Moving Day

Long weekends can be wonderful and also challenging. We are in a deep freeze with two weekends in a row having below zero temps and wicked windchill so it's a good time to stay inside and sew. Taking a look at my UFO's (unfinished objects), I made up a black gingham apron with a corner of a vintage tablecloth for accent:

Gingham was almost cream so went nice

 

 with tablecloth corner

Loved how easy it was and practical, too. Next up was a girls dress from "Girls Style Book" by Tsukiori in chambray with red gingham bias trim. These patterns are easy with simple lines that just beg for interesting fabrics or embellishment.

Pretend it's pressed and pins out of the hem!

Next up was the Kenmore 158-1980 where I had two models, sold one to a nice young couple, but the second one seemed to be doomed. Carolyn was interested but she wanted one with the bobbin case that would come out easily with just a small screw driver (or pin) to pull out the yellow "wings"that releases the case. This is especially good when you use fabric that is linty and you need to clean out the bobbin area frequently, a feature on my original Kenmore and I also grew to love it. When I sat down to make sure the machine was going to show its good side, it did not have the easy-release bobbin case. What? I was sure it did but maybe that was the machine that went to the young couple. Oh no, Carolyn was not going to like this but it was too late to get a hold of her. Besides, now that I was stitching that wasn't going well either. It was somewhat of a perfect storm of mistakes but Carolyn was gracious, tried sewing with it and explained her job as a professional seamstress. This was only going to be a back-up sewing machine but she did have to have the removable bobbin case. I was mad at myself for this big goof but we parted amicably. Now I had the time to take a look at my bobbin cases and try out two of the type she wanted.

Like this one (but cleaner!)

 It fit! I was ready to call her to relay the big news but then I sewed with it. Tension was very wrong (oh yeah, it was a different bobbin case) and the swing of the needle in zig zag left many skipped stitches. Sigh.

With an extra day at home, I had two wonderful ladies coming from a Friends of the Library group to buy sewing machines. Evidently, they had way too many young teens asking for books on how to sew and they wanted to give sewing lessons on sewing machines, ones that would work well and not be too expensive. They knew they hit the mother load when they saw my "Learn to Sew Sewing Machines" ad on Craigslist. With six sewing machines set up on the kitchen/dining table, they tried all six and said "Let's take them all!" so I was one happy business woman. They announced they would be back to buy machines for themselves so now we are friends!

After they left I had the task of moving my sewing room from one side of the basement to the other. It was decided it might be better to have all of my sewing stuff together and all of the "other" storage stuff in the spare room. Now, these are small rooms at best but it was going to be a big task. At the end of the day, all of it got moved but it's not a pretty sight:

Somewhat a "wall of shame" huh?

By count, there are 75 sewing machines either in portable cases or just as heads, and then about eight sergers, too. Something is going to have to be done. Next I prioritized my inventory with good machines on shelves with model numbers, machines that need help in the floor or listed for $10, and hopeless were broken down for parts. This is a big project but I hope it makes for less chaos in the end. Maybe this is what is due for having way too many sewing machines and not enough time or skill to fix them. Another sigh.

But hope does seem to spring eternal: I sat down with the Kenmore in hopes of getting it straightened out and last night it finally worked! There were some adjustments to the needlebar I had only done a few times before but it seemed I needed to finesse the width and position of the zig zag and move the needle bar down. Since I could not seem to get it to move down, upon closer inspection I did find out I could move it forward and backward. A small adjustment forward seemed to help the thread to catch in the hook on the left and right side of the zig zag. Much practice and "settling in" produced a fine stitch, even at the widest width.  This was indeed a silver lining.

Kenmore 158-1980

A Star Wars Christmas

Isn't it fun when our interests and skills cross paths with our vocation? That happens to me often enough that I must wonder if it's intentional on my part or just a blessing. To give our students a bit of stress relief during finals, we decided to have a Star Wars theme in the library and to kick off the release of their new movie. When we sat down to figure out what we wanted to do and what could actually get done, I volunteered to dress up our dress forms in appropriate costume and then the fun began. Which characters would be possible? What could I use that would be cheap? What was realistic?

