing machine.

The Riccar was another good machine that only needed some cleaning up:

Riccar RZ-208B

Another good strong sewing machine with straight and zigzag stitches. I have a couple men in mind for this one.

Then there is a blue Universal, another good machine that needs to be babied a bit: even after many adjustments you still need to give the beginning stitches an encouragement by moving the handwheel to get going:

Universal

This one went out as a loner while their machine was in the shop and we were all frantically sewing masks. It was returned, never needing to be used after all. All in all, a clean machine with a good variety of stitches.

I'm saving my joy for the Kenmore 385-1950280, a machine I was familiar with since I had one years ago. The first one needed a foot control and it was a very different type so was expensive. I got it anyway only to discover there was another bigger problem with the machine so it went to parts. When Deb brought this one and apologized for the missing foot control I told her I was pretty sure I already had one. Isn't it amazing how we recall our failures with such clarity? Sure enough, same model, still had that foot control set and she was up and humming:

Kenmore 385-1950280

And finally, the Fleetwood Deluxe, a table model that was just too swanky to resist. After a cleaning and adjustment, the table needed refreshing and that's when I noticed the cord set was full of exposed wires.  After several attempts to install a safer knee control, it's finally done:

Fleetwood

Stradivario cabinet

One of the knobs on the front of the Stradivario cabinet was missing so I had to replace all three with wood knobs but they look okay in the end. She runs quiet and smooth and will be a great addition to someone's home. I love the "fins" on this one!

Ready for cruisin' with these fins

Now I have them all up to speed and ready to sell; while I was still working outside the home (although with COVID19 we were working from home) this just took too long to do. It's my hope to speed up this repair process and get more done but not until I have cataracts removed in the coming week. At that time I will be officially retired, vision restored, rested up from a week of sitting around, and ready to, at least, sew again. A big thanks to Deb for her contribution of projects that will be sold reasonably to deserving souls. Then I can say "let the quilting begin!" as I get back to what I love to do (besides repairing sewing machines).

Staying Home

So we are staying home these days but working from home. What does that mean when I'm always working at home? My work laptop came home with me and I set up a tall table in the sometimes sunny porch. There are two mornings each week where I'm in charge of monitoring our local chat service for the library and answering the group email account. We are all on internal chat so I keep up with everyone while we try to support our faculty in getting everything online for the remaining two months of class. I've learned how to work in chunks of time, taking breaks to go clear my mind; it's at those times when I will sometimes solve a problem so down time isn't always down!

Since I am no longer spending time driving for work, I not only have extra time at home but my sewing machines and projects are a nice break time diversion. Before everything started to close down I picked up two sewing machines from Goodwill auction, a Husqvarna Viking "Emma" and a Kenmore 158-1310. I couldn't resist the Emma since that's the name of one of my granddaughters but wasn't expecting much since it was just a mechanical model. This one surprised me with its solid feel, easy controls, and more than passable stitching:

Husqvarna Viking Emma

It came with all you could need with extra presser feet, some tools, a few bobbins, and a great padded carrying case. There was a receipt in the pocket showing it had been bought in 2003 for a fairly hefty price considering it is mechanical, in fact it was twenty times the price I paid. You gotta love an auction. Maybe some day Emma will sew with it but not to worry because it's a solid machine that someone else would like, too.

Next up is the Kenmore 158-1310, a nice machine that seemed pretty familiar. I clean it up and test it out to find it only goes backwards. What? Again? I checked my inventory database to find I had just sold this exact model with the same problem. Of course, I don't know what I did to fix the one I sold  so I put the cover on, made a note on its label, and had to walk away for the time being.

