Thursday, June 30, 2011

Two Old Beautys

Two Old Beautys!
I wanted to share these gorgeous hunks of metal with you!
They just don't make them like they used to, do they?
This dressmaker reminds me of a 57 chevy :) All the angles and ultra "modern" knobs and sleek lines :) Danny brought this home for me about 6 months ago or so. I immediately set her up and got her all cleaned to see if she would work! And hooo baby does she purr! There is something about these old heavy machines - they don't clack, or make click click sounds, they just run so smooth with a soft hum. And fast??!! They were truly precision machines!
I would love to do all my quilting on this beauty! I need to take it down to the local machine repair shop and see if they have a little geared ring part that I need. The old one looks like it was made of bake lite and has disintegrated and fallen off. That little gear is what feeds the dogfeed. And other than that - this baby works awesome!! Oh.. and i'll need to scour the internet to see if i can find a darning foot for it. LOL Wish me luck! :)
This one is an old singer... 1966 i think. I picked it up at a garage sale over a year ago, for $20. And dude... all the paraphanalia that came with it - two boxes of "parts" - are ALL for making button holes! LOL
It cracks me up how many steps and parts these women had to go through just to make a button hole! We are soo spoiled in our new machines with everything built in! This one is cast iron too from the hefty weight of it. I'm guessing it originally sat in a cabinet. It too hums so pretty. Everything is straight forward and basic. EXCEPT the bobbin casing and winder! This is a design I hadn't seen before. There's a little latch that you push and then supposedly you should be able to wind your bobbin - directly in the bobbin casing. Well... i pushed that little lever. Followed the directions (yep, was lucky enough to have the manual) and ... hmm... no go. I'm a patient sort. LOL I tried 5 or 6 more times, thinking it was operator error :D But still... nada. Sooo I think this girl is going to go with me to the shop also. There must be a snagger doohickey missing. Because it just refuses to grab that bobbin thread. (i hand wound a bunch just to test sew with it - but it just won't grab and pull it up) All this share and tell just to say that i am ready to throw my Bernina out the window! Man... i really got taken on that machine :( There is NO way that lady DIDNT know about all it's problems! grrr I hate dishonest people! It continues to have problem after problem. And frankly i am out of money to keep dishing into it! So, I packed her up and set her aside for a while. Lest I follow through with my desires and actually heff it thru a window! And pulled these guys out to see if i could get them working, and back to sewing without grumbling the whole time! These two machines make me feel like i should be dressed in full dress and petticoats, newly applied lipstick and hair perfectly coifed, and of course a dainty little apron on as well! Maybe I should pull out that Good Housekeeping article from the late 50's that told how to be "good wives" ?? hmmmm.... then again maybe NOT! LOL The women of that era would be mortified to see me in my sweats (or pj's depending on the day) sewing away, hair in a pony and not a lick of make up on! (that's on a full blown sewing day. Most other days i DO get dressed and at least look presentable! lol ) Hope you are having a great creative summer day!

3 comments:

Joanne said...

You call them beauties - i call them beasts - either way - glad you are enjoying them - you crack me up! I agree - dishonest people need to be shaken - not stirred.

Primitives By The Light of The Moon said...

Now that looks like some tough sewing machines. You mean your suppose to wear makeup and look your best when sewing????? I sure wouldn't have made the cut!
Have a wonderful weekend :)

Sassafras and Winterberry said...

The old machines were made to last...not be defunct in two years when the warranty wears out. Those are indeed beauties!
Happy stitching!
Courtney