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#Post#: 8122--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: daen Date: July 8, 2018, 4:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=VorFemme link=topic=27.msg8105#msg8105
date=1531064392]
<snipped>
I am having a bit of trouble with the sewing machine and
remembering to wear my reading glasses to sew. I didn't need
reading glasses to thread a needle last year and it's
aggravating to have to find them every time I sit down at a
sewing machine.
[/quote]
Just this year I've started needing to take my glasses off to
focus on threading needles and read fine print. I suppose
bifocals or reading glasses are next...
Thankfully, still no issue, vision-wise, whilst knitting. I'm
deep into the lace section of the Viorica
HTML https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/viorica-shawl
in a
mostly-silk blend, and it's going beautifully.
#Post#: 8184--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: VorFemme Date: July 9, 2018, 10:29 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I've been in bifocals since I was 47, I just turned 61, but I
noticed needing the reading glasses instead of taking the
bifocals off, oh, six or eight months ago? I can still read
most "normal" font sizes, but threading needles was turning into
a pet peeve and I looked forward to my next eye exam so that I
could get a new prescription.
I still have too change to the reading glasses to thread the
darned needle - unless it's a really big needle and I'm
threading it with yarn!
#Post#: 8215--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: TootsNYC Date: July 9, 2018, 2:30 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=oogyda link=topic=27.msg4274#msg4274
date=1528052659]
A project half done.
On the old board (before I got banned), I mentioned that I had
received a vintage Singer sewing machine. I had to:
Replace the cords to the outlet and the foot pedal
Re-insulate all of the other wires
Replace the belt
Replace the rubber on the bobbin winder
Replace the carbon brushes in the motor (had to open the
casing to get the pieces of the old ones out)
Grease the motor and oil the friction joints.
Remove everything that could be removed to thoroughly clean and
polish it.....including the bobbin shuttle (PITA to put back
together).
It runs beautifully. And FWIW....it weighs 30 pounds!
Now, I have to build a cabinet for it. It came in a case that's
falling apart. I have the cast iron pieces (side legs, treadle
and wheel) from an older Singer to start with. I'll have to
wait a couple of weeks to get started on that, since we have
visitors arriving in less than a week and I have to prepare.
MIL had originally told DH that if we sell it, she wants half
the money. Now, she says if were going to sell it, she'd rather
have it back. ???
Nope. Not happening.
[/quote]
If she wants half the money, then you should charge her for half
of the hours you spent on it, and half of the materials.
#Post#: 8236--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: oogyda Date: July 9, 2018, 5:17 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=TootsNYC link=topic=27.msg8215#msg8215
date=1531164600]
[quote author=oogyda link=topic=27.msg4274#msg4274
date=1528052659]
A project half done.
On the old board (before I got banned), I mentioned that I had
received a vintage Singer sewing machine. I had to:
Replace the cords to the outlet and the foot pedal
Re-insulate all of the other wires
Replace the belt
Replace the rubber on the bobbin winder
Replace the carbon brushes in the motor (had to open the
casing to get the pieces of the old ones out)
Grease the motor and oil the friction joints.
Remove everything that could be removed to thoroughly clean and
polish it.....including the bobbin shuttle (PITA to put back
together).
It runs beautifully. And FWIW....it weighs 30 pounds!
Now, I have to build a cabinet for it. It came in a case that's
falling apart. I have the cast iron pieces (side legs, treadle
and wheel) from an older Singer to start with. I'll have to
wait a couple of weeks to get started on that, since we have
visitors arriving in less than a week and I have to prepare.
MIL had originally told DH that if we sell it, she wants half
the money. Now, she says if were going to sell it, she'd rather
have it back. ???
Nope. Not happening.
[/quote]
If she wants half the money, then you should charge her for half
of the hours you spent on it, and half of the materials.
[/quote]
DH already assured me it won't be going back. Nope. No way, no
how. Our guess is that she told BIL she gave it to us and he
was upset because it "might be worth something". I've looked.
It's not worth as much as they think. But it's worth more to me
in sheer joy.
#Post#: 8252--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: VorFemme Date: July 9, 2018, 8:32 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I bought a used vintage sewing machine earlier this spring
(well, it came out new around 1960 - there are none of these
"new in box" stuck in the back of a warehouse anywhere in the
world is my best guess).
