Manly Kenmore Sewing Machines

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

Kenmore 158-1755

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

Brother Select-O-Matic

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

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

Reliable Barricuda

Consew CP206R

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

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

Team Spirit

Minnesota seems unique to me in their adoration of their sports teams even when they under-perform. I'm from Chicago where there have been great teams and years for the Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, White Socks, and Cubs: there was something to be proud of. Alas, Minnesota continues to be disappointed with the Vikings and even the Twins give reason for angst. But, If I'm to market my hot mitts to a wide variety of people I must include sports and their teams so I'm busy making them out of fabric that has Twins and Vikings logos on them.

After adding over a hundred hot mitts in a variety of colors, I checked my stock of sports teams to find no Twins, four Vikings, many Packers, a few Timberwolves, Wild, and Gophers. I had to get busy and sew up some Vikings since we would still be in football season during the craft sales, and since there are diehard fans I even had to buy more Twins fabric:

Left: newer logos waiting for binding, Right: traditional

Just to be generic enough to include many teams, I had some fabric with NFL teams so I added some football fabric to make these:

NFL on white with footballs on black for inside and binding

They sew together so nicely but since I've made hundreds I've got the process down pretty good. This is the second year of using the Bernina 217 industrial sewing machine and I really like her. It's all set up for the heavy layers for the hot mitts and I'm not certain enough of my skills to try and adjust it for two layers of cotton.Besides, don't I have at least one other sewing machine I can use for light weight sewing? I think so.

With my first craft fair only 10 days away, I need to get going on baby booties and cobbler aprons. I got distracted by all those sewing machines from the River Rats TOGA but for now I need to ignore them and get cutting and sewing!

Bin with many of the new hot mitts

Moving On Out

No, I'm not moving anytime soon but I do have sewing machines that have to move out of the garage because we are having an early winter. That's right, it's winter here in Minnesota already. Shiesh, how did this happen so soon? Just a week ago I was sewing out in the garage and now you need gloves on just to walk out there. I looked over the situation and called in the troops: my strong son-in-law Josh:

Josh, my strong son-in-law

I know, he looks like just a regular guy but he's been lifting weights and working out so comes to us as the "strength of many" or at least a couple of us combined. He came forewarned of all I wanted to do but he had even more ideas.

Since I wanted to bring the Bernina 217 industrial inside, something had to move on out. That turned out to be the Kenmore  158-1813 in a very nice refinished cabinet:

White cabinet but with a Kenmore inside

Kenmore 158-1813

I love the cabinet but found I wasn't using the sewing machine so it was going out and the industrial was coming in. Even with the head out of the tables both were pretty heavy but Josh picked them up and carried both up or down with relative ease. Only because the industrial table was 48" long did I have to hold up one end while he could get further down the steps. All was in place and hooked back up and I'm back in business:

Industrial Bernina 217 in her new home

While I had his muscle rented out three of the treadles came inside plus I'm going to have to bring in the heads of the electrics in cabinets but it just has to be done. With everything cleared out we could now put some pulleys up so I could get the lawn furniture up into the garage attic without calling on friends to help every year. Not only did Josh do a nice job of it, he also brought in all of the furniture and we practiced getting all of it up and in place. That was a huge deal for me and now it has been made much easier.

Looking over the situation, Josh and I talked about our new-to-us snow blower and how we needed it closer to the front of the garage but also needed an outlet for the electric start.  With a light switch nearby he said "Let's move the shelves back, the snowblower forward, and change the light switch to an outlet and switch." So with Jim's help and a call to a friend for clarification on wires, they got it all done:

Snowblower ready for business

I got to stay in the house and talk with my daughter Alison and play with two of my grandchildren so it was a big win-win! Later on I went back out and rearranged some of the attic items and cleaned up even more with the vacuum cleaner and now the garage is ready for winter. Not quite: I still need to get my car in the garage but we are so much closer and more ready for this cold weather. It's gonna happen, trust me!

Bernina Industrial Investigation

I continue to be busy selling cabinet and desk model sewing machines and getting the garage clear for the coming cold and snow season but for every two steps forward I take one backwards. This week I sold the Viking 21 in the compact cabinet to a young family for their two daughters to sew with and later that same evening I had an industrial sewing machine delivered. WHAT? I need to empty the garage, not fill it back up! But this was a good deal and something I didn't even know I needed.