 

Kenmore 158-1310

Because I'm so happy with the Singer Futura XL 400, as I wrote about in Embroidery the Easy Way?,  and its embroidery functions as well as free motion, I took a chance and got a Singer Futura CE 250 embroidery sewing machine. It came with everything so there was less risk involved but I knew this was a problematic model. Upon testing it out, I could see the manuals were nearly identical so I was hoping for less of a learning curve. I was lucky that I could install the software on the same laptop as I had for the XL-400 with no problems or confusion on the part of the software but I kept getting error messages after the first project was stitched out. I kept playing with it until I got the right combination of thread and sequencing of steps but I'll need to use it more before I feel confident enough to sell it to someone. Here's a nice stitch-out:

Deer antlers and arrows on camouflage fabric

I didn't even use stabilizer and it turned out this nice so now I just need to keep trying different patterns and features. I'll do it "for the cause" (said tongue-in-cheek).

Not to let too much time go by, I attacked another one of the quilt block sets I got back in September at the river Rats TOGA. With one under my belt, pieced but not quilted (a future blog post), I got out a Joann's Block-of-the-Month set from 1997 where the blocks were all done and an attempt to assemble them. It looked like there had been a change of heart with some purple sparkle fabric added to the sashing but I took that out and started over again. Here was part of the planning:

Blue BOM 1997 with new sashing

This was the easy part since the blocks were all done and a pretty nice job of it, too. I used my Singer 66 treadle since this came from a treadle sewing group and that made it even more fun. Here it is all assembled:

Final assembly, waiting to be quilted

Because it has a white background, I needed white batting so I ordered Quilters Dream batting. I've seen it talked up in a few of the quilting books and it gets great reviews but it's a bit pricey so this was a smaller project to try it out on, only 45" by 60". This is also a smaller project for continuing to practice my free-motion quilting skills so it's a bit of a win-win.

Let's continue to keep busy and keep sewing because this is one way we can head off the pandemic: stay home (and keep sewing).

When Close is Close Enough

Friday:
There has been quite a run on Bernina's lately and that could be because I have been recommending them more. When people I have sold sewing machines to come back for another machine, many times they ask for something that is really "the best" sewing machine for (fill in the blank here). If it's the best stitches and they want more than straight stitch, I frequently have to recommend Bernina's. Their tension is perfect, stitches are ramrod straight, and these machines have definitely stood the test of time. So I continue to recommend but sometimes get caught in a situation where I have no more machines and that has been my dilemma lately.

Everyone wants the Bernina Record 830, a very top-of-the-line machine before the real electronics came to dominate sewing machines. I know, they have electronic in their name on this model but they are primarily a mechanical sewing machine. Much to my delight, I have two of them, one complete with red carrying case, extension table, full set of accessories in a red box, new power cords and foot control. The other one has the same except no carrying case and no extension table. Everyone wants that extension table and they are hard to find! The search will continue until I sell both machines but one is getting picked up this weekend and we shall see about the other one: maybe someone wants it so bad they are willing to try to pick up an extension table later.

Here's the real dilemma: next up is the Bernina Record 730 and I also have two of them but both have issues. One came with the green suitcase and has the attachment compartment in green that fits onto the back of the machine, the other one came without a case. So what's the problem? The model with the case has a broken cam gear, very common, and the other one uses a knee control instead of a foot control. I have been looking for that knee control for four months and they keep getting away from me until this week when I found one and now it's mine! As far as the gear replacement goes, that's another sage but I'll summarize.

I bought the replacement gear some time ago but without a buyer I wasn't too motivated to actually replace it. After watching an excellent YouTube video on how to do this right with all of the subsequent adjustments, I dove in. Here's a little aside about an oil pad under the can mechanism: the video said to just throw it away but I could see the machine with the decent gear also had a decent oil pad so I switched them out:

Deep inside the machine where the oil pad was removed

Let's throw that oil pad on the left away and replace with the super clean one on the right

The problem comes with these aftermarket gears that are just slightly off in size so there is a bit of a hitch in their giddy-up. For the most part the stitches were great and then there was the occasional misstep but it was unpredictable when it would show up. I put everything away and checked back two days later. Now I had another thought: I have a 730 as a parts machine so maybe I could use that camstack gear! I took it all apart and, wouldn't you know it, it was the same measurement as the new gear! Is my micrometer off?