It came down to Obi Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, R2D2, and Yoda. We found out someone had a Chewbacca costume so we are borrowing that, too. As it turned out, R2D2 was the most time consuming but they all took a fair amount of time. Here's the break down:

Obi Wan Kenobi started with a donated karate outfit with added collar and belted with a find from Goodwill Outlet. Boots, also from Goodwill Outlet, were added at the base of the dress form with the pants tucked into them. The robe was made from one of my bed sheets that no longer had a mate, drawn from a pattern found online. All together he was pretty easy and could we worn by someone:

Obi Wan Kenobi

Princess Leia was the fun one to make with a long white gown made from a large polyester knit that was glowing white. I bought it not knowing how I would ever use it but it was just too good to pass up. Voila! An online tutorial provided all of the steps I needed to make the dress and belt.

Simple robe type of shape

The belt took several tired before I came up with white vinyl, silver lame, and covered buttons. The hair piece was from another tutorial and is waiting for a hairband. This costume is going to be worn by one of our staff on Study Day.

Princess Leia with Yoda

R2D2 took many ties and I finally just had to settle because I was running out of time. Several weeks prior I took a donated ball and marked off places for the many gizmos on his shell with duct tape.

R2D2 with tape next to Leia in my office

He then got a coat of primer and another of silver paint, waiting days between coats. The silver never dried and the tape came off and left the adhesive behind. What a sticky mess! So the ball came home with me for a paper mache treatment. It was not too smooth after the first coat so I tried using liquid starch as recommended of several websites. Oh no, this now created flakes every time it was touched. Then I added something that was more like Spackle and it got smoother but also heavier and had a tendency to roll away.

R2D2's legs on left with sanded head

 I finally just sanded it, primed, and painted with the silver spray paint and called it done. All of the little squares and circles on his head and body were then added, first in paint (did not cover well) and then in blue duct tape (that peeled the paint off). Appendages were added, knobs and lids hot glued on, and he was declared DONE:

R2D2

Yoda was the quickest of all with a donated Halloween costume coming to the rescue. A pillow provided the body, the costume dressed onto the pillow with an added face printed from an online photo of Yoda. He got stuck into a 5 quart ice cream bucket and went into the display. Here they all are on the day before Study Day, waiting for photo opps:

Library version of Star Wars characters

This should be fun on Study Day and we already had many comments about what we were doing so just wait until the characters go walking around the library! At least Princess Leia and Chewbacca will be and it's possible we might talk someone else into wearing Obi Wan Kenobi. Oh the fun you can have while on the job! Yes, sewing machines and sergers were used in this production and I did much of it at work or it was comp. time I have already used up but its a case of using what you've got to the delight of others. Now I have to finish up a few projects of my own at home!

Crafteroon

It's fun to share our talents with others, sometimes learning a new skill or taking the time for someone else. My husband and I spent a Sunday afternoon learning a new craft, a crafteroon, when my daughter Kelly opened her home to those who wanted to make jewelry. There is no charge for the event and she even has supplies for all you would need. How does she do that? No charge? But then you get to her house and see all of the beads, pendants, metal works, and findings she has and you get the picture: she would love to have some of it gone and if it leaves via someone else's efforts, that's just great. My husband insisted on buying two small packages of silver hearts to make each of his daughters a pair of earrings and some of the older granddaughters necklaces but I assured him Kelly probably already had a stockpile of hearts. I brought along a couple dresses that I was trying to find jewelry for and we managed to match up some of the beads and a pendant stone.

We arrived to find two tables in the dining room that had boxes of jewelry findings down the center. They are in compartmentalized boxes by the type of metal: shiny silver, silver, antique silver, gold antique gold, bronze,black, etc. On a side table were beads by colors. Into the living room were more boxes of beads by color on the coffee table and even more on a low set of bookshelves. It was overwhelming!

