Working on the Little Stinker

 Thursday was a sew day for a group of my friends. I found a project I began 3 or 4 years ago, or 5 or 6 years ago... to take with me. 

I decided that since it was just plain sewing, no fancy stitches needed, I'd take one of my featherweights.  I haven't used the white one in...well, I can't even remember when I last used it! The white one is named "Flower". That wasn't always her name! 

I pulled the machine off the shelf first thing in the morning and decided that she would probably like some oil. But when I opened the covers of the machine, I realized she needed a bit more than oil!

I grabbed my WD-40, oil and a bunch of Q-tips. The only thing I was missing was the grease that is used in the motor and in the gears. It's on order now! 

It is always gratifying to work on the machine and be able to hear a difference. When I was working on the head of the machine, I had the machine running as I sprayed in the WD-40. The sound changed dramatically, and I could almost feel that the motor didn't have to work as hard. After the WD-40 bath I oiled everything. Flower purred! 

More Old Friends

While I was at the California condo I had the chance to visit with some other old friends! 

 When I am in California I sew on a 1948 Singer Featherweight. 

She's a little rough, showing a bit of rust here and there,

but she sews like a dream, with perfect stitches. 

I made this cover for her, and quilted it, using the Featherweight.

Another old friend that was in my sewing box is this 'bobbin' from an even older Singer machine.

This bobbin would have fit inside a shuttle. Singer originally used shuttles for the

lower thread. The shuttle was mounted in a piece that wagged back and forth allowing the bobbin thread to move behind the thread in the needle to create a stitch. 

Our new machines with their computerized stitching and time-saving features like automatic threaders and cutters are great, but they can't hold a candle to the older machines when it comes to reliability and longevity! 

I returned from California on a red-eye flight. I prefer them. I don't care to waste a day traveling, knowing I'll be exhausted anyway. Why not travel at night, knowing I'll be exhausted, but have some daylight hours  on both ends of the travel, to enjoy doing something! 

I was still tired on Thursday, but did get to see some 'old' friends! I feel wonderful realizing that I have made a number of good friends with varied interests since we moved here 18 months ago. I began the day by picking up a copy of "People we Meet on Vacation" by Emily Henry. Our local library has a program of 'Book Club in Bag' that offers a bag with 10 copies of a book, and some discussion guidelines. One of the book clubs I joined decided to try it. The down side is that the book club only has the bag for a month... so busy folks, or those belonging to more than one club, or those who are slow readers may have difficulty completing the book in that time frame. I'm going to have to give myself permission to sit and read - since generally I read when I get into bed, and rarely last more than 5 pages! 

From there I went to the community center to sew with 8 other women. We meet twice a month to sew. I worked on my Quiltworx quilt...I am working on the triangle border...so I'm getting close. BUT...I bought an extension to turn this quilt into a king size quilt. So....I still have a ways to go!

I had to leave the sewing group at lunch time to go play Mahjong with some more of my new friends. We had a wonderful time, and everyone had a few chances to win...so we all went home feeling good. 

At 4:20 my self-guilt stepped up. I have been promising myself that in the afternoon I would head to the "Y" to do some sort of exercise. Today I called myself to task and spent about 30 minutes over there, moving my body. I need to keep this up!!

So, now it's time to address evening things. Pasta is boiling for a pasta salad, a chicken breast is marinating (mayo + spices) and I'll pull out some coleslaw. At 93° at 6 PM I don't feel like doing much more!

A Little Bit of Everything Sort of Day

After walking my grandchildren to school I came back to the little condo and set up my sewing space.

I brought some pieces with me from Lupines & Laughter, a mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. 

I made a little bit of headway.

My younger son came by and we went out to local hamburger restaurant for lunch. 

I had a sloppy chicken breast 'burger' that was wonderful.

I accompanied my younger grandchild and the other grandmother on a walk among the redwoods.

There is a large park with trails among the giant trees within 15 minutes of my older son's home.

It's a delightful space with trails going in many directions, even in a light rain

that sometimes made it through the canopy of trees.

We rushed back to their house. The other grandmother made a welcome 

mug of hot chocolate and we were on our way into Oakland

to take my granddaughter to 'bandaloop'.

This is an amazing space where dance happens on the wall, and not the floor. 

It looks like a lot of fun, but I can see it would require a lot of core strength. 

There are several touring groups that practice at this facility.

The dance troupe often 'dances' on the sides of buildings. 

I was in awe of the instructors and how well they worked with the groups of children.

There were about 10 kids in the group, ages 6-12.

At the close of the class I chatted with the instructor, thanking them, and 

enquiring as to whether they have classes for old ladies...'yes'

and, for old ladies who are in lousy shape....'yes'!

Maybe if we decide to spend some time in California this summer I'll try it out! 