Bernina 217 industrial

While looking at sewing machines on Craigslist I spied a Bernina 217 industrial at what seems like a fair price so I start asking questions. In the meantime I also find one on Facebook Marketplace and ask for the model number and more photos. Come to find out, the Bernina 217 was not made for very long since their model 850 came along and was more popular but the 217 has something special. Some models have a "box" installed on the back for decorative stitches with cams. Of course, the cams are no longer available but I understand someone makes plastic substitutes, probably from a 3D printer, so there is hope. While involved in this little foray into industrials another one comes up at an even better price and this one comes with the cam box. I kid you not, so I go over to see what was up.

It wasn't working. That's not exactly true, it needed to be retimed so the owner and I had a nice talk and he was going to either fix it or send in to have it fixed. Since this was not an emergency I could wait for the repair. To make a long story short, he did not have the money for the repair and did need the money from the sale so we settled on an agreeable amount and he delivered the monster to me. That was certainly worth something since those machines are so heavy and the clutch motors are just as heavy. But here she is in my garage:

Bernina 217 in her temporary garage home: it's cold out there!

What happened? Oh, now I'm going to see if I can retime the machine and know I can also send it out if I find it is too complex for me. This one is different with the bobbin facing the back of the machine so it's a little trickier to work on. It came with one cam on the back, a great table, decent lamp (previous owner was a lighting guy), and a ton of cones of thread. There are a dozen bobbins and many packages of needles, too, although the numbering has me wondering if they are the correct ones. I tell myself if I can get this running again without sending it to another repair shop I will spring for a servo motor, about the same cost as the repair. Am I going to like this model? You just never know until you sew with it, but it has a decent reputation, can sew heavy to light weight fabrics, a wide zigzag stitch, reverse, and known for the best stitch quality as all of the other Bernina's. Yes, my hopes are high. Take a look at Ashley's review of the Bernina 217 and you might want one yourself!

Cam box on the back with one cam attached

a few days later:
I got it timed! The widest of zigzags still might be quite right but I got it to stitch and it did so beautifully. Then it started to break thread so I'm back trying to figure out what's going on. Even with a clutch motor it isn't very loud so I might have to think again about adding a servo motor.

Bernina 217

 a few more days later:
I've had a chance to sew on the Bernina 217 and find it's just a bit fussy about thread, that was all. It sews like a dream, sewing through 2 layers of cotton and then thick layers of toweling as I make up hand towel with handles. There was no hesitation at all, just smooth and straight. There was a knee lever for lifting the presser foot that I got adjusted and working again, too. I went ahead and ordered the servo motor and can't wait to see how nice it is to work with when it's very quiet. A little confession here: I measured the space in the sewing room and she's gonna fit! Some other things are going to have to go but that's okay: she's a keeper!

Super Select-O-Matic Twins

I have written ad nauseam about the Brother Select-O-Matics (just keep clicking if you are bored with me) but I have now come across two Super Select-O-Matics. As you can guess, they are super, too. What makes them super? My hunch is when they made the newer models they had to call them something so they add words or numbers onto them to indicate new features. The Supers' are a bit more intuitive, but not much, and I think they still need a manual A scanned copy was found as well as a nice article about this model (even the same color scheme) in The herd is growing again! by Stitchified. Once you have used the first iteration of the Select-O-Matics, the newer ones do not seem to be a great improvement and I think I like the looks of the original one better anyway. But like all things, the newer models are usually bigger and with more features:

Cream and blue Super Select-O-Matic

Okay, just a bit bigger but the functions are exactly the same. They still have the fun two tone look of an older car, in cream and blue or pink and teal. They are so smooth, quiet, and  understated. Everyone should have a sewing machine this nice.

Stitch selection: I got crazy with thread while making this one up!

My first one was given to me and I kept it quite awhile. It was pretty beaten up but that was part of its charm, a history I could only imagine! It also came with about fifty bobbins, most with a dot of pink on the outside: nail polish? Someone wanted to keep theirs identified from all of the rest, I guess.  It lived in a portable case, not a great idea for a machine this heavy, so when I found another one in pristine condition, I found a way to add another cabinet into my sewing room. The first one now lives in South Dakota, I'm proud to say, as I wrote about in  Letting Go. Hope Linda continues to enjoy sewing on that little girl.

