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!

Old and New Again

We are going to get to the New Home MC 7500 in this post but I have a very happy update regarding the last post about the White Vibrating Shuttle. Katie Farmer and I sent emails and photos back and forth to get down to the exact model I had as well as the components of the tension mechanism. The serial number that was on the back slide plate was not an original for that particular machine, probably on loan from another model, but Katie deduced it was a White VS-IV due to the photo I sent. It pays to consult an expert! Once she found out which model, she could find one of her own and see what parts were in the tension unit:

White VS-IV with tension assembly on side

This was perfect because those parts looked familiar: I found them in one of the drawers earlier but didn't know what they were for. I keep everything so I found them on a workbench, put them back in order as per the photo and Katie's instructions, and with only a little tweaking she sews! I even tried out a hemmer foot with great success so now I'm more than satisfied with this lovely treadle. Just to think that I already had the parts but didn't know what they even were makes me shake my head. A very big thanks to Katie Farmer who is a delight to work with and is a true expert with White sewing machines.

And now onto the much more modern New Home Memory Craft 7500 sewing machine. Sometimes New Home are labeled Janome but this one is a NH, an early computer model that I was skeptical about. I have other early computerized models and there certainly can be problems so it was a risk to bid and win this baby:

New Home Memory Craft 7500

She came clean as a whistle with the exception for the hard plastic cover but it cleaned up great with TR3 car polish.

Hard case with manual

The machine itself came with nearly all of its attachments in a top storage compartment

All those feet!

with extras in the removable front box.

Storage compartment removes for free arm sewing

 The manual was a free download and I needed to consult it while I put her through her paces. This is one very nice sewing machine and received good reviews on Pattern Review.com (It's not just for patterns but other items related to sewing, too). Besides the wide variety of stitches, including block and script letters, upper and lower case, there are some nice features to make sewing easier: needle up/down, lock stitch, programing and memory features. Really, as nice as the computer enhancements are, it's things like needle up/down as well as the lock stitch for beginning and ending your stitches that win me over.

I made up some bentwood case straps on it and found it made a nice stitch with a fine end result.

Straps under construction

 This is one nice machine. Here's a sampling of the quality of the stitches:

Sample stitches

This is going to make someone a very happy sewer; it is not a beginners machine but a great step-up for someone ready to take their sewing to the next level and to have a machine capable of increased skills.

White Treadle

As promised, here's a post about the White treadle sewing machine I have been working on. It came to me as part of the haul I wrote about in  Overloaded but it did not appear in my garage until early summer. I finally started to take it apart to find out how very, very dirty it was and how I needed to spend some serious time with it.

Beside the head coming out for total cleaning, there was a metal pan that served as a drip pan to keep any oil on the machine from getting on that lovely housedress. You are spared from seeing the before since I didn't take any photos but it took much cleaning and soaking in Lestoil to get it clean again:

White treadle drip pan: all cleaned up

After the wood of the cabinet was thoroughly cleaned and waxed with Howard's Feed-N-Wax, I used the same saturated sock/rag to wipe down and clean out the metal base. That stuff really does a nice job but it's a lot of scrubbing so it really does come clean. I've tried to actually wash a treadle base but concluded old ironworks like this just don't like water and it's best to scrub with natural products and a toothbrush. This time I replace the drip pan with screws and it is nice and solid. Returning the head to the base and cutting a new leather belt, she spun around and seemed on the road to recovery:

White treadle, VS-IV

This really surprised me because when I was working on the head it was not moving smoothly but over time the oil should seep in and get things moving again. The first stitches were too loose and then I remembered there were missing parts on the tension mechanism. It doesn't sew very well so I do more research and finally write to Katie Farmer, the White sewing machine expert. We can't wait for her book to come out! In the meantime I'm just hoping I can even find the missing pieces or figure out a way to cobble together enough pieces to make this work.

White VS-IV missing tension unit?

The cabinet is the type where the sewing machine does not fold down into the base and has a "coffin" top to cover the machine and keep it clean and safe. Mine had been left behind and I retrieved it last night. Although it is in excellent cosmetic shape, it is missing the hooks that help to keep it anchored to the table. Another hunt is on but at least the lock mechanism seems to be present and working. Isn't it handsome?