 

I'm Strapped

A post went up on our community FaceBook page that one of the residents in my new community is making face masks for medical personnel. One of her friends is a nurse and made the request, so Jacky made a few masks for her. Requests popped up almost as fast as the virus has spread in New York! Jacky put out a plea on FaceBook, and on Thursday she reported that over 300 masks had been made by people in our community!

While people were busy sewing, a problem arose. Jacky ran out of elastic and the elastic she ordered was backordered. She asked if I could make some straps. Ick! I thought of the challenge of sewing and turning small tubes of fabric. It certainly was something I could do, but not something I really cared to do... but in the spirit of helping I wandered into my sewing room. Then, it hit me! My Singer Featherweight machines come with a bias binding presser foot.

It is intended to apply bias binding to a raw edge of fabric, but I wondered if it could turn and sew a strip of fabric, without applying it to anything else. The answers was, "Yes!"
I also wondered if it would work with something other than fabric cut on the bias (which is another pain!) and again, the answer was, "Yes!"

Within a few minutes it was working! Sure, there were a lot of goofs and a bit of experimenting with how to hold the fabric, and what sort of fabric to use... but, ta da!!! I had straps!

The presser foot takes the strip, folds the bottom edge in and turns the upper edge on top of it. The machine stitches it all in place. I found that I could use a glue stick and glue one piece to another, making a long chain with the fabric strips, and sew them all as one long strip, then cut them at the glued joints.

I made a video! 

I thought it might be helpful for people to see how it's done, 

knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words!

I took my straps to Jacky's house, leaving them on her front porch, and she incorporated them into masks.

Jackie's nurse friends sent her a hearty thanks, and a picture to show how grateful they are. This particular group is using the fabric masks on top of the regulation N-95 masks, allowing them to change the fabric mask for each patient. This lets them use the N-95 mask for multiple patients, trying to hang on to their dwindling supply.

Case Restoration

I've written a few posts about my new addiction to Singer Featherweight sewing machines. My first was an eBay acquisition, and the second was found locally.

When I picked up the local machine I realized that the bottom of the case was split and would need to be repaired. I began working on the case bit by bit.

You can see the split on the bottom of the case on the left side of the picture. The split went all the way across the bottom.  As I have acquired more machines (I think that might be another post in the future.) I have discovered that many cases need restoration as they have suffered water damage sitting in damp basements. Mr. Dreamy even bought a machine where the bottom and the lower edges of the case were missing and eaten away by carpenter ants??? termites???)

In order to restore the case, the first task was to get the hinges and the other hardware off of the case. They are put on with split rivets. (They remind me of the old brass paper fasteners I used in elementary school.) Those on the hinges were larger and had a heavier gauge wire than those on the latches. 

Looking online I learned the you can use a small screwdriver to wedge under the ends of the rivet on the inside of the case to bend them up. Once both ends are bent up, you can hammer it out a bit, or pry the hinge or latch off. Hah! That didn't work so well. After gouging my hand a few times I pulled out the Dremel and used a burr to grind away at the "legs" of the hinge, and then used an awl and hammered the rivet out.  This was probably the toughest part of taking the case apart! (You can see the remains of a few split rivets near the Dremel head.)

The next step was to remove the vinyl covering.This was easy, as Mr. Dreamy divulged the secret. The cover is glued on with animal hide glue. (Post about hide glue is here.) This glue is water soluble and readily softens with warm water. I had a large roasting pan that I placed on the stove. I heated the watered and dipped the parts of the case, one side at a time, into the water for a few moments, then peeled a bit of the covering off. Dunk, peel, repeat.

The residual glue was easily removed with a warm, wet towel and a plastic scraper. The case is made from a soft wood and has beautiful tongue and groove construction.  I discovered I had dented the wood in trying to clamp it as glue was drying where I added adhesive at the corners. Next time I clamped it, I used small wood blocks to avoid this happening again. I used a wood filler to patch up dents, those I made as well as others, and dings.

This case was used for a 1938 vintage machine. The case had a leather handle, which was in poor shape, and in addition to prongs that go through the case to hold the handle on, it also had leather tabs that are sewn through the vinyl and then through the case. I used a razor blade to cut the threads, straightened the prongs holding the handle and hammered it out, and then used needle-nosed pliers to pull the threads out of the case. The handle was in poor shape and would not be safe to use in the restored case. I had a Bakelite handle from another case that I used. But new handles are available through the Internet. 

I purchased some 3/8" plywood and cut it to size to replace the bottom of the case. I used hide glue to secure the bottom to the case, and sanded the corners and the edges to round them similar to the original. 

The next step was to cover the box with Tolex. Tolex is a vinyl fabric that has been used since the 50's to cover books, amplifiers, and... Featherweight cases! There are a number of suppliers of Tolex 

on the Internet. 