Broken gear, older gear on camstack, new replacement gear on camstack

 I don't have anything to lose so I go ahead and take the old but not broken gear off the camstack. I try to anyway but one of the screws is not loosening up so I decide to use the whole camstack with gear because, after all, aren't they the same model? It all goes together just fine so I stitch it out but find the stitches are not in the right order. Some of the patterns are all together different. What's going on here? Then I look at the stitch selector for each machine and see there are different stitches and a different order between them. What do I do now? The easy way is to print off a new list and tape it to the machine:

But then I get the idea of switching the top lid:

Original order

Replaced camstack order

I think this might work so I'm relieved for now. Neither of these machines have the extension table but I did find one only to discover it did not match even one of the three 730's I now have. Time to investigate the part number so I can get the correct one when I find another one. I still have two more Bernina's to show but I would like to have all of them in working order. It appears my work is never done but it's oh so enjoyable! Happy sewing...

 Sunday:
It was quite a whirlwind day on Saturday and things didn't turn out as expected! A quilting friend from Cambridge came down to look at the Berninas and bought the 830 without the case or table (since the other one was already spoken for). I told them about the 730 table that didn't fit as I had it on the kitchen table with all of the Berninas. Her husband, who was active in this whole discussion, said it looked like it was the same size opening as the 830 so we tried it and it actually fit the 830 a bit better. He said he was willing to shave off the extra with a file to make it fit and it was sold! All three of us were happy as she loaded up the car with her new-to-her-sewing machine.

Before the next Bernina sale I managed to squeeze in Harlan who wanted an Elna for some basic sewing. The SU62C was not behaving well and I couldn't sell it yet so I sent him some photos of a few Kenmore's. He called Saturday morning to see some of them and I figured I could set them up for his perusal. He ended up with a Kenmore 158-17741, a very nice machine with built in stitches as well as cams for decorative stitches. Upon leaving he said he would still like to have a go at the Elna if and when it was ready to go as he was taken up with the Swiss manufacturing and watch reputation.

Kenmore 158-17741

Julie came for her Bernina Record 830 and we plugged it in and it didn't sound very good. What happened? We figured she must have sewn on the other model and not this one. Then the stitch length lever wasn't behaving well so she said she would either wait for this one to get worked on or might even look at a different Bernina. I do have a 910 coming this week so we shall see. Last night I took the 830 apart and checked the motor, cleaned out stray pins, put it all back together and with another oiling it now sounds like it should. The stitch length lever was cleaned out and adjusted and now it works according to the manual. I'll let Julie know it's fine now but she might want to wait until I have the 910 up and running. We shall see.

And finally, Freeman was back with his restored bentwood case and looking for an exact fit of those strap sets I sell. There was an extension table with his case and he wondered if we could somehow accommodate it with the straps but nothing seemed to work. Then my husband had a brilliant idea: how about making a carrying pouch that attaches to the back of the carrying handle for the extension table? That sounded like it would work so I even produced some Singer logo fabric to give him inspiration. All was well, everyone went home happy, my reputation is still intact. 

Four visits in one day: that might be a record but I don't want to do that very often. Now I'm off to sew a new Hawaiian shirt for my husband (we have to do something to avoid going out in the snow!)

Scrunchies!

What is old is new again pertains to sewing machines and also the current hair fashion craze called scrunchies. For those who do not have long hair that needs taming, let me explain: scrunchies are a piece of elastic you can wear to hold your hair back but it is covered in a cloth sleeve. This now makes it fashion with a wide variety of fabrics and even sizes. I made up a bunch of these with my grandkids because even the boys wear them on their wrists, partly as a token from a girl to show her interest in a special boy. So now it's fashion and pre-teen hormones! We had such a good time sewing them up on a Singer 99 hand crank:

Emma making scrunchies at home with the Singer 99 hand crank

I thought it might be fun to make up a bunch to sell at our church craft and bake sale. Maybe we could have a scrunchie making party where we sewed up a bunch to sell but just didn't get around to setting it all up. I mentioned this to one of the moms after the sale and she said "I would come and bring my daughter!" so, with her help, we posted a scrunchie making party on Facebook and I got ready.