So far, I have paid for the sewing machine, paid for a box with
the original accessories & manual (eBay), bought the fashion
discs/cams to max out the special stitches that it can do, and
it's in the shop after it slid off my lap while I was cleaning &
oiling it (I have an estimate of how much it will cost - but it
depends on what else might need to be done AND if the parts are
available). I just hope that I don't have to buy a non-working
one to cannibalize for parts...but I love the way it sews fine
linen and heavy denim without a hiccup. And I'm looking forward
to it coming home & trying some of the new toys (accessories
like fashion discs/cams, special feet, and having a real
workhorse of a sewing machine that is NOT finicky (like the
embroidery machine that I switched over to sew with - never put
your sewing machine in the shop after you start sewing a present
for your mother...it will not get done faster with the "spare"
sewing machine, because there is a reason that that machine is
your "spare" - or "second string" machine).
At least I have spare sewing machine now! I still remember
having only one machine and the chaos that resulted if that one
had to go to the shop! Heavens, I was reduced to a needle &
thread!
#Post#: 8257--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: Pattycake Date: July 9, 2018, 9:04 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=VorFemme link=topic=27.msg8252#msg8252
date=1531186330]
I bought a used vintage sewing machine earlier this spring
(well, it came out new around 1960 - there are none of these
"new in box" stuck in the back of a warehouse anywhere in the
world is my best guess).
So far, I have paid for the sewing machine, paid for a box with
the original accessories & manual (eBay), bought the fashion
discs/cams to max out the special stitches that it can do, and
it's in the shop after it slid off my lap while I was cleaning &
oiling it (I have an estimate of how much it will cost - but it
depends on what else might need to be done AND if the parts are
available). I just hope that I don't have to buy a non-working
one to cannibalize for parts...but I love the way it sews fine
linen and heavy denim without a hiccup. And I'm looking forward
to it coming home & trying some of the new toys (accessories
like fashion discs/cams, special feet, and having a real
workhorse of a sewing machine that is NOT finicky (like the
embroidery machine that I switched over to sew with - never put
your sewing machine in the shop after you start sewing a present
for your mother...it will not get done faster with the "spare"
sewing machine, because there is a reason that that machine is
your "spare" - or "second string" machine).
At least I have spare sewing machine now! I still remember
having only one machine and the chaos that resulted if that one
had to go to the shop! Heavens, I was reduced to a needle &
thread!
[/quote]
Old machines are such work horses, hey? I love my featherweight
for just that reason. It will pound through stuff that I
wouldn't dare try on my Husqvarna. Sometimes I have to NOT use
the pedal, instead turning the hand wheel for a few stitches to
get it to go through without burning out the motor, but it WILL
pound through. I am using it to do a couple of denim quilts too.
#Post#: 8276--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: VorFemme Date: July 10, 2018, 10:43 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Not a Featherweight - a heavier (steel innards and enameled
metal "body" - it was built to last) Singer 328K (built in the
UK - the 328J was built in Canada) and I have most, if not all,
of the original accessories (gathering foot looks complicated -
but if you're sewing yards of ruffles to curtains or skirts - a
timesaver), and all but two of the numbered fashion discs/cams -
the elastistitch (complicated zigzag) and a second blind stitch
(might be a zigzag blind stitch? - the more modern sewing
machines have two but I haven't seen a photo of the disk or a
schematic of the stitch that it produces). I will be able to
find a substitute, one way or the other. Heck, there's even
hand sewing...I can do that, too, just not as fine a stitch as I
used to be able to do BF (Before Bifocals).
#Post#: 8324--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: RevMaxx Date: July 10, 2018, 10:55 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
IM going to throw this in here, although it might also be a
"thrift score ".
I don't sew. No, I can't sew. I've tried. Really, with my
paternal Nonni being the seamstress extraordinaire, (I have tons
of stories of her talents )sewing talents elude me. My brain has
never picked it up/comprehended the engineering concept. If
something needs a sewing repairr in this house, it is with a
needle and thread to the best of my ability (which is rank).
since so many of you have tales and knowledge of different
sewing machines, I will ask your opinions on this. (I know 'how'
to use it,thread it, care for it).
Sunday I stopped at a yard sale for the heck of it. there was a
maching for $30 USD. i asked if she would take $5 and my tale of
woe, just needing something when repair needed. she said "yes",
AND started it up and sewed thru a piece of cloth.
It 's mostly metal, weighs about 400 pounds-(yes exaggerating.)
