I'm Scared of Sewing Machines

For nine months, I've been afraid to plug in Grandma's sewing machine. What if it didn't work? I'd have been devastated and somehow it seemed better to keep not knowing than to find out for sure.  I had a suspicion that the last time the machine was used was when I sewed Alex's Teletubby costume. (There's the milk glass in the corner of the picture. I love how you can figure out whose house an old picture was in by the corners of the furniture.) 

Once I opened up the  case and got a good look at the machine, I realized that I must've used the Huskystar that Grandma replaced this one with. (The Huskystar is here too, now in the custody of Teenage Daughter.) I thought this machine was the twin of the one I learned to sew on, but it's not exactly the same. 

It sews! The tension isn't right, but all of the original manuals are in the case, so I'm sure I can figure that out. Along with how to get that awful repair sticker off of the front. Why do places feel like they can do that?

While I had my sewing machine table cleared off, I decided to take a deep breath and plug in the Singer 338 that I found last month.  At the risk of sounding disloyal to my grandma, I love this machine!

I've already gushed about the fact that it's such a pretty shade of blue, but even better than that, it sews! The tension is perfect. It was in reverse when I started, but I've got that figured out. This one gets to keep its sticker for as long as the adhesive lasts. I don't know who G. T. Cummins was, but this belonged to her.

What I'd like to do is sew at least one little project on every functioning machine in the house. Starting with the blue one, because it's blue and seems to be cooperative.

I Went Back to the Thrift Shop

All weekend my thoughts kept going back to that sewing machine we saw last week. I'd told myself that I'd buy it if it was still there when the green tags went to 50% off.  I don't know how well it sews, but after seeing some vintage typewriters used as planters on Pinterest (gorgeous, but not anything I'd ever do to a poor defenseless typewriter!) I'd pretty much convinced myself that I could buy it just because it was blue. I don't have a blue sewing machine.

After I dropped Teenage Daughter off at work Monday morning, we swung by the thrift store. The machine was still there,  still only 25% off the sticker price. And now she's at my house because I refuse to feel bad about spending less on a sewing machine than a large Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger combo would cost.

Halfway home, I remembered that Great Grandma's sewing machine is a bluish mint color. So much for that excuse.

She's a Singer 338 and when I plug her in and push the foot pedal she sounds like a sewing machine should and the needle goes up and down. So far, that's all I know.

I'm even excited about the label tape. This little darling must have gone places!

my own little sewing museum

I didn't intentionally set out to collect old sewing machines, but they're so gorgeous and so easy to bring home, even if that means talking Hubby into loading a treadle into the back of the minivan when it's already full of kids and groceries.



The sewing machine I used all through high school was originally my great grandmother's. The story is that she bought it from a door to door salesman. I used it for years until I got married and got a job and it eventually got packed away and almost forgotten until I started to drool over pictures of pretty vintage machines on the internet and realized that I had one myself.

That machine was probably Great Grandma's newest one. She also had a Singer treadle that sat in our living room for most of my childhood. I love treadles and always wanted one for our house.

So I got this one. It's a pretty piece of furniture and I think it's missing some pieces. You can read its story here.


Except for my Featherweight and another old machine head that I picked up for three bucks at an estate sale to save it from the dumpster, I thought my collection of old machines was complete.  Then I found this treadle at a garage sale. It had belonged to the seller's mother in law and has all of the parts and the instruction manual and I'm told that it works. Did I mention that it was twenty bucks?


My very wonderful husband loaded her up and brought her home without even reminding me how many machines have followed me home over the years.

This one, which is circa 1875 and might belong in a real museum, isn't mine. Grandma found it at a yard sale at the end of the day and adopting sewing machines just because they're pretty seems to run in the family.  Someday I should show you my mom's collection.

Beth over at Love Laugh Quilt suggested that we share our own little sewing museums. I can't wait to see what everyone else is saving because it's old and wonderful. I'm also linking up to Time Travel Thursday, Treasure Hunt Thursday, Vintage Thingie Thursday, Share Your Cup, and Ivy and Elephants.

another machine followed me home

It's been a long time since I participated in Show and Tell Friday, but this is too fun not to share. A couple of Sunday Stash Reports ago, I mentioned that I'd brought home another treadle sewing machine. Here she is!



The cabinet is beyond rough and is missing a drawer, but it's got a mechanism that raises and lowers the machine when you open it up. And look at those decals! Yup, I decided to buy her for her pretty decals -- then I was told that she still sews.

sigh

Anyone know where I can get a replacement for the original belt that she still had on?

She's got her bobbins, and different feet, and an owner's manual so old and brittle I'm afraid to touch it because it might crumble to dust.



I love how the throat plate has a chart of which needles to use with which threads. The plate behind that has patent information and restrictions on its sale and use...would love to know what that means!

And I love the ruler painted along the wood in front of the machine. Wouldn't that be handy for quilting?




After carefully loading her into the van, my husband announced that my sewing machines now outnumber his trucks, which means I have too many of them. I insist that my daughter's three machines don't count -- they were all given directly to her and were never mine. We might be tied if we only count the parts rigs, but I think I get to count the two other trucks and the two boats...

I've only got six machines -- the Janome, my other treadle, Great Gradma's vintage machine, my featherweight, and the paperweight. That's not too many, is it?