Liz was already there and a friend of hers from work came a bit later but even though we each had ideas of what we wanted to make it was still a lot to take in. With Kelly's direction, things took shape as we found pendants and other pieces, starting to put form to those ideas. Ready for style and color consultation, Kelly gets you started and gives assistance in the techniques for putting things together.

Here's the layout in the dining room: see more on the table in the background?

Do I know how to tie a clasp into a necklace? No, but Kelly does and shows you on one end and then helps you try it other end with her guidance. Along the way there is much conversation between all of us as we admire and give judgement calls on what looks nice together. Hot beverages were DIY but we were almost too busy to stop and take a sip. There was going to be a prize for anyone who used up a whole container of beads, thus freeing up some space but when I knocked a container of tiny beads onto the floor (losing about a third of my already strung necklace beads in the process) I was declared the winner even though it wasn't exactly what she was aiming for. I think we could come over every week for a year and hardly make a dent into her supplies. Why so much? She was the recipient of someones jewelry making supplies when they could no longer do this and it almost doubled her count. We are grateful she shares this mountain of wealth with us.

Here's what some of us made in the two to three hours we were there:

Liz's earring up in the corner but her friend made the rest: WOW!

Earrings are for Jim's 4 daughters and necklaces for granddaughters: I think they have HIS heart.

My contribution with purple necklace, earrings in another shade of purple/blue

I picked up the sewing machine charms at the last craft fair and Kelly had the right charms to add to them. Since this is a sewing machine blog, this is my tie-in:

It was a productive and fun afternoon in December that gave us all a good time. Sorry we couldn't lighten Kelly's load by much but I understand she's going to have another one soon. Wouldn't you like to come?

Craft Fair #1

The Saturday craft fair at Salem Covenant Church was a very big success for my daughter Kelly and I with our top dollar amount in sales ever. Business was steady with not just lookers but buyers, too. Even though I had some new items, such as the hanger covers and aprons, the big sellers continue to be the hot mitts. I made up about twenty new ones for this sale and I sold so many that now I will need to make up almost twice as many for the next sale on November 21. Success! Now I will need to get sewing. I thought you might like to see the process and the use of my limited space:

That's right: it's just 2 ironing boards

Sewing them up on the Singer 201 with a walking foot

The best part of being in show like this is talking with the customers and other vendors to see what they like or would like to see. Various color schemes and themes were suggested: blue kitchens, sport themes, no white edges (there aren't any but even light colors are rejected), larger tea cozies, mother/daughter aprons, and solid color ironing board covers. There were a few items in the boxes we were not going to put out but thought "why not?" and they sold: at least two rag dolls sold, although the baby back-zip sweaters did not. None of the toaster covers sold even though everyone liked the one with Bible verses:

So what is my response to this? On the way home I stopped to buy more cotton batting by the yard and Insul-Bright heat reflecting/absorbing lining for the hot mitts. The men's shirt aprons got a lot of attention so I looked through my stash of shirts and decided I needed to buy a red shirt to combine with a couple green shirts for some Christmasy half aprons. Okay, that was Kelly's idea, not mine, but it's a good one! I also found one that was very pheasant- hunting-season and I'm thinking about what I could add to it for a great look. I have sold more of the hunting and fishing themed items to women for women rather than men so it stands to reason those same women might want an apron.

Here's the pile of hot mitts I'm working on tonight:

From fish to herbs to denim, to printed piecework, something for everyone!

Although most is done by machine, the final stitching of the bias tape is best done by hand so there's my stack by my chair, waiting for me to get back to my movie. I better hurry: the good part has just begun!

Getting Ready

The first craft fair of the season is quickly approaching and I've been very busy sewing up new items and freshening up my stock.

