Singer Restored Plus a Garage Sale

As promised, this is a post about a family sewing machine that no one wanted. Isn't that just sad? Of course not many are as rabid about sewing machines as this mavin here but I guess I should be happy. A Singer 201 came up on FB Marketplace for an excellent price so I messaged the seller and we arranged a day and time for pickup. The name was the same as my son-in-laws and the location was where his father grew up so I just had to ask if there was any connection. Sure enough, small world and all, it was his aunt and we figured it was his grandfather's sewing machine. Now we were a bit excited but it was nearly an hour north of us so I needed to recruit my husband in this adventure. He suggested we pick up the sewing machine and then keep driving north to pick up our travel trailer from his friends property where it has been stored since November. Sounded like a win-win to me so off we went. The sewing machine was in a small downtown office so we drove around trying to find the shop number but finally connected and got it loaded. It seemed just dirty from neglect and long term storage but it was a 201, one of my favorites. We headed on up to get the trailer, got it all hooked up, and then drove home in pouring rain. Our first trip on the road and it was terrible! We got home feeling a bit shaky but now we know how to drive with a trailer in this kind of weather.

Here's our retirement travel trailer, all 16 feet of her.

Once we got home and I got around to fixing up what we brought home, the sewing machine was in excellent shape but the cabinet was pretty ugly. A water ring on the right side of the top was about the worst but I know this type of cabinet can be cleaned up. I took it all apart, drawers and their frames, top lid, and then just the simple framework. It all got stripped down, sanded, stained, and 3 coats of satin polyurethane. It looks great:

Singer 201-2

Classic table for a Singer

Singer 201-2 in her refinished cabinet/table

I got back in touch with the family to show them how nice it looks now. They congratulated me on doing a good job but there was no interest in owning it again. It was sitting in the garage when David came over to purchase a Singer 99 in a cute bentwood case. He's a quilter and needed to have a smaller machine than his full size Singer 66 to take to classes. While we were talking I happened to open the table where the 201 was housed and he was admiring it when I asked if he wanted to hear how it sounded. Of course he was interested so I plugged it in and he was a goner. He called the next day and said he wanted the 201. No problem, it's now his. I'm so happy this is going to a good home with someone who loves to sew, quilting mainly, and knows a good sewing machine when he finds one.

The Textile Center had to cancel their annual garage sale last spring but were not going down without a contingency plan. Once a month, starting in July, they took donations and sold tickets to their limited sale. I donated a few weeks ago, registering for a time slot, staying in my car, and following their rules. Last weekend was the sale date so I bought a $5 ticket for 9 am, was allowed 45 minutes to shop and 15 minutes to check-out. Everything was in labeled categories with an Oval Room table for extra special items, priced sewing machines, and a bag sale at the back. I spent most of my time with the bag sale where I put all the fabric I wanted in to bag, plus patterns, all for $10. Along with a bag of yarn and a knee lift lever for an unknown sewing machine, I was all set. Here's what I came home with:

Clothing patterns for me

Patterns for granddaughters

Fun knits for leggings and tops

Quilting cotton

Fabulous knits

Cotton yarn for towels

It was definitely worth my time but I don't think I will go again, leaving time slots open for others. They really had a great plan and I hope it works out well for others, too. Next up: Virtual River Rats TOGA and the quilt blocks I made for the block exchange. Let's just say my skills were sorely challenged.

Free and No-So-Free

Last week I got a call from a friend asking if I wanted another free sewing machine. Of course I said yes because he hadn't sent over anything I couldn't handle... yet. Besides, if I couldn't fix it I knew what to do with it (parts, etc.). When it gets dropped off, here's what I see:

Table has seen better days!

