If you look up 'antique' in the thesaurus you receive the following:

My favorite? "Superannuated!" I think that will be my 'Word of the Day'! 

I plan to use my 'superannuated' sewing machine today! This is my serger. It is an overlock machine, and for the uninitiated, it creates the sort of edge you often see on t-shirts. The machine can rub its tummy AND tap its head....it sews a seam in a straight line, while at the same time three other needles are stitching and the thread is looping this way and that way binding the seam. 

My hubby always liked surprising me at Christmas with a gift he thought I'd like, but would never consider buying for myself. One year it was a microwave oven. Another year it was a knitting machine. And in 1986 his gift was a Singer serger sewing machine.  

After all of those years...here it is!

 

This particular machine is still described as a tank! And it is. It can sew through quite a few layers of even the heaviest fabrics. Like a Timex ( showing my superannuated state), it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. It has very few plastic parts...it is metal and it weighs a lot. But, it purrs. It almost hums as it sews. 

When my serger turned 30 I treated it to a service at our local sewing machine shop. It's first service, ever! Before they took my (then) antique in, they insisted on seeing it run. The gals in the shop all stared in amazement at how smoothly, and quietly it worked! 

My mother had a more modern serger built by Baby Lock. At the time she purchased her machine (turn of the century) it was the up and coming model to have. It was bequeathed to me. I was so excited to have a "new" machine....until I used it. It bounced all over the place. It was pulled in different directions by the fabric and it rattled and clanked. It was very "plasticky". I didn't care for it at all.

I kept my trusty machine, and I pull it out and dust it off whenever I need this sort of stitch.

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!