Fabric was pressed and cut, supplies organized and loaded, and off we went. My granddaughter, Emma, was getting to be a pro at this so I picked her up and put her to work. I ended up cutting out about sixty pieces of fabric in a variety of prints, including Christmas, in cotton and flannel with even a red velvet.

Selection of fabric, all pressed and ready to sew up

I set up a Kenmore electric for those who already could use a sewing machine, a Singer 99 hand crank for younger sewers, and even a serger for experienced or at least adult sewers.  As it turned out, our high school student had taken a sewing class so she sat down to the Kenmore, the younger girls used the hand crank Singer, and the adults, experienced or not, gravitated to the serger.

Kenmore electric and White Speedylock serger

Although I had the four steps all on samples it still took supervision to get everyone on track and sewing. I also had to keep those machines threaded as well as brief teaching along the way. 

Emma learning to thread the Singer 99

Over the two hours we were set up, there were four adults and four kids working on three machines to make up 25-30 scrunchies!

A busy bunch, waiting for their turn, in a basement classroom

All pitched in and helped with the clean up and bringing everything back to the cars, remaining snacks were divided up, and we called it a success:

Emma showing off her earlier success in sewing

An abundance of scrunchies!

This might be a repeat performance at a Girl Scout meeting so we shall see. Even with all of the planning and prep, it was well worth it to get more people sewing and having fun while doing it.

Next up, I promise, is the fixed Singer embroidery sewing machine. Stay tuned!

Manly Kenmore Sewing Machines

I know I promised to write about a new-to-me embroidery sewing machine but since I'm waiting for parts it's on hold for now. But, there's so much else to write about I better tell you of my latest adventure. It's all about Kenmore sewing machines and men: they want something heavyweight but not expensive and I've got Kenmore's for them!

Kenmore 158-1755

With only one cabinet left to sell, I got a call from Michael who was interested in the Brother Select-O-Matic in a compact cabinet. Excited to finally getting it out of my living room and into someone else's house, even though weather has been poor, he came right over to check it out. As we talked about his sewing needs I could tell he needed something that would be heavier duty and the Brother wasn't going to cut it. I brought out a Kenmore 158-1755, a great heavy machine with built in zigzag stitches but also cam ready. He wasn't interested in decorative stitches just wanted to sew up canvas for his boat. He went home happy but the Brother in a cabinet still lives in my front room.

Brother Select-O-Matic

A few days later I got an email asking for advice about sewing up canvas and seat covers for another boat. This time it's James from Chesapeake Bay who sent a detailed list of questions along with what he wanted to accomplish. At the end of his email was a photo of his boat, a real beauty. Should he go with a portable Sailrite? Walking foot? Zigzag? Industrial? I digested his request and organized my thoughts and came up with the following advice:

1. I have never used a Sailrite but it will probably do the job for you and because of  their excellent reputation you can easily sell it when you are done. Other portable walking foot sewing machines I have used, Consew and Reliable Baracuda, are just too rough and required a steep learning curve for me.

Reliable Barricuda

Consew CP206R

2. Walking foot built in or as an attachment is the way to go. It works to keep layers of fabric from slipping out from under by putting feed dogs on top to work with the regular feed dogs on the bottom.
3. Portable versus table models, or industrial versus home/domestic sewing machine: canvas and large items are bulky and heavy so they need support as you are sewing them. A table gives that support. Consider that into the mix of decisions.
4. Expensive Sailrite or industrial: is this really necessary? For a beginner, and most of these questions come from beginners, maybe it would work out better to learn some skills on a sewing machine that is less of an investment, say a Kenmore. For less than a hundred dollars you can get a solid sewing machine that can sew most anything you throw at it up to size 18 needle. This is a good way to build up sewing skills by practicing sewing on vinyl and canvas while making seat covers and trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Making up some bags with zippers to store gear would be a great way to learn to use the sewing machine and give you a practical goal.