And MrMaxx said he should replace the plug/cord to a 3--prong
for safety. So did I do good? Do you know it?
#Post#: 8325--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: Pattycake Date: July 10, 2018, 11:04 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=RevMaxx link=topic=27.msg8324#msg8324
date=1531281333]
IM going to throw this in here, although it might also be a
"thrift score ".
I don't sew. No, I can't sew. I've tried. Really, with my
paternal Nonni being the seamstress extraordinaire, (I have tons
of stories of her talents )sewing talents elude me. My brain has
never picked it up/comprehended the engineering concept. If
something needs a sewing repairr in this house, it is with a
needle and thread to the best of my ability (which is rank).
since so many of you have tales and knowledge of different
sewing machines, I will ask your opinions on this. (I know 'how'
to use it,thread it, care for it).
Sunday I stopped at a yard sale for the heck of it. there was a
maching for $30 USD. i asked if she would take $5 and my tale of
woe, just needing something when repair needed. she said "yes",
AND started it up and sewed thru a piece of cloth.
It 's mostly metal, weighs about 400 pounds-(yes exaggerating.)
And MrMaxx said he should replace the plug/cord to a 3--prong
for safety. So did I do good? Do you know it?
[/quote]
If you paid $5 and it works, yes, you done did good! What a
pretty colour it is too.
#Post#: 8327--------------------------------------------------
Re: Current Projects
By: VorFemme Date: July 10, 2018, 11:11 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=RevMaxx link=topic=27.msg8324#msg8324
date=1531281333]
IM going to throw this in here, although it might also be a
"thrift score ".
I don't sew. No, I can't sew. I've tried. Really, with my
paternal Nonni being the seamstress extraordinaire, (I have tons
of stories of her talents )sewing talents elude me. My brain has
never picked it up/comprehended the engineering concept. If
something needs a sewing repairr in this house, it is with a
needle and thread to the best of my ability (which is rank).
since so many of you have tales and knowledge of different
sewing machines, I will ask your opinions on this. (I know 'how'
to use it,thread it, care for it).
Sunday I stopped at a yard sale for the heck of it. there was a
maching for $30 USD. i asked if she would take $5 and my tale of
woe, just needing something when repair needed. she said "yes",
AND started it up and sewed thru a piece of cloth.
It 's mostly metal, weighs about 400 pounds-(yes exaggerating.)
And MrMaxx said he should replace the plug/cord to a 3--prong
for safety. So did I do good? Do you know it?
[/quote]
If it is a Singer 338 (I think that's the one that I've seen in
that color - I've been thinking of getting one since my slightly
older model 328 is in the shop). Did she have any of the design
discs/fashion discs/cams for it? They go on a holder under that
little flap in the middle. You can read the manual free online
at Singer.com - just put the model # in the search and click on
the Support tab to the far right. Print it, if you don't have
one.
What can I say, I want to collect a few sewing machines. It's
not like it's illegal...although I have never found one for $5!
At least that has kept me from filling my sewing room with
vintage machines in need of a lot of TLC for cleaning, oiling,
and repairs...
Check PatternReview.com for reviews on whatever model it is
(can't see a model # in the photo) - if it is the 338 - the
people who have one like it a lot, especially the lady with her
grandmother's or the grandmother who got hers when it was brand
new and is still using it some fifty years later...and teaching
her granddaughter to sew on it! Membership is free on
PatternReview.com and there are links to books, patterns, and
the like for someone teaching themselves to sew.
I might have a couple of duplicate cams (bought a little box
that came with a 328K off eBay and it had the set that came with
the machine, the guy I bought it from included #1 so it would
sew - if it's the one I think it is, it has to have one in there
to sew, period) - but I bought a collection of 30 disks off
someone else to get as many of the discs as possible to max out
the stitch patterns that the machine will sew - it's going to be
my workhorse (first choice on doing sewing - saving my
embroidery machine for embroidery, my serger for knits, and not
having to worry about whether or not the danged machine can
handle a particular fabric or not). I'm a grandma with two
grandsons - I figure my challenges are more likely to involve
denim than chiffon - but a Singer of that vintage can handle
both of those and just about anything in between!
I know that it sewed fine handkerchief linen like it was butter
and I've also run two layers of thick denim through it and it
had no problems - it just didn't like falling off my lap when I
was trying to oil the underside...
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