Dressmaker SWA2000

How was everyone's weekend?  Mother's Day always brings mixed emotions for me. 

 My own mother has been gone for over 18 years now and we were not particularly close.  

None of my own children were around this weekend for various reasons, but everyone checked in.  The weather was less than optimal so I decided I needed to do some things around the house. 

 I chose to work on my vintage Dressmaker sewing machine on Saturday. 

 I bought her at the SA and she needed some help. 

 I got a new shuttle for the bobbin area and cleaned and oiled that and installed it.

Only to realize that she also needs a new belt.

I cleaned it all up inside and oiled everything I could figure out to oil.

I am still trying to figure out how to grease the motor.  I spent a few hours working on her.

It is very promising.  The cabinet is not in very good shape.  

In addition, unless you have a short chair, 

I am not sure how you would use the knee pedal to make it run.  

The front of the cabinet is very long.  

I am thinking to see if I can figure out how to convert into a foot pedal.  

I think it will be as easy as un-mounting it from the cabinet and removing the knee lever.

Once I get a belt and can make sure that she will actually run, 

then I will purchase some feet and start looking for the cams for the decorative stitches. 

 It is a really nice little machine and would be a great machine for someone 

once I get it all figured out.

I don't plan on keeping her so if you know anyone that might be interested please send them my way.  I just want out of her what I have put into her.

~XOP~

A Trip To The Sally Ann (aka Salvation Army)

My daughter has asked us to pick up candle holders as we may find them at the Sally Ann. 

 Well I hit the jackpot recently!  

I sent her photos to make sure they were what she was looking for. 

 I found 13 holders and some even had candles. ). 

0.36 each! 

SCORE!

I thought these were cute but she said no bueno. 

I also found THIS beauty!

It is a Singer 99K from 1955.  

She appears to be in pretty good shape and the cabinet is lovely.

She needs a bobbin cover plate and I need to get some bobbins for her.  

I found an original bobbin cover on eBay last night and will order bobbins for her today.  

I will spend some time this weekend cleaning her up.  

I have another one to clean up too, so will probably work on them both at the same time. 

 The other one is a Dressmaker.

I have had this one for awhile.  

She needs the bobbin shuttle and some bobbins too.  

I think I have a lead on those things so while I am waiting for them all to arrive, 

cleaning and oiling will begin!

Wish me luck.  I am pretty new to this but think that saving vintage machines is important.  

I don't have plans for the Dressmaker.  

Know anyone in need of a machine?

I have a couple of other Singers that need a good home too.  

They both sew well.  

Hoping to get these 2 to that point soon. 

I will keep you posted.

I did finish the dino on Thursday night.  

He is so Stinkin' cute!  

I have the next one to work on this weekend too.

I have three, count them three baby quilts to bind.  

Two are trimmed. 

I hope to get the third trimmed and the bindings sewn on all 3 of them this weekend. 

 Next up will be pillow covers for my daughter's home.

What are you working on this weekend?

~XOP~

Featherweight Maintenance Class

On this past Saturday I took a class to learn how to maintain my little Featherweight sewing machine.

I learned SO much at this class.  

There were quite a few people in the class.  

Several, like me, had not even taken the machine out of the case! 

 We even had one lady that was an original owner.  

She has a white FW and her folks bought it for her for her high school graduation.  

(I'm looking for a white one if you know anyone selling one)

We had to take ours apart and the instructor, Jean Dalton, taught us how to clean, and oil/grease all the guts of the machine.  

We learned some history too.  

The first place we needed to get at was the top by the spool pin.  

Son and of gun, wouldn't you know that my screw wound NOT un-screw!  

What was that about??  

She never had one that she couldn't open. 

 HUH. 

 So we put some oil on it and waited while we proceeded. 

 Isn't Jean so adorable in her apron?  

You can find her on her blog over at jdquilts123 .  

She was an amazing instructor!

This is a photo of my Featherweight.  

She was born December 9, 1948 and her name is Ella.

Ella was my grandma's name.

She was a quilter too, but I never got to know her.

She died when I was only 2.

