It's a Big, Big Board

 It seems I'm always trying out something new. Sometimes with great failure but also sometimes there is great success. There are too many failures to even start to list them all (and how depressing would that be for me but it might be a bit fun for you!) and let's not start to brag about success when it can implode at any time. Today's success story came about when I read a blog post about creating your own larger than normal ironing board surface. Having been known to place ironing boards side by side to create such a surface, I thought I could give this a try. You can make a large padded surface that slides on and off your regular ironing board but I was given a wood top ironing board when a neighbor moved (okay, it was in the pile of stuff they would not take with them but I did ask first) and figured I could simply screw it down for an ironing board that was dedicated to quilting. See that phrase "simply screw it down"? Of course, nothing is simple and this little project took most of one day but I am more than please with it so deem it is "worthy" of a blog post.

First I had to clean up the donated ironing board that had old iron legs, multiple layers of padding and covers. After a good cleaning and scrub down, it sat waiting for us to go buy the plywood. My husband was willing but we went to a home improvement store that did not cut boards down to size. That meant we drove home with a 24 inch by 8 foot sized board hanging out the back of our Jeep. Even when you live relatively close it is a bit harrowing to drive with your hatch tied down but we made it home. Then the board sat in the garage for a month while I was finishing up working and transitioning to retirement. Finally my husband said the magic words "what is this board here for?" and I reminded him of the upcoming project. The circular saw was dragged out of hiding, cut at 60", and the scrap cut into boards needed for a project he was working on. You see that innocent question wasn't just to get the garage in order but came about when he wanted to use that fine piece of wood for his own purposes but it worked for me, too.

With the board cut we needed to screw it down but didn't have the proper screws, or so he thought, so a trip to the hardware store was in order. After purchasing what was recommended, I thought we probably could have used something we already had, but it was easy to start with new. Holes were drilled, screws were countersunk, and we had a BIG piece of plywood on top of an old wood ironing board:

Plywood top screwed down with 5 screws

From this side you can see the original board lined up with the plywood.

My husband was sure we needed to smooth off the corners at least but I assured him they would be padded before this project was over. Next up was to cover with foil and tape in place:

Overkill with Gorilla tape but it shouldn't dry out and fall off!

Foil to reflect heat and keep board from absorbing heat

We bought the heavy duty 18" wide variety and it went on nicely, no rips. Next up was two layers of cotton batting but that also left a section of the same width so I made mine three layers thick. This might be a mistake as it seemed a bit too padded but I think if I pull it tighter and re-staple one side it should help. It now got stapled into place and moved into the house so it could be laid down on a clean surface. What? My garage isn't clean enough? It is clean now because in the process of moving the board inside we lost a tack, just a temporary measure to hold things in place before I could use the staple gun. Looking, using a broom, and finally the vacuum cleaner didn't turn up the tack but now my garage is wonderfully clean!

Table inside with batting stapled down

Once inside and with the three layers of cotton batting stapled in place, we set the board upright only to find the tack pushed into the area rug. Well, at least we found it and the garage is cleaner, too. Next up, an old sheet was stretched and stapled over the other layers:

Now you can see the original wood top with screws through plywood

I had to press the top cloth before the final assembly because it was very wrinkled while stored in the garage as a future drop-cloth. It's actually a very pale green but so smooth and a bit thicker so maybe it has a higher thread count? For the top layer I made a removable ironing board cover out of a plain white sheet, compliments of Aunt Marcella. The corners are fitted and there is a casing with elastic all the way around so it's a very nice fit. I even have another length of this sheet that is set aside so I can make another cover when this one no longer will clean up. I chose white because when quilting I really need to see what I'm doing and not get confused by a pattern showing through from the board cover.

Tada! My finished Big Ironing Board

Time will tell how much I use and enjoy it but, for now, I'm glad I spent the time to make it and do it right. While I was working on this project I was also refinishing the cabinet from a Singer 201, but that's going to have to be my next post so I can give you a bit more detail. For now, how about making your own Big Board?

Vacation Day 4

This vacation has been more fun staying-at-home than I could have imagined, even with hot, sticky weather. That has kept me from working on cabinets and tables out in the garage but it has gotten me sewing and working on sewing machines. Day 4 of my vacation found me tackling a wiring job for a Singer 15-90 that came to me with wire nuts as connectors. That's not necessarily bad but they should not be exposed so I decided to connect the ends with solder and shrink tubing. It turned out great after cleaning up:

Singer 15-90 with great decals on bed

but to solder without someone helping me to hold those tiny wires while I used the soldering tool was a bit difficult. Then I remembered something I could use called "Helping Hands" designed to be an extra pair of hands. During our errand running, we stopped at Harbor Freight and managed to find this little gizmo for only $5:

Helping Hands (it's actually called that!)

I set it up with an example of how it can be used for the photo shoot but I haven't actually used it yet. I can't wait to try it out! If this is set up on the wood board I used for soldering it will truly leave my hands free to hold the rosin and soldering tool which get very hot.

The little Singer 99 repaint has been sitting on the floor of my sun room and is just begging to be finished up. There was a nice case in the garage I wanted to use but upon further inspection I could smell it across the room: mildew! The covering got stripped off and the wood box was scrubbed up in the utility sink since most of the surface was left with dried glue. The bottom of the case had those black spots of mildew so I even applied household bleach and did it come out clean! Here it is with the repainted body in the base:

Singer 99 repainted with hammered finish in gold

This looks so nice I almost don't want to paint it but I can see this wood wasn't meant as a final finish so black paint will give it a great end result. See the lid behind it in the photo above? That's how the original looks and it's not in bad shape so now I have to decide how badly I want to strip all of it off. Please tell me it will be worth the effort!