Ironing board covers in plastic bags with hot mitts and towels

That comes up to five new ironing board covers, new aprons, twenty additional hot mitts, a few matching towels, couple dozen hanger covers, and some miscellaneous items I hope to get done before Saturday morning. Besides just the process of sewing, I've been using a variety of my sewing machines to put them through their paces. Using a Singer 15-91 with a walking foot, I quilted the hot mitts and added the bias binding. From there I took off the walking foot and made the casings for the ironing board covers on a few but then switched to a Kenmore 158-1980 to hem the last of them. I discovered this model did not seem to have the needle centered and the electronic foot control drove me crazy: even the slightest touch made it hum so I needed to remember to remove my foot completely each and every time. Didn't I always? Apparently not but it might have been due to its rather large size and the need to pick up my foot. This does not make the Kenmore 1980 a winner for me.

Kenmore 158-1980

The real big news is both cars are back in the garage! Two more cabinet sewing machines were sold over the weekend and that only left three to come inside. My ever generous husband agreed on their placement and we were good to go until I got a call about someone wanting to return a sewing machine. In a cabinet.

Kenmore 158-1690

Since I guarantee all sales, I was obligated to take it back but I wasn't too happy since it was a rather longer in length desk and a so-so model. I actually got talked into selling it when the man called about a sewing machine that had sold earlier in the week. He printed off the information while the listing was still active but didn't check to see if it was still available and it was not. He asked about other machines that would be similar and I suggested the Kenmore 158-1690 but he pushed for a much lower price. Since I hadn't listed it yet I figured that was worth something to me so I let it go for only $5 more than what I had paid. When picking it up he explained his circumstances and kept asking if it could be returned and I should have heeded his inquiry. Sure enough, a week later I get a call from his son asking if it could be returned because his mother wanted something more computerized. Well, not at that price point! It came home last night and is sitting where the garbage cans will end up when it snows but needs to be moved. It needs to be moved out of my garage into someone else's house.

I'm very carefully not buying any more cabinet models. Unless...they are those cute built in chair desks. Or a highly desired model. Yea, I picked up a Viking 19 last night but it's a portable...

Viking Husqvarna 19

and in pristine condition. Very excited but that's not the end of the story because this was a two-for.

Stay tuned to see which model came home with the Viking Husqvarna 19 (and, no, it's not in a cabinet!).

It's Old and It's New

In an effort to get ready for the first craft fair of the season, only one month away, I've been thinking up ways to make my booth look fresh. Oh, I'll still make some new hot mitts, toaster covers, and tea cozies but along with replenishing my stock, I would like to add a few new items. This year I'll have aprons from men's shirts but I wanted to use some of the vintage fabric I've been collecting. My search on Pinterest for vintage linen had some great ideas and the covers for hangers seemed like a good choice. Just like so many of these little sewing projects, I enjoy putting together the fabric and trims to make a new item almost as much as the actual sewing. I got busy and made the following this week:

Hanger covers in mostly vintage fabrics

This hardly made a dent in my stash so now I'm going to add a few more for a child size hanger:

Child sized hangers, bottom is vintage dresser scarf

Using a serger and sewing machine I've got quite a production line going with serging the outer layer and lining, assembling and pressing, adding the trim with a regular sewing machine, and hand sewing the final bow with button. It always seemed like the outer layer was too large for the lining until I remembered I needed to use an even feed or walking foot. Why does this seem like such a pain? It is only a little bit wider than a regular zig zag foot but in tight places it seems huge. I keep tweaking my technique until I get this down pat but I think I should have three sewing machines set up: serger, sewing machine with a zig zag (for the opening where the hanger hook is inserted), and one with a walking foot for the bottom hem with lace. I do not have a set-up for three machines right now because all of the cabinets are in the garage but one of them is going to be returned to the basement so I can set up another portable.

Which one is coming in for sure? I love the Singer 99 in the combination table and it would give me a nice surface to set up another machine.

Singer 99 with combination table

Singer 99 ready to be removed

But maybe I should bring down one of the beautiful Singer 15's in their Queen Anne cabinets just because they are so nice looking.