Although I'm not sure what James is going to do, there are quite a few men sewing in Minnesota using Kenmore's I have sold to them. That Brother sewing machine is going to sell but not until I find the buyer who can use it as it was meant to be used. It's a huge disappointment to buy a tool only to find out it's the wrong one and now you are stuck with it. By using available expertise you can save yourself time, money, and grief or maybe that's just part of the process for some. Go figure!

Good and Bad Coming in 3's

It's been too long since I posted and I fear all of my readers have left me but here's a refresh and getting back into the saddle again. Sewing machines have been coming in the door like an avalanche! We had a record snow year for us in Minnesota and it appears it has brought out the "clean-it-out" bug in many. It all started with a Singer 301.

Betsy responded to my ad and said they were tired of their crappy new Singer breaking down every time they wanted to use it. As it turns out, they were going over to Grandma's house to use her Singer 301 so why not just get one of their own? That sounded like a good idea to me, too, but when she came and saw all of my other machines she asked if I would be interested in a few more. After photos were sent they came a week later with these gems:

Singer 1507

The Singer 1507 is not one of my favorites but I think all that was wrong was using the wrong bobbin. This is a frequent error and I'm ready to suggest when you get a new sewing machine to check the bobbins and if they are a different type mark them in some way and keep them separate from the others. I have bobbins with pink nail polish dots on them: maybe that was one woman's marking system?

Singer 6110

This Singer 6110 seemed to be okay, at first, but it had not been used in so long that some of the functions were no longer working. I could not get the dial to move to engage the stretch stitches. Even after giving it a nice oiling and cleaning out it didn't budge. The old trick of walking away worked: by the next day I could get the knob to move into the stretch stitch zone and all worked well again. As it turns out, this is a pretty decent sewing machine. I even made a zippered bag since it did not have a built in carrying handle:

Singer carrying bag with vinyl bottom and zippered top

And now to the cabinet model, a Singer 66 in a compact cabinet.

Singer 66 with no decals, c1910

This was originally a treadle machine since it has a spoked hand wheel but the treadle mechanism had been stripped out and the whole thing was painted a ghastly green. The exterior was stripped and I think the wood veneer was  removed but I'm hoping I can clean it up when it gets warmer. The sewing machine itself might be a bit plain but she is running again and shows much promise.

Love those compact cabinets

Inside painted green: pretty dingy!

As if that wasn't enough, I answered an ad for three Pfaff 1222's. Who would have three of the same model? Someone with a drapery business who needs the even feed of the Pfaff IDT system, that's who. She did not want all of the bells and whistles of a newer Pfaff and these old ones kept breaking down. In my optimism I took all three and hope to be able to fix the wandering straight stitch and other signs of worn down mechanisms.

If course, I have been working on repairs, too. Natalie had her machine back again and we determined it was fine, it just needed to have the bobbin race and ring removed and set back in place. I had another machine come in for what was suspected a shot motor. Nope, the motor was good but there were other adjustments and cleaning that took place to get it running good again. Her New Home sewing machine had been a gift from her mother-in-law years ago and it had sentimental value so it was worthwhile to have it running "extra fine" again.

There were more, such as a Kenmore 385-1764180 that was in great condition, and a Bernina 730 in a cabinet that came without any feet from an estate sale. Neither were free but were affordable and great models to have. It's getting crowded again so I better get selling so we have room to walk!