 Well, I ended up cleaning her up and getting her purring like a kitten. 

 I had to send her home with Jean and the screw did finally un-screw, so she cleaned up the top.  

I will be picking her up at the Featherweight club meeting in February.  I am so excited!

One lady had a thing to use with your foot pedal to make it work more like a modern pedal.  

The vintage machines have the weird knob off to one side 

so your foot has to kind of rock side to side.  

The modern pedals rock more heel to toe.  

Jean sells a similar one on her website that her son makes.

This is what it looks like opened up. 

 You then insert your foot pedal into the holes you see on the right side. 

Then you flip up the other part and when you depress that it presses the little knob down.

It functions by the heel to toe motion.

I thought it was pretty slick!

I am so thrilled to know what oil/grease to use and how to upkeep my little machine.  

It has emboldened me to try to oil and grease some of my other vintage machines 

and get them into top top shape.

Do any of you do maintenance on your vintage machines?  If so do you have any good tips?

~XOP~

You Have HOW Many Sewing Machines??

I am constantly looking at "for sale" pages of sewing machines. 

 I have a bucket list of vintage machines I would like to own. 

 I have no idea why other than that I like them.  

I have found more than I need at the thrift shop too.  

These are not necessarily ones I have on my list, but they have been in decent shape and

 I think they need to be in a good home.  

My husband is one patient man!

Recently I was checking out the FB market place when I found a Singer Rocketeer. 

 Not only was there a machine but there was a fold up table. 

 It was rectangular not square which is quite rare.  

There was also a cabinet that has sewing "stuff" in it. 

 It was not in very good shape but I thought it might have stuff pertaining to the machine in it. 

 I watched the ad for a bit and after about a week or so they dropped the price in half.  

I immediately messaged and ended up committing to purchase the machine and stuff.  

It took me a little over 2 weeks to get there due to my son's health issues but I picked it up last week.  This is a photo the seller took of the machine in the table.

We picked up the cabinet and it is a good thing too as the foot pedal was in here.  

It is just a cheap particle board cabinet so I won't be keeping this.

It sure was fun to sort through all of the drawers though.

 I did end up finding a few feet, but if I want to sew with it I will have to find some more.

This old needle card was a fun find.

It even had the original owners manual inside!

Now I need a name for him.  I'm sure this one is a boy, so handsome!

I know several people that have named theirs 

"Elton" (Rocketman) but I need something more original. 

 Maybe Buzz? 

 I will have to think on it.

I have had several people ask me how many machines I have.

How do you feel when someone asks you that?

I'm trying not to be offended but I feel they are being judgmental when they ask.

It's kind of a personal question for me.

I know, you will all say not to take it personally, but it reminds me of the questions, how many kids are you going to have, when you have a large family.

Suffice it to say I have a LOT.

If we decide to go RVing full time I will most likely sell off some of them.

I will not sell them all.

The rest will have to go into storage, along with LOTS of our household stuff.

I have some furniture that has been in my family for several generations and that also would need to go into storage.

I think this year I will need to get each and every one operational. 

 That way I can sell those that I am not in love with.  

I will keep the rest.

How many machines do YOU own?

~XOP~

I Think I Have A Problem

That's right.  An addiction to thrifting!  

I was in the SA this weekend and found some GREAT buys. 

I got this beautiful desk for my son.  

(I have a similar one from my grandpa)

This is what it looks like inside.  These pics were at the store so not the best lighting.

I found these 2 pillow cases.  

The purple one is machine embroidered but the crocheted edging is gorgeous.  

The other one was hand embroidered!

I found this adorable tin too

Inside looked like this

Bottom of the tin.

I hear you asking about the sewing machine right?

Isn't she a beauty!!!

Even has the original manual.

The cabinet needs to be refinished but the machine is fabulous!  

The tension spring is good.  

The hand wheel moves up and down as does the needle.  

There is a bobbin case and the cords all look brand new!

In the photo above you can see two silver buttons on the right on the base.  

Those drop the feed dogs!

I can't wait to plug her in and see how she runs!