Singer #40 table - Queen Anne

A fully loaded Kenmore would be useful, too, but I already have one where the sergers are now set up and used. It might come down to which one I can bring down the stairs by myself. So many choices; why do I want to sell them all? That's right: winter is coming and my car wants to get into the garage!

Textile Center Garage Sale

Remember when you were a kid and it seemed like you waited all year for Christmas? The Textile Center garage sale is like that for me. Seriously! Although it has been an annual event for 15 years, this is only my third year in attendance but I'm already a huge fan. This year I decided to support them by volunteering in their set-up so I'll start with an explanation of how this starts.

The Textile Center is a center for learning about textile arts and is a non-profit organization of artists. In order to fund many of their projects, such as a summer camp for kids and various programs, this fund raiser was born. It is held in a storage facility/warehouse for reusable good from the U of MN so while we are setting up and selling the textile materials, the warehouse is selling used file cabinets and chairs. Desks and tables are arranged down the aisles, taking up two of the three largest areas. Donations for the sale are brought around to a side door and runners unload the vehicles while others are sorting, bagging, and pricing items not already pre-priced by the donors. I volunteered at the sign-in desk and directed the foot traffic a bit for three hours. It was fun to watch and I could shop when my shift was over but I only bought three books, resisting temptation until Saturday. There is a preview sale on Friday evening but it's a fund-raiser too, with admission at $25-30. I knew I could wait until Saturday.

Saturday dawned with mild temperatures, always iffy on an April day in Minnesota, and I met my daughter Kelly and friend Ann at a nearby parking lot and we drove together because the parking lot charges $4 per car and the off-street parking is very limited. This was a first for Ann and we just couldn't prepare her enough for the size and variety of items. There are patterns, magazines, books, yarn, wool roving, fabric of all types, and then all of the paraphernalia that goes with these crafts. A silent auction is held for the larger items: looms, knitting machines, and sewing machines. Lots of sewing machines. It was fun to look them over and I put bids on the two I was hoping to take home. No, I was outbid but it didn't break my heart. Magazines and patterns are ten for $1 and most of the books were only $1, There was a section of UFO's: unfinished objects. I don't know if I should feel glad that the owners have finally realized they were never going to finish that blouse or knit a sweater on size 2 needles, or should I be sad that they have given up. There were bags of wool roving, cones and  skeins of yarn, and then before us were the tables/desks full of all kinds of fabrics. They ranged from cotton, knits, wool, satin, linings, Lycra, decorator and upholstery. When I was volunteering a woman walked in looking for directions to the unloading dock and said she had thirty boxes; there were many people who must have done the same to amass that many textile goods. So we shopped, putting items we dare not let lay on the table a moment longer:

When those items were safely in the car, we went back, met with other friends, walked around again, and finally got in line for the BAG SALE. Doors would close at 2:45 with everyone out and when they opened again at 3 pm you could put anything in the bag for $2 per bag, larger items going for half of their marked price. We were in line at 2 pm with only about a dozen people ahead of us so our hopes were high. A bright sunny day and friends kept us from boredom but it was still a long wait. They came out and checked our hand-stamps (admission was $1) and the doors were opened. Yes, once I got around the slow movers I ran to the back of the fabric and went right to the woolens and put my choice pieces in a bag, rushing over to the cottons, then the knits, back to the woolens and decorator fabrics, staving off panic (what was next?) over to the yarn to find there was only a little bit left, but the aisles were really filling up as now everyone was inside. All the while, one of the workers is standing on a desk top and yelling encouragement with phrases like "Remember, Mother's Day is coming"and "There's always room for one more bag!" I left the fabric and yarn aisle and went over to the books to pick up a few more, skip the patterns and magazines, and on to the UFO's. You see, I'm always rooting for the underdog and those projects represented someone's unfulfilled dreams. I found a children's sweater only half done, but then I came upon the read find: vintage linens! I found some tablecloths so I stuffed all of this into my bags and admitted I could carry no more. I went up to the checkout and paid for my four bags. I found my traveling companions and we did our own show and tell, proud of our bargains. What was the time? 3:20. It only took fifteen minutes to choose and cram all that stuff into four bags and pay for it. Wow, that was very fast. So here's my stash for the day:

Classic sewing books and magazines on sewing and beading

Woven cottons

Wools on left, knits and heavy woven on right

Patterns: maybe for mother-in-law?