White treadle with coffin top

Along with the White VS treadle, I worked on other cabinets, deciding which ones needed Howard's Restor-a-Finish and which ones needed complete stripping. There were two bentwood cases that needed to be stripped but they are pretty easy and give such good results.  Sales are slow right now so that gives me time to work on what I have and to get those cabinets in the garage ready for sale. I did manage to get a project done last weekend: recovering a sewing hassock. I've really like this one for seating and storage but the original plastic cover had to go. With no vision for a new color or style it continued to wait. Then I bought a sewing basket at a thrift store that contained a wealth of goods, including Gingher thread snips, multiple packages of new Schmetz needles, and a large piece of upholstery fabric. The basket is going to my granddaughter who is learning to sew but most of the pieces were stashed away except for that fabric. I set it aside and one day I glanced over and when I looked at it I thought about the bench seat. It was meant to be:

It's not exactly striking but it is clean and new with a bit more of a classic look rather than retro plastic. It functions the same, holds the same white cotton fabric it had before but is updated to fit my sewing room.

What's up next? A super deal on a New Home Memory Craft 7500: I'm very excited!
        

Read The Manual

While I was visiting last weekend in Illinois, I asked my sister, Mindy, if she would bring along the sewing machine that she was having trouble with since we were going to be together.  Her answer of "Which one?" stopped me in my tracks: which one? How many aren't working? "All of them" was her answer. Since I gave her one in November I asked her to bring that one since I was familiar with it, a White 1899. In a previous series of texts she said the same thing keeps happening to all of her sewing machines: the thread underneath is always big globs of loops and a real mess. I asked her to think about that for a minute: all were doing the same thing, new, old, computerized, manual? Yes. I couldn't help but ask if it was possible she was making the same mistake over and over again and she said sure, it was probably user error.

White 1899 (not my photo)

We sat down together with her White 1899, a manual sewing machine that was easy to use and pretty nice, actually. Loops on the bottom generally means a machine was threaded wrong so I followed the thread path to find it had missed the take up lever. It was one of those open loop types of lever, not one where you only have a hole and it cannot jump out of place. I asked if she had the print manual and she did so I suggested she needed to go back and read it to see how it should be threaded. Oh. Well, there was a reason, actually, because she got the machine with the walking foot attached and it just never worked and she thought it best to leave it alone. That is a good reason so you don't mess anything up. I checked things over, we both sewed on it to see how nice it could work, tried out two different walking feet and found one that worked much better. While we were at it, I checked out all of the different feet that came with the machine and told her what they were for and how she could use them. It was a mini-lesson like the one I've given the quilt group up north and have been asked to give again in September (yea!). She was fascinated with what could be done but I had to stop and remind her: all of this is in the print manual. Read the manual. We are all guilty of not using the resources right in front of us, myself included. When I told her about the chart I made up of the 32 different presser feet and how to use them with video clips she was interested in the chart and asked if it could be printed off. Well, no, because the strength was in the video clips and somehow those don't print off. But that has given me an idea of printing off the names of the feet and a brief how-to in only a photo or two. Until then, I have the chart that I will share with you again in case you haven't seen it yet.

Presser Feet Chart

While I was at it I checked to see if I could use the dropped feet dogs and try out a little free motion sewing. There was no darning presser foot so it was "bare needle" sewing and I am happy to report that it worked! Practice does make perfect, or at least better. It probably never was the sewing machine or the presser foot but my own lack of skill. Yup, I'm becoming a free motion fool:

Not the best of handwriting but it is legible!

It's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.