I chose a lightweight vinyl and it went on quite easily. I stuck with the traditional black, but in hindsight wish I had picked something wild and crazy!,. I mixed up some hide glue and water in a large can, and kept it warm in a rice cooker/slow cooker. Using an old paint brush, I applied glue to the outside of the case, wetting the case first so it wouldn't suck all of the moisture out of the glue, and then applied the Tolex cover, one side at a time. I taped the seam where the Tolex lapped near a back corner, but later had to reglue the vinyl on vinyl area using a modern craft glue. I tucked the vinyl around the edges at the top, and put it top down on the table to work on the bottom. 

After 'wrapping' the case in Tolex I reattached the hardware. I could not find split rivets in the correct size, so settled for small black screws and nuts.

I found a jazzy cotton/silk blend of fabric at an upholstery fabric shop and glued that on the inside. 

It is far from perfect, but it is now serviceable and looks tidy and clean. I am sure that the I will find the next case I restore to be much easier and proceed much faster!

Do I Need a Twelve Step Program?

I think it is a disease.

Acquisition, that is.

It may be some sort of addiction.

In December I put up a post about finding an Elna sewing machine. The type of machine my mother had, and on which I learned to sew.

The machine actually worked! Having had a sewing machine catch on fire because it hadn't been serviced regularly, I decided to take my vintage 1956 machine to a sewing machine repair guy who loves working on vintage machines. He said it was a sweet machine, and that it works wonderfully, but needs a drive wheel to work a bit quieter. On my way home from picking up the machine, I made a quick stop at a thrift store.... not to shop, really, but to use the restroom. (It's and old lady thing. I had to go. I knew where the restrooms were located. No one would question my running in there. And, did I mention, I had to go!!) Afterwards, I walked around the perimeter of the store, and....

Oh. My. God!!

There's another green case. Another Elna!

This machine had a tag from a repair shop saying the motor needed to be replaced. I plugged it in. Funny, but it ran. It was noisy, like my other machine, but the motor was running, and the needle occasionally went up and down. I showed the tag to the sales clerk. I am almost embarrassed to say that she cut the price of the machine in half since the tag said it needed a motor. This machine was born the same year as the other, and after ordering drive wheels, I took both machines back to Bob, the repair guy. They are still there. He tells me he is about to get to them!

In the meantime, after lurking on a quilting Facebook page, I kept hearing about Singer Featherweights. I asked Bob, the repair guy, about them. His face lit up. He loves them. My little brain began to think about little machines and how wonderful having a very tiny, small, lightweight machine on the motorhome would be a wonderful thing. I began haunting eBay. And, as I wrote earlier, I won an auction and received a cute little machine.

I mentioned my new acquisition while visiting my sewing machine store, and the sales clerk asked if I wanted another one. Hmmmm, said I, my new one might need parts. Hmmmm, said I, the price is really, really, good. Hmmmm, said I, why not?!

So.... I now own two Singer Featherweights:

When I pick up the Elna machines from Bob, I'll drop off the Singers, and have him clean them up and help me decide which machine is the best, or rob Peter to pay Paul, cannibalizing one machine to help the other. Or, if they are both good, then maybe I'll sell one.

I can't wait to begin sewing with any of my vintage machines. Their heavy, solid metal case and works is reassuring. They are little work horses. Giddy-up... let's get going!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

or

how not to sell something on eBay

In 2003 Lynne Truss wrote a book entitled, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. She included the following story in the book to illustrate how important punctuation is to comprehension:

“A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife annual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.” 


Periodically I run into a punctuation faux-pas, and think about this story. (Caveat: I probably make many, many errors myself. I really don't claim to be an expert!)

A few weeks ago I was perusing eBay for I had decided that I would like to find a Singer Featherweight sewing machine to take on the motorhome with me. It would be the perfect machine to use where storage is limited, and it would at least allow me to piece quilt blocks and do some basic sewing. In just a few days of watching numerous auctions of Featherweights, I came to realize that these vintage machines have quite an audience. Most machines in working order were selling for more than $300, and had lively bidding wars going on with each machine having 20-30 bids as the price climbed incrementally higher. Except this one.

As I was looking through the lists of Featherweights I noticed that this machine hadn't any bids. The item remained at the opening bid listed by the seller. No takers. If one were to glance quickly at the listing and the picture, I think I see why. The picture shows the case and two other things. The listing implies that the item to be auctioned is that which is pictured, a case and those "accessories". However, had the seller put one of the 6 other pictures up as the opening picture, one of the machine, and had the seller put a comma after 1946 Singer Featherweight Sewing Machine 221, Case & Accessories, he or she may have garnered more bids and sold it for a higher price. But heck, I'm happy! My new "old" machine has arrived,

and it is sew[sic] beautiful!