The children's sweater was ripped out (too many mistakes!), washable fabric had the cut edges serged before washing, and everything was examined for possible problems and alerts. I found one of the patterns was a size 16 so that gets donated back, but everything else looks quite good. The vintage linen washed up great and those tablecloths were not all for the table: one zippered bag held a sheet and three pillowcases with beautiful heavy white on white embroidery. They were probably in someone's cedar chest where they were kept for "good" but that day never arrived. Most of us do not want to iron sheets these days so now they end up in a bag sale where I probably only paid 50 cents for them. I hope I can find an extra special good use that will represent the hours of work that went into their work and learn a lesson that we are not to save these items for "good" but to use them and celebrate the good in every day. It was a good day.

Aprons

Keeping your clothes clean while in the kitchen or just for general housework has become a thing of the past. Women and girls used to wear aprons to save their clothes from frequent washing but that was when you wore a dress many times before washing and only washed your apron when dirty. Today we wash all of our clothes frequently and sometimes change clothes several times a day. Why would you need or want an apron? When company comes for diner and you can appear with your apron on to look like you've actually been cooking in your kitchen? To keep your nice outfit clean even though you are cooking? Because they are just cute? You like that vintage look of your grandmother (probably your great-grandmother)? All of the above are legitimate reasons for wearing an apron. As a child I thought an apron was just part of what my grandma always wore, like a pinafore I had with a few dresses. I remember my own mom wearing a half apron that had a red towel sewn into the pocket or waistband and she loved how handy it was. The jump-start to my apron making came when I found an apron pattern in with a collection of sewing stuff crammed into a sewing bench. It was one you could send away for from Women's Day magazine from September 1963. There are at least eight different styles and full sized patterns but it was all in black and white until I went to Pinterest and found the original article in color:

Pretty fancy for the kitchen, huh?

The rest of the views

With these color visualized, now I was ready to make a few aprons. Kelly and I went shopping for fabric and found all of these lace yokes, I suppose for various tops, only $3 each . We dug through them all and I came up with five I liked that met with her approval. She helped me pick out fabric that would coordinate with those lace pieces and I clearly needed her help. When I matched up prints she would  hold back from rolling her eyes but would say "That's fine if you are selling it to someone your age." Well. Or  a bit more tactful comment was "Who are you going to sell these aprons to?" and since it was her age group I needed her advice. Here's a selection of the fabrics with the yokes:

At the same time I was thinking about those aprons I got a request to make an apron from a sandwich cookie fabric I used to make a toaster cover. I only had half a yard left and no more was available so I came up with this idea:

Bib apron with cookie fabric centered

I finished it up and sent the photo to my requester and she loved it! I have a bit more of the fabric so it's possible I could even make another one; maybe I should since the first one is always a bit of a practice model. The vintage pattern wasn't the easiest to understand so I used my own methods to assemble it and maybe that wasn't the best way! I also found they wanted to make everything quite a bit longer than we would today so I shortened the cookie pattern by five inches. That wasn't what I did for this peachy number and I think it's quite long:

Fancy bib on peach apron with aqua piping

It will need to be sold to someone tall! I have some vintage tablecloths that would make fun aprons, too, so be prepared to find some of these items in my Etsy shop in the months to come. They are fun to design, sew up fairly quickly, use less fabric than a dress, and are currently popular. I need to thank my daughter for her help in design and color and to thank my mom who has always been a model of grace and fashion in the kitchen. Thanks Kelly, thanks Mom!

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.