Elevators

I must be a sucker for the small surprise because I've fallen for those sewing machines that seem to rise up when you push a lever or open the lid. Remember my Singer 66 in its new cabinet that I wrote about in Easy Peasy? I love to show that off and see it rise up: everyone is surprised and a few are even astonished! Then I found a White in a Martha Washington table and was so enamored. I started looking for one and when you search you are just gonna find one. And here's what I found:

Martha Washington cabinet

It looked like it would work until I opened it up to find:

MW with nothing inside

It was empty inside, no mechanism to hold a sewing machine. That wasn't going to keep me back so I found a White treadle that I could take out the part that held the machine and I got to work. I would explain the process but it was so many months ago that I'm just a bit foggy on how I did it. But I took photos to share:

Insert in place

Insert ready for the machine

It fit but there was something missing. I got in contact with someone who sent photos of what hers' looked like inside to discover I was missing a small lever that engages when the lid lifts and the weight of the machine helps to start the downward motion. I had to set it aside until this week when I got one that's intact and affordable:

Martha Washington cabinet #2

As the lid lifts up the machine rises (the elevator!) until it's open and ready for sewing:

MW#2 open to a nice White rotary sewing machine

I had to change out the wire for the plug and it was one of the two-prong type but now it is safe. Here it is as the lid lifts and it is going down:

On the decent back into the cabinet

All in all, it had some of the same parts and some are different and I long for warmer weather when I can put this out on the garage floor and look it all over. For now it will have to do in my kitchen (yes, another sewing machine in the kitchen!). How does the sewing machine work? It stitches just fine but think there are bearings in the handwheel that are causing much noise. The motor is quiet but the handwheel is slightly wobbly so it is going to take some work. My husband says I need to use a gear puller and I found out he's right so now I wait until I have the right tools. It's going to be a nice sewing machine when I'm done and I have hopes for refinishing both cabinets this summer but for now I'm just going to admire them:

White rotary cleaned up and sewing again

Just goes to show you: wait long enough and the right one comes along. Oh, that sounds like love advice, doesn't it? But who says this isn't all for love of the sewing machine? Not you, my friend!

To Be Jolly

And jolly we are as the sewing machines are flying off the shelves. You knew there was a reason why I haven't written enough blog posts! I have many of them all in my head but not enough time to write them down when I can barely write out the ads to keep selling. Berninas are popular right now as I've had many calls for a Bernina Record 530 and its already sold, just waiting for a manual. She loved the sewing machine but there was a difference between Bernina 530-1 and 530-2 and the free manual is only for 530-2. So what's the big difference? It's all in the dials:

Bernina 530-1 stitch width dial

Bernina 530-2 stitch width dial

Even if I get it all figured out and explain it to the new owner, she really wants, and deserves, a good manual with all of the correct information. In the meantime...

The Brother Select-O-Matic, twin to my own, has been listed and I get an email from Linda who asks if I would consider shipping it. No. It's got to be 40 pounds! I encourage her to find a friend coming to the Twin Cities since she lives in a neighboring state. Lo and behold, she writes back and asks if I could meet her brother-in-law in New Brighton where he makes frequent deliveries. I look up the address and see it's near where I work so it's a deal. We miss this weeks' run but there are weeks to come and she will send a check in the meantime. But I start to feel guilty about selling it like this, sight unseen, as I say to myself "There must be a sewing machine in her area that would also work to mend jeans and work clothes." I write again and this time try to sell her on a Kenmore listed near her but no, she wants the Brother because it's just like one her mother used. The denim comes out and I practice sewing 2, 4, 6, and then 8 layers. It did fine until I couldn't fit 8 layers under the presser foot. Now I feel better and we are waiting to get scheduled for a pick-up.

Then Kim calls and wants to sew horse blankets, canvas, and other heavy materials on the Brother Select-O-Matic. Further conversation has her interested in the Pfaff 60 that I've had for several years and it's a very hearty, and heavy, sewing machine. She comes over and just loves it, even looks at my collection of cabinets to see what the Pfaff would fit into. It's oh so nice in a yellow table that the Pfaff 230 was waiting in and it all gets sold with the portable case and the cabinet.

Pfaff 230 cabinet for the Pfaff 60

 Whew! It had an interesting situation with the foot control and knee control. There was a male plug end coming from the knee control and it plugged into the Pfaff 230. Now I needed to change the Pfaff 60 to also have a female plug to use the knee control and change out the foot control to also have the male end. Does all of this make sense? I wish I had taken a few photos but it all happened to quickly I didn't have time to think about it. Now she has a cabinet with a knee control and also can switch out the cord to use the foot control: best of both worlds.