My friend, Ellen and her husband dropped off her Treadle last week too.

Shhhhhhh don't tell my husband.

Meet The Newest Addition To the Family

Hubby and I were at the Sally Ann last night.  

It was 25% off for seniors (anyone over 55).  

You'll never guess what I happened to find.  

I am always on the look out for vintage sewing machines. 

 It seems most of the ones at the SA are in pretty rough shape and not usually Singers.  

I found a Model 66-16 Singer in a cabinet!!  

I was so thrilled.  

I have divested myself of three vintage machines to dae.

(to the vintage sewing machine man in Munith).  

Hubby said to go for it.  So I bought her and now she is mine!!!

Here are some photos I took in the store.  

She needs a foot pedal and power cord but those are easily obtained.  

Also a little TLC, but she is a beauty!!! 

 Made in 1952.

Have a great Thursday!!

~XOP~

Not Off To Market

I am so sad that I am not able to go to market this year!  

It looks like everyone is having so much fun!

Instead I am planning a trip to Raleigh, NC to visit my amazing daughter.  

We have a trip to the beach planned again this year but a different beach.  

We had a lot of fun last time!

I was talking to a very good friend this week about 

what would happen if there were an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) in the US. 

 (I saw something about it on FB).
Info here and here and here.
I'm sure there are more too.

All things that need electricity would stop functioning. 

 We had quite a discussion and which things we had prepared and which things we needed to work on.  It just popped into my head and I said to her, 

"I need to buy a treadle sewing machine so I can still sew!" 

 LOL she proceeded to tell me that I was the only person on the planet that would worry about THAT!  haha.  

She is so wrong, but I love her anyway.

Seriously though it got me to thinking and I decided to start looking for a treadle machine.  

Interestingly enough another good friend was trying to get rid of hers!  

Coincidence?  

I think NOT!

So look at what is going to be coming to my house when I get back!  

A Singer Red Eye!!!!

She even has it all cleaned up, repaired and running like a champ!!

The cabinet is just beautiful too.

She even has attachments and the original owners manual.  It is a Singer 66 Model.

I haven't actually broken this to my husband yet.  

This will make my 7th sewing machine!!!   

YIKES!  

Maybe it is time to find homes for two of the cabinet machines.  

Anyone out there interested in vintage machines? 

 I can take some photos if so.

I hope you are having a good week so far too!!!

~XOP~

The New Lady Of The House

Thanks everyone for your comments on my new vintage machine.  I thought I would tell you a little about what I found.

First and foremost if you aquire a vintage Singer you can go to the Singer website and look up the serial number (if your machine happens to have one).  When I looked up my serial number I found out that my machine is a Model number 66.  There are several sub numbers after the primary model number and after a little research I found out that mine is a 66-16.  She does need a little repair but after DH looked it over, he thinks he can do it.  It does run, the light works.  The cabinet is in rough shape but can probably be fixed too.  We are not sure that the cabinet was original with the machine and if we can't fix it they are relatively cheap to buy.  This machine is HEAVY!  The body is made out of cast iron!!  The gold gilding on it is in mint condition too.  It really is a beautiful machine!

Here is a little bit of what I have found on it's history:

The 66 was one of the most expensive sewing machines on the market in its time but it was a workhorse, sewing nearly any fabric. It used a smooth, oscillating hook that utilized a simple threading technique. Experienced seamstresses and sewing machine aficionados to this day agree that this machine had a perfect stitch. It was produced in three formats:

• Hand
• Treadle
• Electric 

Singer has a website set up for you to look up your Singer machine.  Mine was made in 1953 in Elizabethport New Jersey.    Serial number is AL637317. 

So there you have it.  I was hoping it was a 201, preported to be the BEST sewing machine ever made, but I think she is beautiful in her own right.  I may keep looking for a 201 and I would love a Featherweight 221.  Did you know a Featherweight is made out of aluminum?  That's why it is so light!  If anyone has one they need to re-home, just let me know!

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of Singer history!  I have to go and sew now so I can post some photos for you all later!  ~XOP~