Just Relax

I got an semi-emergency call from Natalie who said her Kenmore was holding the thread too tight. Was it nervous? In a panic? What had Natalie done to it? I doubt it was anything dire since her Kenmore is about forty years old and still in great shape. She brought it over, we tested it out, but it didn't behave exactly as she had described. Isn't that frustrating? The tension mechanism was not quite right, though, so I said I better take a look at it. Here's what I found when I took it apart:

tension mechanism in order of disassembly

That's way too many pieces and so many ways for it to go wrong. Then I noticed something on the counter that wasn't there before, a piece of felted lint:

felted intruder

It must have fallen out of the disks. I cleaned each part off and found other bits of stubborn dirt so reassembled it all to find it was just fine now except she was noisy. Out came the oil and cotton swabs for cleaning and she was better but there was still a distinct click-click as the needle entered the race. It wasn't hitting anything so I took the ring and race off and the noise went away. Checking and watching each part very carefully I could see the race had a bit of play as it fit into the hook. I found another one, exact same number and configuration so as it was replace and tested, wait for it...it was now quiet! I believe the race had worn away enough to cause it to fit with too much slop in it so it got an update. Natalie is going to be happy with it now!

Race

Race in place with hook and ring

We continue with winter here and have even succumbed to having out roof raked. There must be nearly two feet of snow up there and even with a new roof in 2017 that's quite a bit of weight. The extra insulation my husband insisted we have added must have paid off since we have no icicles hanging from out roof. All of that snow is now in our yard and is four feel deep on the patio so we need to work to get it further away from the house: spring melt will come one day. Just to add a bit of spring to our never-ending winter, I have this beautiful basket of bulbs, sent as a memorial for my mother-in-law who passed away in February:

Bulb Basket to remind us of spring

They smell wonderful and are just an encouragement for spring! I hear we are getting another foot of snow this weekend, just in time for daylight savings time.

Update: It wasn't exactly a foot of snow but it was snow on top of ice for a real mess. I've been working on a few Christmas projects (always thinking ahead!) and can share the end results with you later in the week. In the meantime I'm going to use this bad weather as an excuse to stay inside and SEW but I don't think I needed an excuse, did I?

Patio snow removal (he's not getting lost in that color)

Cautionary Tale and Cabin in the Woods Finished

This week was full to overflowing that included replacing a clutch motor with a new Servo motor, a fundraising event that was way too much fun, and along the way I had the opportunity to repair a Kenmore. I got a call on Friday asking if I could repair a heavy duty sewing machine that no longer worked. Well...it was left in a storage building over many months while they moved and that wasn't doing it any good. The model number wasn't familiar but I said I could look at it but it might be cheaper to buy another older Kenmore if the repairs were too costly. Here's what I found when I opened up the top:

Kenmore 148-12050: a dirty bird

Oh my, I almost said NO but knew it still had life in it so I started to clean. Because it was fairly dirty inside I think the rusty coating landed pretty much on the dirt. Cleaning off the dirt with sewing machine oil took the rust off, too, so it looked worse than it actually was. Whew!

Kenmore 148-12050 all cleaned up inside

It took more time to get it to run quietly, replacing the ring around the hook race that had rust on it. Even when cleaned off, it seemed to be a noisy part so I replaced it with a clean one. Yea for spare parts! Here's another view of the feed dog area when exposed before cleaning:

Kenmore 148-12050 feed dogs before cleaning

With tension adjustments and much sample sewing, it now sounds better and ready for more sewing. Moral of this story: do not store sewing machines in unheated areas unless you are ready for the accumulated moisture and rust that follows.

And here she is, all cleaned up and running again:

Kenmore 148-12050 after her spa treatment

The Cabin-in-the-Woods quilt I was working on is now finished with backing, binding, the works:

It was tricky to figure out how to add quilting to the wolf panels so I used free motion quilting and outlined the animals. You can't tell from the front but on the back it looks nice:

Young wolf outline (fabric is actually an orange brown)

 A recently acquired Viking 49 was the machine of choice for the free motion stitches and they were effortless: great sewing machine! I sure could use more practice on my straight stitching when adding the stitches to the whole "sandwich". The Pfaff IDT sure made the whole process go much smoother in keeping the layers together with no creeping forward or backward of fabrics. In consultation with a daughter who made binding suggestions, I had to go with a green that would coordinate and I'm pleased with the overall effect. It was a good project for these very cold days and we are in for another week of cold along with 50 mph winds today. What a good day to stay home and sew.