Pfaff 60: straight stitch only

Back to the Brother Select-O-Matic. I get an email from Roland who has bought two machines from me before and he wants the Brother also. It's sold but I happen to have another one is a solid teal, just not the cute two-tone. After sending a few photos he's positive this is the one he wants and comes the next day to pick it up. Now, Roland is a collector, too, so he has to show me his latest, just to brag a little and it is well deserved:

Howe in pink and light gray: very handsome!

She sure is pretty in pink. Roland also had a White in that wonderful golden color, known as Judy Jetson to Cheri who bought her, and both Roland's and Cheri's were beautiful.

Cheri's Judy Jetson: White 765

Before he left, I had to warn Roland that the Brother sometimes would have a squeal as it went into the automatic stitches but only slightly the last time so I was hoping it was working out something. I got an email later and Roland said it was the motor so he changed it out. Ah, that's why I need to learn about bearings but that's a whole 'nother lesson.

Brother Select-O-Matic in teal

Among Friends

It was a grand weekend with people learning to sew and those who are experts at it, too. Friday afternoon Christine was coming over with her sister-in-law to look for a good sewing machine to start sewing. I set up a nice variety of basic Singer 522, Kenmore 158-17892, Brother JX-2517, and Elna 1010. While her sister-in-law was running late, Christine thought she might be interested in a serger. She had expressed interest the last time she was over when she picked up her Kenmore I had repaired but it was around Christmas and wasn't ready to dive into anything new at that time. I got out two sergers this time, a nice White 734D and a Kenmore 385-16644. We discussed the merits of each when her sister-in-law arrived and we had to check out the array of sewing machines. Ah, there was an Elna in the family so maybe that nice Elna 1010? But Christine had a Kenmore...what would I recommend? This is always a loaded question but we all agreed the Kenmore was so easy, had more stitches, and a drop-in bobbin is hard to beat for threading. Sold! Christine picked out the White 734D serger because it opened up on both the front and side for easier threading. All went home happy, including myself (but I was already home?)

Saturday morning Patty was driving down almost three hours to pick up a Singer 201-2 in a bentwood case. Two weeks prior we had a lovely phone conversation and talked about all sorts of models and she asked if I would want to see her Singer 222. That's a Featherweight free-arm model so the answer was "You bet!"

Singer 222 with bed plate removed

Patty has a great set-up with a soft carrying case, custom made bag for the foot control, and even a beautifully quilted sleeve for the part of the bed that flips up. Here's Patty with her Christmas gift:

Note large acrylic table  custom made, too

My husband even came over to see what all the fuss was about and had to admit this was pretty special. Patty said you couldn't really see the machine in the above photo so we took several more:

Quilted piece is the bag to fit over the bed plate that is now removed

Even the carrying case was in pristine shape

Here you can see the bed removed

I know it seems like cross purposes to have a small sewing machine that you can make smaller (free-arm) and then you fit it with a plate to make it larger, but if you love that perfect stitch of the Singer 221 it does make sense.

Patty loves to quilt and has a great schedule of how she uses her vintage sewing machines: each one gets two months of use then gets cleaned up and put away, rotating each one in turn. I love that idea! Here's the Singer 201-2 that she came down for:

Singer 201-2

I'm especially proud of the bentwood case I ended up stripping down, adding back a Singer decal that had to be removed, but such a fine looking case it is now:

Bentwood case with new finish

Although Patty already had a Singer 201 it was not in good shape and was looking for a better one. This one was better and she liked the pristine bentwood box so it was a deal. After a tour of the garage (don't you show off your garage to visitors?) and talk of the up-come sewing machine garage sale, Patty had to get going.