So now I have several of this model, some in two-tone pink and teal, some in aqua, some are Super and one has no model number at all. Portable, in tables or cabinets, they are all a sweet sewing experience and I'm all about the experience! The cream and blue model came in a table that I was ready to get rid of  but once I got it home and looked at it carefully I could see it was decent and maybe could be fixed up a bit. I got out the electric sander and went to work on it, taking it down to the wood surface on the open top, closed top, drawer fronts, and the rest of the front.

Table sanded

I could leave the sides and back so only had to use Howards Restore-a-Finish on those parts. I stained it with walnut and then red mahogany with a final 2 coats of water based polyurethane in satin and semigloss. I'm pleased with the way it turned out:

Nice edition of the mid-century modern look

Rather than returning the same Brother Super Select-O-Matic, I think I'm going to put the teal and pink model in this table. It seems to make a better statement? Well, I'm going to have to see if the cords all fit first. I'm also working on getting the right belt and working out the vibration and extra noise.

Super Select-O-Matic in pink and teal

Sorry for the long delay between posts but I've been sewing up a storm with the deadline coming for the three craft shows I've signed up for. So far I have about 80 new hot mitts with about 40 left to sew but they are all cut and sandwiched, stacked and ready for the industrial. Yesterday I took them out to the garage and sewed on the Singer 78, a great walking foot model. It was nice for a change and it seemed the process went faster than the Reliable Barracuda but I just can't keep something that large in my house and the Singer 78 has to leave the garage this year. Sigh.If only I lived in a warmer climate? No, this is keeping me from hording and someone else will love this industrial. Could it be you?

Singer 78 industrial walking foot

Getting Ready

It sometimes feels like I'm always getting ready for one thing or another: a sale, cleaning out, a show/event/class. When I was home last week I spent so much time getting ready and now you will get a peak at what I accomplished.

Industrial sewing machine for sale: that's right, I finally got the servo motor attached and running, the table refinished, and the whole thing ready for sale. It is so nice now, a great Singer 31-15 in a well-worn but sturdy industrial table with light attached, quiet and adjustable servo motor, ready to work like a dog in someones home and out of my garage. Swapping out the motors was fairly easy but it wasn't a perfect fit so I had to drill out new holes and that is something I'm not particularly good at. The table was thoroughly sanded, stained in natural, with three coats of satin polyurethane. I'm quite proud of this beast and wish I could now keep her but she must make someone else happy now.

Singer 31-15

Servo motor (cords have been secured since this photo)

While I am working out in the garage, I have a Kenmore table refinished now with a good Kenmore model 158-13250 all ready for sale. I really hate to put time into these cabinets but cannot bear to sell them with such a poor finish so my loss is the buyers gain:

The Mod Podge project went on to phase two after the first attempt was less than satisfying with somewhat sticky results.I was trying to add a design to burlap as noted in Sewing4Free but not sure I'm satisfied yet. Although I did get it to feel dry, eventually by using my iron with a pressing cloth, it feels gummy although it is not sticky. It looks okay but not sure I want to spend the time or money on a project like this again. I can stencil on plain burlap just as well and even have some nice printed burlap that made up a cute tote bag. Still loving making those handles out of rope!

Burlap bags on ends with Mod Podge bag in center

The quilters I have been working with are having a do-it-yourself sale on Saturday and that has given me the opportunity to clear out some fabric I know I will not be using. Besides selecting, each gets measured, labeled, and bagged so it is all ready to go. There's a big bag of free items but most of it is still only a dollar or two. I have a few choice machines to bring along so maybe it will wet someone's appetite to adding a vintage sewing machine to their collection.

Bags of fabric all labeled for sale or giveaway

Modern Sparrow 30 and antique Singer 99's

Now time is at a premium and I need to sew up a huge batch of hot mitts if I'm going to be ready for the three craft fairs I plan on selling my goods at. So many are cut out and I have the batting and insulating filler in abundance so I need to chain myself to the industrial walking foot machine and get sewing!

Are You Reliable?

In the past I have ranted about people who are no-shows so I bet you think this is going to be another post where I jump up on my soap box and complain about this type of behavior. Nope! This is about an industrial sewing machine with the brand "Reliable" so let's just hope it is.

Since I'm still deep into industrial sewing machines and they haven't grown old (yet), I spied a portable industrial that I had never heard of before, the Reliable. Some quick research showed me this was a decent machine, not as good as a Sailrite, but not bad either, especially if I knew what I was doing. It further interested me because it not only was an industrial walking foot but a zigzag model. Walking foot zigzag? Now they had me: I had to go check it out. And it came home with me:

Reliable Barracuda 200ZW industrial walking foot

It runs but I think they send them out with a bit of test fabric and absolutely no oil. I have been oiling and oiling it ever since and finally got out a can of TriFlow oil just to get in all those space I could not see. It worked! It is running smoother and quieter so, hopefully, I just need to keep it oiled now for peak performance. Here's a closer look at this baby:

Walking foot

Walking foot side view

Walking foot mechanism on back

This type of walking foot is quite the marvel with feed dogs on the top with the foot and feed dogs underneath coming up from the bed of the machine. They work together for that even feed of the fabric. This is so crucial when I'm making my hot mitts pot holders so the sandwich of the fabric, Insulbright, and cotton batting stay together instead of sliding off. Beats me why all machines don't have this feature! Here's more photos of under the hood:

Reliable Barracuda 200ZW bird's eye view with top cover removed

Under side plate

It only looks scary inside but you need to respect the power a sewing machine like this has. So how does it sew? I had some skipped stitches in the beginning so I adjusted the turn of the needle. This uses a DP-17 with a round shank so it is very easy to be just a tad rotated too far and cause the eye of the needle to be off for the hook to pick up the thread loop. Here's the stitches I made:

Straight, zigzag, skips, correct

I love the ability to have zigzag for binding edges and even making buttonholes. There was a time when I made buttonholes just using different widths of the zigzag stitch so I know it can be done! The portable case for this model is way too overpriced and, thankfully, out of stock so I'm not tempted to buy one. It does fit it into one of my wood boxes and think this is pretty decent:

Reliable Barracuda 200ZW in wood base

 The motor hangs off the back so that precludes putting a cover on it anyway but just gave it a bit more stability. I need smaller needles than the size 21 that came with it so I can try it out on my hot mitts. Here's hoping it can replace the Consew CP206R that needs a hack to lift the presser foot higher. I keep sewing and trying out new-to-me ideas for making these things work better, smarter, faster or with less ripping out of seams, as well as just a better product. Who knows? This might just be a more reliable sewing machine.

Resolved

As my space for sewing machines, their repair, equipment, and storage of all of this does not grow any larger, I keep resolving not to buy any more machines. Notice I say resolve and I have not been very good at keeping this firm determination. Although I continue to sell many sewing machines and do reject any number I see advertised and in shops, there are some that I have not been able to refuse. My last post, Blizzard!, reported about the Singer 31-15 industrial machine, table, and motor that I brought home. It took a whole week before I could figure out a way to get it out of my vehicle without hurting myself or calling in the muscle. With the head already out and in the house just the heavy clutch motor was holding it all down so I crawled into the back of the Jeep and started unscrewing. There were six screws and a belt holding it in place and then some electrical connections. With my husband's help we got the electrical wires disengaged but still usable. Now to order a new servo motor: there are so many kinds/brands/features that I'm overwhelmed but I'll figure this out, too. Ratings are all over the place but I have to consider who I would be selling this to. It's not for true industrial work but for the hobbyist who needs something with more piercing power and strength.

Back of industrial Singer 31-15 sewing machine table with motor and head removed

Now that we are assured winter is over and spring might actually have a chance, I can get back to having sewing machines and their tables in the garage. We actually got both industrial tables set up at the back of the garage along with a Wheeler and Wilson #9 treadle.

Singer 78 and 31-15 at the back of the garage

Then I have 2 compact cabinets along the side next to the wall of the house. Along with lawn mowers and the usual garage stuff, we still managed to get both cars in the garage! That is until we bought a snow blower: after winter is over and no more snow is predicted, we get our first snow blower. It came via friends who are moving to San Diego and clearly had no need of one so we agreed upon a fair price and picked it up last night. That sounded easy, didn't it? As it turns out, it was way too big and heavy at 250 pounds for my Jeep and my back so we recruited my son-in-law who has a pickup and muscles for the job. He brought a friend along and they made it look easy but I'm sure it was not. In return we filled up his tank and vacuumed out the cab, the least we could do for him.

Craftsman 28" snow thrower

The seller told us there was no electric starter on it and proceeded to show us how it worked without it; we were disappointed but it was not a deal breaker. The next day a neighbor came over and he and my husband worked on it and he said the electric start was right there on the side. Sure enough, it works like a charm. What a deal! Sometimes blessings come in ways we never expected.

We just found out we have a granddaughter who not only enjoyed her sewing lesson a few weeks ago, she really wants a sewing machine for her birthday. I suggested she get one at the beginning of the summer so she has all those hours to fill with learning how to use a sewing machine and to sew. We have agreed upon an Elna 1500 that should be a good place to start:

Elna 1500

That's how blessings work, isn't it, when someone can sell me a snow blower at a ridiculous price and I can give away a sewing machine to a younger learner. That always feels so good!

Blizzard!

We are at the end of a spring blizzard here in Minnesota and I don't mean the kind you get at Dairy Queen. Given plenty of warning, we knew it was coming and could be prepared but it still surprised us with the amount of snow and general blizzard conditions. It has been awhile since we had a snowfall like this and, after all, it is mid-April when we should start to see bulbs coming up, not snowfall. It's not over yet and we think we have over 18 inches of snow now.

In the midst of it all, people are still buying sewing machines! I talked more than one person out of driving over to get one, especially since the Necchi is in a cabinet and would take several trips out to their vehicle and right now you cannot even drive up our driveway.

Necchi Mira in compact cabinet

Motivated by a new grandchild, Eileen wanted to buy a fairly new Brother sewing machine that was my sisters but she's on a long weekend down here from "up north" and not sure about driving back after all of this snow. My advice was to play it by ear and if the driving is good just stop in on her way home but if she gets on the road and is white knuckling it she can just keep driving and come down another day.

Before all of this started, I had the chance to buy a Singer 31-15 in a table with a clutch motor for a very good price but there were delivery problems. It was through Facebook Marketplace and turned out to be only two miles down the road. We showed up the first night to pick it up but no one was home. Many apologies later, they would deliver it to us the next night. Great! Several hours later I get a text saying it is too heavy and they will need more muscle. I suggest they take the head out of the table since that is probably half of the weight. More time passes: how do you get it out? I understand how that might look confusing and trying to give directions via text seemed silly so I said I would be right over. Jen was so sweet: this was her mother-in-laws and they were emptying out her house and knew nothing about sewing machines. This sounds pretty simplistic but I looked at the machine sitting in the table, tipped it back, and then just lifted straight up on the pins and pulled it out. Jen yells "Honey, she just took the machine out of the table! Come look!" Now the table was light enough to be carried up the steps and out into my car by two burly men. It's still in the back of my Jeep since I needed to get my car into the garage with the predicted snow that was sure to bury anything left outdoors.

Singer 31-15 head

I got to hear the stories about Mary who did all of her sewing on the Singer 31-15, an avid crafter and quilter. The serial number was such a hoot: dated to July 21, my birth date, but back to 1902, not my birth year! This particular machine had been a treadle, indicated by the spoked handwheel, and the date just confirmed that. The table is fine but it looks like a very old clutch motor and I'm thinking about getting servo motors for both of the industrials I now own. Stay tuned to the progress on the industrial front.

Back of Singer 31-15: lever for knee lift of the presser foot

The day wears on and Eileen is not driving back north today and we will try to connect next weekend instead. I did have one of the quilting ladies show up this afternoon for a free motion lesson. I basically just watched how she was doing it, admiring her skills and planning but she just needed to slow down. That was it, just slow down. But I know with so many things it just takes someone else to talk to about our latest project or skill to see if it can be improved upon or why I'm not happy with the results of my efforts.  All in a days work it seems.

What did I make while confined indoors for two whole days? I managed to take an office/sewing chair that needed new upholstery and get it all striped down the finished:

From green crushed velvet to navy basket weave

This was a somewhat fun project since the cushions were in good condition, fairly clean, and the new fabric was only $1.25 at Goodwill on their last 75% off day. A couple of hours of work and only $2 in supplies: I call that a lot of bang for my buck as well as a nice way to spend our time in confinement. We are dreaming of June and long days of sunlight with warm breezes. Dreaming, yes, dreaming.