Oh my, that's a pretty scratched up surface. Inside is a Japanese built JA-13 sewing machine, badged Universal, model KAT, that is dirty but the hand wheel turns so there is hope. Last night I was itching to get a look at it so I pulled the head out of the table and brought her inside. She is one dirty bird:

This photo doesn't do it justice but, trust me, this was grimy

Surface dirt is usually no problem so I take a look inside to find the bobbin case, hook, and ring all covered in a sticky substance. Although I'm not sure what was used, you can bet it was some type of oil that has now congealed into a sticky mess. Thank goodness sewing machine oil cleaned it right up and from there I see there are only a few other parts that got this treatment. Most of it is just dirt that is easily cleaned off with sewing machine oil. Everything is moving really nice until I check the feed dog drop:

Angled rod with bullet on end manages the feed dogs dropping

They don't drop. I work and work on them but I can't get them to move. The bullet and the arm are removed, cleaned further, manipulated, put back together, still no dropping. The hair dryer comes out and with heat applied I finally get movement but not what I need to call this fixed. I give up for now and put things back together but now when I start it up it binds. What? After another hour of adjustments and trying to find exactly where it is catching I have to walk away. Maybe tomorrow I will have a flash of insight.

While this sewing machine was free, I got a package from Missouri Star Quilters that was not free but a pretty good deal. Their enticement emails come on a daily basis and this time I fell prey to one of their deals: Amy Butler designs in a fat quarter bundle and a 10" square stack:

Surprise! Even a free template

They are gorgeous! The 10" squares are repeated so there are 23 different designs for a total of 42 squares but that makes it better for quilting projects. What are my plans? Let's just look at them for now and dream.

Last weekend I picked up a quilt kit from someone in my neck of the woods that I saw advertised and just loved the colors:

Leaf fabric has gold outlines for a rich quality

No plans to make it soon but looks like a nice fall into winter project. Who wants to sew fall colors when it's barely spring? Come September when I'm back with the quilters up north I will love having this project to work on. If I can add more colors to the borders to make it larger, that will be a plus.

Update: I went back to the Universal sewing machine last night and finally tried six different hooks until I found one that didn't rub.

If I only had an arrow to show which part is the hook!

 Everything got adjusted again and now she's sewing fine. It's not as quiet as a sewing machine like this can be but I think with a little TLC on the table and someone might find a decent mechanical machine at a bargain price!

Universal JA-13, model KAT

Stitch sample shows some skipped stitches so maybe it needs a new needle but not too bad for first try

She also comes with a nice set of accessories and the original manual. In the bottom of the accessory manual I found the original bill of sale from 1969: $195 plus tax in Minneapolis. What a deal!

Legacy

I'm still in Florida, taking care of my mom who had a very brief bout with pancreatic cancer, dying only three weeks after hearing the diagnosis. We had one good week together where we had some fun together and some tears, and her calling out our names in threes "Karen, Karen, Karen!" or "Girls, girls, girls..." On her last day she had a sponge bath and got arranged comfortably in bed, quietly taking her last breathe while we were each off doing something else. It was a quiet moment to say goodbye to this world.

In taking care of her household belongings, we have found some interesting things I hope my readers would also like to hear about. While she had sold her sewing machine to a friend of mine for her daughter decades ago (I think it was a Singer Fashion Mate), she still did some mending and had a long ride with counted cross stitch projects. We did find a sewing drawer where she had spools of thread, ribbons, snaps, and all those kinds of things for minor repairs. And she had buttons, lots and lots of buttons:

Buttons, buttons, buttons!

At first it was a jar of tiny zippered plastic bags with spare buttons that come with some clothing. I opened up each bag and put the buttons in a smaller jar, keeping those little bags for other items.

Buttons from recent clothing purchases

Then we found more jars of buttons, and finally THE jar of vintage buttons. Actually, it was a box that had been covered with Contact paper but I recognized it immediately from my childhood. Wow, I knew these were dating from the 1940's so I gladly put them in a safer place.

Vintage buttons

Then my husband found a tiny tube that contained three needles. Rolled up inside was a note from when I gave it to her over thirty years ago:

Thi note was kept since 1986?

One time when we were talking about gifts she told me this little tube was such a simple thing and something she loved very dearly, saying you just never know what is going to tickle your fancy. Apparently, this one did:

Wood tube painted to hold current project needles

It just goes to show you that you never know what is going to be valuable: sometimes it's a jar of old buttons, sometimes it a wooden tube painted with flowers to hold your sewing needles. It's about making memories along the way, loving those you hold dear, and letting them go while keeping your memories alive with buttons and needle holders.

Moral Support

My posts have been a little sparse as of late and will continue to be because I'm not at home where I can indulge my sewing machine addiction unabated, or at least it seems that way. I have been in Florida where the sun shines and the evenings are mild but this isn't a vacation. You see, I've come to assist a sister and brother-in-law care for our mother since she has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For those who have walked down this same path, you know how hard this can be and we are no exception. She was diagnosed two weeks ago and I have been here a week so I did get to see her while she was talking and still a little bit feisty but just as quickly she is now unable to eat and does not get out of bed. Our hearts are breaking but she has been quite up-front and realistic from the beginning so we have hospice care to help her and us, her caretakers.

My mom has been my biggest fan of my sewing machine adventure blog, always reading each post (especially when I could put her on an alert list so she would get an email when a new edition was posted) and sending an email back with her praise. Now, she has said she didn't always understand what I was referring to, but that was okay since my writing sounded just like I was speaking. She said she felt closer to me when she read my blog and what I was up to. That always felt good since I didn't spend enough time on the phone with her but she didn't really complain, just told me how much she liked to hear the sound of my voice. Isn't it like that with people we love: we just want to hear their voice!

Alison, Emma, Mom, Karen summer 2015

When I became an adult and got the chance to view my life from a broader perspective, I went back to my parents and thanked them for three things.

1. My curly hair: this has made my life easier with a quick wash and blow dry.
2. Letting me go to college: my sister Sue was the trail-blazer but they didn't put up much fuss and I knew they could have.
3. Encouraging me in my sewing: fabric was bought, items cut but never finished as I tried new skills and wasn't too successful, clothing worn that didn't flatter but I had made it myself, and even helping me learn some new skills like putting in a placket for a sleeve cuff. 

They kind of laughed it off and siad they really didn't do that much but those were things I wanted them to know before I wouldn't have a chance to tell them. That was almost forty years ago and my dad has been gone since 1985 but I'm still learning things from my mom.

She left a job of eighteen years when a friend asked her to come work at a better company. It took courage to leave the comfort of her job as a secretary in a retail store (remember Wieboldt's?) and venture farther from home and into the unknown and she said it was my encouragement that got her out the door. Only a few years later she left that job for a better position and this was where she stayed until she retired. Again, it wasn't easy but she made new friends and enjoyed learning new skills. In retirement she decided to move to Florida because her arthritis was so much better in the warmth of the south. We were a little unsure of such a big move far away but we have all visited her, some every year, and she has always been a wonderful hostess. 

In her youth, my mom was a bit of a beauty queen as her town "Miss" going onto the county contest but from there we aren't too sure and we know she was never Miss Iowa. She was always a beauty in our dad's eyes and we could see the admiration he had for her. In her widowed years she continued to be a beauty and has had a few boyfriends in Florida and we can't help but chuckle at our beauty queen mother. 

And now we have the privilege to help her in this new adventure of leaving the familiar behind and to go on alone. She's been quite a lady, one we will miss, and my biggest cheerleader. We miss you, Mom.

Kelly, Mom, and Karen

Grandma Elsie

In the aftermath of the Sewing Machine Garage Sale there has been a rekindling of sewing history in my family. Because I'm such a nut over these vintage and antique sewing machines, my family gets dragged into this from time to time and are good sports. There are even a few family members who are learning to love these old gals and Brenda is one of them, my second cousin from "up north." In case you think the Twin Cities of Minnesota isn't north enough, there's even more country up there where the summer is even shorter but the daylight is even longer.

After Brenda went back home she sent me some nice photos of the treadle sewing machine she inherited from Grandma. When she said Grandma I thought of her grandma, my aunt Alice, but she said, no, it was my grandma, Grandma Elsie, who was her great-grandma. When Grandma Elsie died in the 1980's, she still had her treadle sewing machine and it sat in the Humboldt, Iowa home for decades. When Elsie's daughters, who then owned the house, died, everything was finally cleaned out and somehow Brenda got the treadle sewing machine.

It's an attractive piece of furniture so it sat in her family room until she took an interest in vintage sewing machines and got to wondering what was in that treadle cabinet. I think there was a heavy television on it so she promised to take a look and I got a nice photo this week:

It's a Davis vibrating shuttle but I really can't tell anything else about this model but does look pretty good, don't you think? I sent the photos to my mom and sisters in hopes of stories about Grandma using the sewing machine and here's what I got:

From my mom:
I do not have any remembrances of this sewing machine. We lived with them for about a year before they moved into Humboldt and we stayed on the farm. If it could talk it would have lots of stories, lots of mending. I never remember her sewing but that has to be 70-75 years ago as we were married in 1946.

That's 69 years to be exact so it's no wonder my mom doesn't recall some of the more mundane tasks of life at the time! She does remember Brenda's grandma, Alice, sewing quite a bit and I know one of her daughters, Elaine, sewed all of their clothes since they were a family of petite women. Grandma Elsie's sons were the youngest in the family and had been in the war for the past several years, so the years of mending overalls had probably come to a close, much to her relief. But almost twenty years later my sister Sue and I visited this set of grandparents in Humboldt, Iowa and we do remember Grandma sewing with us. I shared my memory of that long ago summer day:

Remember doing hand sewing with Grandma? Grandpa made those little chairs that sat flat (Barbies legs didn't bend back then) and we made doll clothes with Grandma's help. I have a very distinct memory of standing in their basement laundry and Grandma showing me how to scoot my knot down to the end of my thread using the needle end. I still think of that.

That jogged my sisters memory a bit and Sue replied with this:

I do remember her doing hand sewing with us; she must have enjoyed that so much!

It had been a long time since she had little girls in her house but we were "Bud's girls" and would have tried their hardest to give us a happy visit. My memory of standing in her laundry room, probably waiting for the load to get done so she wouldn't have to keep walking up and down those steep stairs, is so vivid, I can almost see the sun coming in the small basement window well as we stood there and she moved that knot down with the needle. I thought it was the neatest trick and my grandma must have been brilliant. Maybe she was.

My Grandma Elsie with my dad, "Bud" as she called him

After all these years to see a photo of the treadle sewing machine she used is just wonderful. Thank you, Brenda, for giving it a good home and I know one day you will put a belt on it and pedal away. Wouldn't that make our grandmothers happy?

Help Along the Way

Today is Father's Day and I'm thinking about my dad who has been gone almost thirty years by now. I think he would love my sewing machine collection, the mechanics of it, even the sense of adventure it brings. The father of four daughters, he loved sports and music, playing golf, bowling, and his trumpet. It took at bit of growing up before I could see that not every home had live music with a dad who played his horn while listening to his favorite big band music. Here are a few photos I have:

1938 on the farm

1942 in the Army

 So what does my dad have to do with my sewing machine obsession today? In my post about getting a new sewing machine to replace the old White Rotary, I'm sure my mom had to pass this purchase by my dad. We also had a corner of the basement for that machine and frequently spread our fabric out on the floor to cut out the newest project. I don't remember any complaints about making too much noise while sewing but we must have been a real nuisance while he sat at the opposite end of the room watching TV. But maybe he enjoyed watching us labor over these projects, too.

Some old car, huh?

 

Elsie, his mom, in 1968

 One thing I do remember was struggling on a Saturday morning with a sleeve placket, a style I had never done before. I went to my mom who was cleaning the house and doing some laundry and asked if she could help me with it. My mom certainly had sewing skills but I suspect she hadn't done something like that in a very long time and wasn't sure about it herself. She said she really didn't have time for that now but why not ask my dad? She must have seen the disbelief on my face or maybe I was brazen enough to say "But he doesn't know anything about sewing!" She persisted in encouraging me to go ask, that I might be surprised. Well, he always could help with my math homework so just maybe...

Sure enough, he said he needed to take a look at the guide sheet for the pattern and took it from there. I not only put the placket in the right way, but I did it again for the other sleeve, too. My admiration for him soared on that day. Who knew he could read patterns and guide sheets? I really didn't understand what he did for a living but my dad worked in precision sheet metal and read patterns and fabricated parts all day long. That translated nicely into my little problem and I think fondly of that Saturday morning when my mom was too busy but my dad could help me out.

Here's to you, dad, on this father's day you won't get to celebrate with us but one I'm remembering you.