As for actually sewing, I came across this pattern at a garage sale:

and I think I might just have to make this groovy dress. My sisters and I wore these little numbers in the 60's and here we are, now in our 60's and they are back in style. It really would be cute but I have to decide if I would also look cute wearing it or if it would look like I just dragged it out of the back of my closet. It's a fine line so I think I'll have to consult with my fashionista daughter, Kelly, who can dress others to perfection so will be able to suggest the right fabric, too. When did this reversal of roles happen? Well, I'm glad I have a fashion consultant in the family.

Painting the Town: part 1

I'm diving in and learning how to repaint sewing machines. I can't help it; I like perfection. Rather than belabor my faults and weaknesses, let's just get into it, shall we? Here's the first candidate:

Singer 66

This little lady was part of a learn-to-rewire project that I wrote about earlier so she's become a real guinea pig (as if she raised her needle and cried out "Me, Me! Pick me!"). If you look closely you can see on the bed of the sewing machine there are carvings right into the paint, something like MN and some numbers. It really spoiled the whole sewing machine. I thought this would be a good one to start out on because I know I'll make mistakes and I don't want to make a mess of a really good sewing machine that I want to repaint:

Pfaff 130

The Pfaff 130 is a great sewing machine but this one has crumbling paint on the bed that has to be repainted. But it's not going to be my experiment. So the Singer 66 will be the first. I read up on it until I think I could repeat the steps in my sleep but it goes like this:

1. Remove anything you don't want to get painted. This includes motor, hand-wheel (in good shape), metal faceplate, bobbin cover, feet, etc. It doesn't need to be completely disassembled because then you have quite a job getting it back together.
2. Mask everything that doesn't get painted. That's a tall order but I stuff paper into large openings and tape everything else.
3. Use chemical stripper as per directions. I like the really bad stuff (Zinsser Strip Fast Power Stripper), no orange kind that you just wash off. As it turns out, this old paint does not want to come off!

Looking a bit naked with paint partially removed

The stripper needs to stay on a long, long time before I can steel wool and scrape the old paint off. I use a variety of old dental tools to get into the small spaces.
4. Use sandpaper to remove what the stripper could not remove. This works really well, maybe because the finish is now softer. At this point I use a sanding bit on a variable speed drill and work on the remaining parts. There seems to be a haze from the chemical stripper so this cuts through everything.
5. Wipe down, let dry, mask again. This time I mask very carefully, especially around the Singer emblem that I do not want to remove. I hope I don't regret that later. I also stuff paper inside of the machine and all around the bobbin area on the bottom plus I tape in place. I don't want any primer to touch that area.

Re-taped and in the painting booth (front)

Re-taped (back)

So here she is in my improvised painting booth of a large sheet of cardboard reshaped into a box with plastic on the top. This was done in the garage with both cars outside. My husband volunteered to drive his out "so you can have more room to work." That was nice of him. So now we are ready for the primer. But I have run out of time and will continue this adventure in the next post. How exciting! It's like an old-fashioned serial story. "Next time on this show we find out if the primer covers all those weird markings. Can she do it? Stay tuned to the next episode with Sewing Machine Mavin!"

Fun tools

Part of the fun with any new venture/hobby is finding all the tools you just can't live without or didn't know you needed until now. I have borrowed some of my husbands tools on a permanent basis (hex keys anyone?) and have bought a few items that weren't very expensive such as sets of small screwdrivers, but haven't bought much in the way of  "do I really need that?" until now.

Various machines need a way to clean out small shredded parts, such as bobbin winders gone bad so there are very small black tire bits all over the inside. Remember this post about the mouse nest? I really needed a full sized vacuum cleaner then but there were finer points I just could reach very well. Now I have the perfect companion to my big vacuum cleaner:

The plastic tube connects to the hose on the vacuum with the large adapter end (on left) and you put various attachments/brushes on the adapter on the right end of the hose. Had almost as much suction as my big vacuum as it cleaned up the bottom of a wood box carrying case quite well. With 2 brushes and a crevice tool, plus other extenders, I could get into some pretty tight spots inside the Singer 237 that had to come home with me. Since it's just a set of attachments the cost was only $7: why did I wait so long?

At the same time I ordered an ultrasonic cleaner, having gotten a tip from another vintage sewing machine person on Facebook. This wasn't exactly cheap but could be used for cleaning other household items so I went ahead and ordered it:

 

This is so cool! You can put just plain water into it or add a touch of detergent, put the sewing machine feet that are no longer new (that's a polite way of saying "layers of petrified oil gunk") and in less than 5 minutes they look like new or at least better. After the feet came out clean I tried some screws because I hate to clean them but are pretty cruddy on some machines, especially as they are on the top and get years of dust on them. Not only did they come out clean, they still turned great in the holes. I was sure it would strip off all the oils and make them hard to turn but that wasn't true. 

Here are a few pics of another set of feet, some better, some need more work, and some really shine!

Feet before the cleaner

There they are in the murky, dirty water!

After? some need more help!

I did these sewing machine feet in plain water so maybe adding the cleaner is really better. Because it loosenes the dirt, you also need to wipe the dirt off for a better final effect. Still, I love this new tool and think I will find many ways to use it.

For the love of gadgets and tools!