An afternoon of driving around to garage sales was fun, even if it threatened rain most of the afternoon, and I came home with a Singer 66. This is a nice, basic sewing machine but this one was pulled out of storage in the garage, wrapped in sticky plastic wrap, revealing broken pieces all over. Closer inspection showed the black plastic casing on the motor was all in bits and pieces. The decals were pretty good but there was significant rust on the shiny metal pieces, plus the need for a new motor...I bargained hard and he accepted my offer. I spent many hours on this one, putting a new motor, light, and foot control from a Singer 99, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning, especially those rusty parts. The bobbin winder was the worst but overnight in Evapo-rust did wonders. All put back together and it sounded terrible. Was that why this motor was removed? I ended up taking the motor apart and cleaning it up but no rewiring was necessary and the brushes were good. Once I got it back together it sounded normal and with a few more adjustments and oil, she's a real beauty that runs nice, too.

Singer 66 dated 1949

This one did feel like a rescue since the motor was not going to work as it was and the owner was pretty clueless, thinking it was a treasure when in truth millions of these were made. Now it can go on to actually sew, something it was made to do. Now let's get sewing!

Haiti Update

I've written in the past about Ellie's project in Haiti and her recent trip found her taking a serger for their use. Although she was thinking about buying two, she held back because sergers are just a bit tricky. What if it was more than they could reasonably handle? What if parts were broken? It would only run with electricity so that would limit use and maybe that would be a bad thing or maybe not.

While she was gone I received a few emergency texts like "what size bobbin does the Kenmore use?" and "are there special needles for the serger?" and I liked keeping in touch while Ellie and her friend Karen (yes, another Karen) were teaching and learning.  I even got the following photo:

Sewing on the Necchi Leila in Haiti: she traveled far!

Although the Necchi sewing machine arrived in a previous shipment, I usually don't get to see them being used. That goes for all the sewing machines and sergers I sell: no one sends me "selfies" of themselves sitting at their sewing machine! It is also fair to say I do not have a single photo of myself sitting behind a sewing machine either so what does that say about where we spend so much of our time?

Time has marched on and now Ellie brings back a few more of her gifts for me to assess, restore, and give back for her to ship out. Today's story is about a White 208 serger. I sent Ellie a text pointing out a serger that was at a location closer to her than me so she got over there pronto. It turned out to be a pawn shop and they were willing to deal since the foot was missing. Foot? I translated that as "foot control" and figured I might have an extra that fit. Imagine my surprise when she brings over a very nice White serger

White 208 serger (and it really is white!)

with a foot control, along with a Singer 66 Red Eye head and a Singer 15-90 clone in a case with broken hinges. The White serger had a foot control. It did not have a presser foot. Ahhhh, that might not be as easy to replace. As it turned out, I have several models that use the same presser foot so I could test it out, clean and restore before I got a new foot in the mail: a presser foot, that is. A new one was ordered and Ellie was anxious to pick it up since the next shipment was leaving in only another week. You can imagine my disappointment when the foot arrived and it had the letter R stamped on it. To me, a serger foot with an R means Rolled Hem Foot. Sure enough, it was only for a single needle in the right position for making that narrow rolled hem. This would not work as a general purpose foot and my searching online showed only the bigger (and more expensive) dealers had the foot I needed for around $35.

Left: rolled hem, Center: regular, Right: broken finger

Ellie could have one from one of my sergers and I could wait for the price to drop, or an Ebay seller to offer one at a lower price, but eventually I was going to need one if I wanted to sell one of my White sergers. I hate when this happens! I notified the seller and they admitted it was mis-labeled and I could send it back but they didn't have the right one either. Since I have several that used this same presser foot, I decided to keep it as an extra feature ("rolled hem foot included") since I would lose money sending it back. That is the rub sometimes.

As I was taking photos I noticed that, side by side, the regular feet didn't match: one was wider but that wasn't an issue. Take a closer look at the tiny finger-like protrusions where the needles land: the outer edge finger is broken off a bit. Well, that means I'll be looking to buy two of those feet when I get a good price.

Here are the rest of her machines as they are still waiting my attention:

Singer 66 Red Eye (with motor)

Singer 15 (disguised as a State)

Aren't those nice decals? Both need electrical work and the State needs carpentry skills on the case base, but if I don't have a deadline they will get done before they need to get shipped. Now, since I mentioned that I didn't have any photos of myself sewing, I close with a photo of me (thanks, Jim) at my new-to-me Viking #1, a peach of a machine: