Block Exchange Tote Bag

Every year I look forward to spending a day or more with sewing friends that I have made through the Treadleon group of treadle and hand crank sewing machine enthusiasts. In the past we have met in Lake City, home of Cindy Peters, one of the founders of Treadleon and a dynamite sewer.  Cindy died in the winter of 2019 but her dream didn't as we have continued to meet in Lake City every September for the River Rats TOGA, a gathering of treadle and hand crank owners/buyers/sellers and sewers. We have only had one TOGA without Cindy before COVID19 invaded our lives and this September we knew gathering in person was not going to be a good idea. What should we do? It turned out we could have a virtual conference with plenty of Zoom sessions for learning skills and just gathering to share our current projects. 

It was a great success! Mea is our leader in this adventure but there were so many helpers in getting sessions together as well as the annual BLOCK EXCHANGE. I agonized over my blocks as I wrote about in the post Card Tricks. Imagine my surprise when I opened my package of quilt blocks that were resent via Denise, the organizer, to find someone else had also chosen the design called Card Tricks but in very different colorways. Each block was so unique and well done it was just fun to look at all of them. But what was I going to do with them? With only 15 it was going to be a pretty small quilt, I have no room for wall hangings, I could collect them and at a future date make up a larger sized quilt, or I could....make a tote bag. I had so much fun designing it and getting it done in a day that I wanted to show it off on out last free-for-all Zoom session. It was a big hit so thanks to all who gave such wonderful praise and affirmed I wasn't out of my mind to make a bag instead of a quilt. I was asked to share how I made it and I told them I would write up a blog post to show some of the steps. Here's the end result:

Quilt block tote bag: Virtual River Rats TOGA 2020

To begin with, I spread out all of the blocks and grouped by colors. Then I checked my fabric stash and grabbed what was right on top (why not?) to see if it would pull all of it together:

Side, front, lid

Back, other side

I got busy sewing the sashing onto the blocks and making a large tubular casing with them all sewn together, adding a rectangular bottom, sewing the lining, and then sitting back to determine what I needed to do to give it shaping. To start, I made an insert in the bottom that would give a nice "floor" to the bag that would also be washable. Plastic canvas that was popular a few decades ago can still be found in stores but I have a stash from my aunt just begging to be used. It wasn't long enough so I added a section on and fused it with a hot iron, protecting all of it with an old t-shirt. As it turned out, it fused onto the cotton shirt so I just cut it to size and used it as one of the layers. I made a pocket for the right sized plastic canvas out of the lining fabric, stuffed it into the pocket like a pillow in a pillow case, and sewed it up. Down into the bottom of the bag it went and even was sewn into place so there would be no shifting. The lining went in next and I pulled it up to the top, folded both the outside and lining edges in for a finished look but it just flopped there. Now I remembered a hint from another blog about making a wire rimmed top but I had never done something like that before and the materials that were used in the blog post were ones I didn't have on hand. Well, that wasn't going to stop me! Here's what I came up with:

Wire coat hangers

Using only 2 hangers, I cut off the hook on one and the hook and one arm on the other one so there was very little shape shifting needing to be done. I laid them down as in the photo above and wrapped the cut/loose edges with electrical tape and then electrical shrink wrap used in wiring. The heat shrink tubing was 1/4" - 1/8" size and I added it before assembly so I could slide it into place after wrapping the corners. Applying a bit of heat from a candle tightens up the plastic and creates a bond of sorts. Now I could insert this frame into the top of the bag:

Frame ready to be inserted

Frame stitched into top: note 2 rows of stitching

Installing it was quite the process, deciding to create a pocket for it by stitching down about 3/4" from the top folded edge, inserting the frame, using clips to hold in place, and the sewing the top edge to hold it all in. Using my Pfaff hand crank, it wasn't too difficult until the corners. All but one corner worked well but the final corner just could not fit under the arm of the machine: that will need some hand stitching.

Before I added the framework I did sew the top or lid onto the backside and it became a part of the top structure but was not in the way at all. I liked how it was turning out but realized I hadn't used one of my quilt blocks since there was only room for 14 and we were a group of 15. But I still needed handles. I check my project bin and there were five of my blocks that didn't get sent or used:

Card Trick blocks sewn together for straps

When sewn together, cut down the center, pressed, and filled with nylon webbing:

Straps ready for sewing

 I now had 2 straps to sew onto the top edge. This proved to be difficult for the Pfaff and some of the stitching has pulled out so I need to go back and hand sew into place. I'm considering adding a bit of embroidery on the outside of the bag where the straps are sewn to cover up the stitches but we shall see. Here are all of the sides of the finished tote bag:

Lid

Side

Side

Back

Front

Such a fun project that only took a day, or less, and that included the time to figure out how to engineer it all together. Next one will be much easier. Next one? We are talking about have a Mid-Winter TOGA and it just might have another quilt block exchange. Now you have another idea of what to make with your blocks!

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!

Authentic Hand Cranks

The past few years I've been interested in hand crank sewing machines, my interest piqued because of the Treadle-On group and specifically, the River Rats TOGA I've been attending. When you see them in action and try one out for yourself, it's a bit hard to resist. They are generally old, beautiful, and somewhat smaller than a standard sewing machine. Up until this time I've converted a few 3/4 sized Singers into hand cranks with an after market crank:

Singer 99 with after-market handcrank added

They are not as nice but affordable and gives you a taste of this type of sewing. Then I bought a nice German hand crank and got a better one:

German hand crank in fancy wood case

The action is smooth, precise, and perfect for piecing blocks when quilting. Just in case you are not a quilter and ask "What is piecing?" as I once did, it's where you are sewing together the pieces cut out to make the whole of a block (and the blocks sewn together to make the top of the quilt, etc.). The more precise in cutting and sewing, the better your pieces fit together, look better, and you have fewer problems, at least with your quilting project. After using the German machine I had an opportunity to buy a Harris from Joe, something I wrote about in Three of a Kind. The Harris is a fairly small hand crank sewing machine and I've found it works well on the ironing board. As I cut, press, and pin with a cutting mat on my ironing board, there's room for the Harris on one end for sewing and then back to pressing. That's how I sew those block-of-the-month patterns where each block is done only once with precise directions. No multiple layers or cuts so setting it up on the ironing board works good for me.

Beloved Harris in wood case

At First Quilters last Saturday I had a request for a hand crank sewing machine so I brought an after market crank and a a Singer 99 for demonstration. As fascinating as something like that is, it's still a very heavy sewing machine, not great for travel as the woman who was interested was thinking about. When someone has a request, I start looking and the next day a child's sewing machine was for sale, a Singer model 40 hand crank:

Singer model #40 hand crank

The owner told me how much she used it as a little girl with all boys in her family: this was something all her own. Missing a needle and the case was pretty cracked up, I worked on it until she was purring again. Needles? I found some round shank industrial shorts that worked and were just lying around, waiting for the right sewing machine. The case could be taped up with colored Duck tape for a passable cover when traveling. The only hitch I can see is that it's a chain stitcher, not a lock stitch. With a chain stitch you only need a spool of thread for the top, no bobbin, but unless you secure the thread at the end it can be easily pulled out, a plus for mistakes but a minus for longevity. My research on chain stitching tells me it's more flexible and less likely to break that a lock-stitch but I'm going to have to try this one out.

Chainstitch front

Chainstitch back

With a taped up carrying case, it looks more like a child's play doctor kit:

Singer model #40 carrying case (tape on bottom side)

Even though it's a toy sewing machine, something I scoff at, this one might just be okay!

Reading Time

I frequently get asked "How do you find the time to do all of this?" in reference to my sewing and sewing machine business. Part of me wants to just shrug and say "I don't know!" but when I really think about it I realize I have given some things up that I used to do that have given me the time to squeeze all of this in. Television watching on a regular basis is one of the things I no longer do; I used to watch about two hours per evening, including the news and now I only catch the news a couple of times a week and watch nothing else on a regular basis. That gives me about ten hours per week for sewing and such. My knitting has taken a big hit since I used to knit while enjoying my favorite shows but I still pick up my knitting when I can and even made a sweater in the last couple of years.

Next up is reading for recreation; I used to keep a database of my reading and listening books until a computer crash got me out of step with that practice. Now I listen to books on CD, streaming is up next, I think. I could easily keep a list of books read and listened to on Air Table where I keep my sewing machine inventory. There are many lists I could keep on Air Table to make life easier but then I would have to actually get it all set up, blah blah blah. Isn't it funny when we know we should do something to our benefit and still procrastinate? So now most of my reading is for business purposes but I do enjoy some magazines. Threads is one I have kept up with via the public library but this year I lucked out on an annual subscription for only $10. Sometimes it's just nice to have a paper copy, even if I will eventually cut it up or donate. I also have one of their archive issue CD's that I can reference back issues and it has been a space saver.

From one of the groups I belong to that sells used sewing related items, I recently bought the entire set of Classic Sewing magazine. I bought one issue last year and loved it but it's way to expensive to subscribe but then the sewing fairies smiled down on me and an offer of all of their issues for less than the cost of one year. They are beautiful, high quality photos, heavy paper, good writing, and each one comes with a free pattern.

Classic Sewing, patterns and magazines

Will I make any of these creations? I think so, especially since my newest grandchild will be a girl (can't wait until spring this year!).

We are now in a very deep freeze so all schools were called off and even the college library has been closed. For two glorious days indoors I'm going to finish up my block-of-the-month blocks for Saturday, find ways to use some fabric panels in quilting or bag making, make some homemade soup, and defrost the upright freezer. What better time to put all of the freezer contents into baskets and then into the garage while the freezer in unplugged. I can't wait to get it all clean again!

Just to show off one of the machines I have, the quilt blocks are being sewn on this little beauty, a hand crank Harris:

Harris Hand Crank all shined up

It has a transverse shuttle which gave me problems when I first learned to use one but the Harris is a gem and works great. A hand crank sewing machine lets you stop on a dime since you are going fairly slow plus it is just so much more fun! Here are a few of the blocks, jars and flowers last time and letters this month:

Completed blocks with those in the making

Stay safe and warm inside, friends, if you are part of this killing cold; it will be a great time to catch up on a few projects and even get some extra sleep, I hope!

More Hand Crank Sewing Machines

I continue to be enthralled with hand crank sewing machines  and had an opportunity to purchase two a few weeks ago in a package deal with a treadle and an electric sewing machine. It was a quadruple hit! My husband went with me for the drive on wet roads at night but we found the place easily enough and, of course, there was a story, too.

In Jeff's very clean garage we found the four machines all waiting for me, a bit dirty but I knew they had been stored in another garage for some length of time. The two hand cranks were original, a Singer 127 vibrating shuttle in a bentwood case:

Singer Vibrating Shuttle

Case and machine both responded well to a good cleaning plus my favorite Howards Feed & Wax for the wood parts. Using my new products of Go-Jo and metal polish, things are looking quite good:

Singer 127 bentwood case

Next up was a very sweet Pfaff hand crank that looks much like my other German hand crank:

Pfaff model B hand crank

The Pfaff has a letter "B" on the back of the arm but my research doesn't bring up too much so I'm in the dark about needle size, threading, as well as the general mysteries of a transverse shuttle sewing machine. Most of my time is spent trying to find a needle and getting it set into the holder. I can get it to stitch but not without skipping or the tension miserably off. Still, a very sweet machine.

The first machine I started to work on when we got home was a Singer 319W that was very dirty but in excellent condition. It came in a bentwood case that was falling apart but wood glue and Howard's will fix it right up. The wiring gave me pause but it ended being sound and the machine stitches just fine. A box of accessories was helpful so it seems to be ready to go but here's the big plus: it is an aluminum model so it is not a heavyweight like most 319 or 306's. This is wonderful news and makes those piano keys up on the top just sing out to be used!

Singer 319W

The final model was a treadle, a Franklin with a coffin top, that is in fairly decent condition. Jeff said this cabinet was kept in the front room of the original owner so it has been cared for and shows it.

Franklin treadle cabinet

Franklin treadle with fiddle base and transverse shuttle

 I swore I wasn't going to bring home another table model but it was a package deal and I think it might be worth it. Along with a few accessories it also had a print manual, something I will want to scan. It's also my first fiddle based sewing machine and I find it charming.

So who had these sewing machines? It was a previous sewing machine dealership who sold Pfaff but changed over to Janome and eventually retired as the shop is no longer in business.  Without asking outright, I suspect he had died or moved away since his garage was emptied out and these machines were the ones that were left. Always a bit sad to see things move out of a family's home but at least I know who might want them and I'm getting them ready for happy new homes.

Three of a Kind

This is the season for buying up sewing machines as people clean house and decide they are no longer going to keep broken or unused items around their house. That is where I step in and take the sewing machines they no longer want off their hands: well, some of them, at least. Experience has shown me there are some to never buy again (Singer Touch and Sew, for example), and those to run towards (Brother Select-O-Matic, a favorite of mine). This past weekend I got to pick up several and meet up with an old friend in the buying.

A very cool German hand-crank was offered and I jumped at it on Sunday afternoon. Come to find out, it was from Joe who reminded me I sold him a Singer 66 and started him on this new hobby of repairing and collecting sewing machines. So how did he come across such a fine machine when I had to buy mine off of eBay? Joe is retired so when he saw an ad locally he could fly right out the door after it; there are some advantages to being retired, I guess! My husband and I stopped over after dinner to check it out and were happy to renew our friendship and talk about sewing machines. As we looked at his collection, we eventually made it from the garage workshop into his home where we met his lovely wife who is quite talented in her beading and pottery creations. We could have stayed for hours hearing their stories and admiring their creations and collections. I always say I meet the nicest people buying and selling sewing machines and sometimes it goes both ways with the same person.

Harris hand crank

Once home and examining my petite Harris hand-crank, I had to compare it to my other hand-cranks. It has the transverse shuttle like the Optima, very similar to a Singer model 12, but smoother than the Optima or the German model. It is interesting that all of my hand-cranks are German made, no Singers, but I understand there were far fewer made and distributed in the United States than in the UK where they made and used them long after electricity was in general use. Anyone watch the early episodes of "Call the Midwife" where in the late '50's they use a hand-crank sewing machine on the dining room table? Here in the US we were either using a treadle if electricity was iffy, possibly because he have larger homes and just more space in general in this big, wide open country, but I digress. Here are some photos of my collection of three:

Harris in front, Optima in the center, German at the back

Definitely large, medium, and small sizes

View of their mechanisms

They are quite lovely but each one has its flaws that I will not point out at this time: let there be a little bit of mystery! The next day someone posted locally about a sewing machine they had that looked like the photo they used in the ad - a hand crank! Could I be this lucky? I was patient and waited until she could take a photo of the actual sewing machine and, alas, it was a mere Singer 66.  I should have known it was too good to be true but that is okay with me as she got a bit of education in what she actually possessed and its value.

There are plenty more stories in Sewing Machine Mavin's life just this past week as it continues to be a very busy time for buying and selling sewing machines. Stay tuned for the next adventure!

German Cranks

I'm not going to write about upset people who are from Germany but about my new hand crank sewing machine that is of German origin. It was a bit of an impulse buy, meaning I didn't need it, but I was following this auction and was the only bid. Isn't that always a bit upsetting? What does everyone else know that I don't? How big of a mistake did I just make? Shipping was quick and I found it to be in great shape:

Hengstenberg Hand Crank sewing machine

It even moved smoothly right out of the box so with a bit of oil it ran even better. Fairly clean, it was just a bit of cleaning spots that were missed by the seller. The wood case top was also in good shape so a session with Howard's Feed and Wax was all it took to get it looking good again:

Decals on the front with inlaid wood trim on top of the lid.

 There was only one flaw and it doesn't seem to be much of a deal breaker:

Hand crank knob with broken section

The ceramic knob on the crank handle was broken on one end and a trip to the local Ace Hardware did not find something we could use. They did show us ceiling fan pulls and that got us thinking: maybe we have one already? Indeed, we did so with a drill to hollow out the center we found a temporary solution:

Painted wood handle: needs more drilling to set the end tight

With it sewing well I was going to have to make something on it and my current project with a block-of-the-month quilt that I've been working on, this was going to be perfect. I've been using my Elna Stella, a cute portable 3/4 sized machine but I'm not totally happy with the end results on my piecing. It couldn't possibly be me and my lack of skill (!!!!!) so just maybe it is the sewing machine.

Right.

I did like piecing on the hand crank since I could go so slow and the seams were so short. Here's a sample of what I finished this weekend:

Pears: the lighter color pear fabric had to be totally replaced

Strawberry: I finished this one in the early morning hours

Cherries: I had to solicit more brown stem fabric due to cutting it wrong

You can see this has been quite the struggle. Yesterday I got the egg basket done but the bottom of the basket does not align correctly. This morning I finished it off, pressed it, and had to decide if I could live with it like it was. Not really so I checked to see if I had more fabric to remake that section and I found the extra I needed. That means I will be remaking that part. It doesn't look right and I don't want to show the other, better, quilters my glaring mistake. I'm not a perfectionist but I also have my pride. Here's my attempt to find the right color for the sashing:

One possible arrangement of the nine block quilt

I like the taupe color for the background so will try to find a shade similar from the selection at my local shops before I order online. It's pretty difficult to find correct shades online, just trusting the colors on your computer screen. All in all, this was a good experience for me to stretch myself in learning new skills, keep moving on a project, and to finally get to the end. Whew!

What is the score on using a hand crank for piecing? I really liked it! The machine is very nice, smooth stitches, easy to stop and start, and that reverse stitch would come in handy in other projects. I'll finish up the last block this week and then can put it away until our last quilt group meeting in May when we learn how to do the sashing. I might actually get this done before summer comes but with all of our snow this spring it looks like summer is never going to come. Know what that means? Sewing machine sales are up, up, up with everyone being forced to stay inside several more weeks. There is a silver lining to this dark cloud of winter/spring!

Let's Get Cranky

I've had a hand crank sewing machine listed recently and it has brought about a fair amount of interest. Looking back over my posts about hand cranks I see I really don't have much documented so now is the time to write up what I know about hand crank sewing machines and converting to hand crank.

Why would someone want to sew by that laborious method of cranking the wheel by hand? Doesn't that give you just one hand to guide the fabric? How would this ever be an advantage? It seems to me you would want to go with a slow pace when you are quilting and looking for precision that only comes with carefully preceding slowly that you can only get with a hand crank. I don't know of an electric machine that would let you go that slow, even with a speed reducer as some of the machines boast. Needle down is perfect as you land on the intersection of corners while piecing fabric for a quilt square. It's true that you only have one hand to guide but when you are going slow that is less of an issue. When I treadle I have more trouble stopping-on-a-dime and that does not occur when using a hand crank machine.

I've also used and sold hand crank sewing machines for use with children and this prevents them from "wild sewing" where they like to think they can race to the end but find out you can't sew straight when you go too fast and fingers get mixed up when you are speeding. A hand crank sewing machine slows everything down and the curious start to wonder how this is actually working. Curiosity might just fuel a budding engineer to ask questions and investigate and isn't that how many of us got started in our love for vintage sewing machines?

How do you convert an old sewing machine to a hand crank version? Maybe you can but maybe you can't and the Treadleon people know all about it. On their page about converting to hand cranks, they show options you might want to consider. I keep it simple by choosing Singer 99 or 66's, adding a spoked wheel if they don't already have one, and adding the hand crank mechanism via the motor boss. What is a motor boss? It's a place on the side of the machine under the hand wheel where you can screw in that crank mechanism:

Motor boss in casting with threaded opening

It makes sense in the end but sounds confusing when you are starting out but think of it like this: when the motor is removed and you add the hand crank how are you going to get it to stay on the machine? You need to anchor it onto the side and using a threaded slot gives it stability.

Motor attached to the motor boss

Can't we just add a "knob" onto the side of a hand wheel? Take a look at an original hand crank sewing machine and you will see it is not quite that easy:

German hand crank: pretty complex mechanism

Treadleon does give ideas of how to make a solid hand wheel work with a reproduction crank but I haven't tried any of them so I can only direct you to their website. With my repainted Singer 99 that I added the hand crank, I have now been asked to add a motor back so it can be used either way. I dug up a motor, light, and foot control set and got it all working again.

Singer 99 repaint with motor

As with many of the Singer 99's that are converted to hand cranks, you cannot adjust the bobbin winding mechanism enough for the winding wheel to touch the handwheel. I've added plastic tubing in the past but this time I came up with a set of black rubber belts that would fit over the part of the hand wheel that isn't qite fat enough to touch the bobbin winding tire. I wish I could show you but the photos are black on black and you cannot see it clearly so you are just going to have to trust me on this one! In the end, this little repaint is going to a good home where there are children who are sewing light leather projects. It's cute, solid, and portable so I hope it fits the bill for them:

Singer 99 repaint as a hand crank

Happy sewing!