Sewing Pains

After several long weeks, my second 320K is finally here. My mother-in-law drove it up the coast for me, while on her latest Brisbane trip.  I was thrilled to see a zippered denim bag with feet and accessories - an unexpected bonus! I have replaced the original #173058 bobbin case with the modern modified version. The machine had a 15x1 needle fitted, but the bobbin case showed needle strikes. The modified bobbin case fits perfectly and the machine stitches like a dream! There were the usual issues... unpleasant smells and grime, but at least the machine wasn't dry, it had been well-oiled and well-used in its life. The original green bobbin tyre. I cleaned the body, tension assembly, feed dogs, and hook assembly in-situ, as I didn't want to upset the timing. Much energy was expended. I was happy to see the carbon brushes still have length of about 10mm. Linty yuck. I've never had multiple throat plates for a machine, and I didn't know I was getting any, ...

Yesterday I unexpectedly found my last wish list machine - an unusual free-arm zigzag machine in the prettiest shade of pale green! I'm still too excited to write. More next week, I collect it on Saturday.

A wish-list machine has been found! For AU$100 I am the proud owner of a lovely German 401-13: The machine was serviced in 2015 but still has a problem with zigzag stitches, I hope I can resolve the issue.

Well, another vintage Singer joined the collection this week, which brings the total to four! I hadn't planned on buying another machine so soon after my 99K, but this machine is unusual, and it was so cheap... :o So, without further ado meet Janice - a splendid and uncommon (in Australia) 1947 Singer 66-16 (sans motor) in the fashionable-at-the-time 'black side' crinkle / matte black, scratch-resistant, and low-glare finish! Machines with this finish are uncommon here because Kilbowie, Scotland normally supplied Australia, and it was less common for American machines to come to our shores. Singer 1947 66-16. Some of these machines are a 'blackside' series, where every piece of metal has been treated to have a black appearance. My machine doesn't have this, but I did manage to find a blackside thread guide and needle clamp, as well as a few black presser feet. I am on the lookout for a treadle cabinet for this machine, or perhaps a wooden base ...

In December I added another Singer to my modest collection, a 1954 99K! It has a bentwood case and runs very nicely. It had no accessories, but as it shares common bobbins, feet and needles with my 201 machines, I'm not bothered. As usual, the TFSR manuals were my first stop. Auction photo. Beside my 1951 201K. Back-tack, not true reverse. I removed the screw inside the bobbin area which a lot of guides suggest not removing. I can see why they say that, but although the condition of the machine is good, it can't have been cleaned for decades. I had to open up the bobbin area to be thorough.  The TFSR manual made it easy, but it took two attempts to put the bobbin area back together, the first time I did not have the clearance right and the machine would not sew, but I followed the steps again more carefully and figured out the acceptable positioning, and the machine now works beautifully again. It is a tricky little area! Another area of concern was the bentw...

So, after enjoying much of my 1951 201K restoration, I decided it was so nice I'd do it again. I looked around town and my charity shops had nothing, and the one antique store had several machines in very poor condition with very high prices. My local classifieds showed exactly three machines: an industrial, a modern embroiderer, and a mysterious brown Singer! I called and discovered it was still available, so I arranged to go and see it as soon as I could. So, I bought the machine, but I may have bitten off more than I can chew.  Today the machine I picked up for my next project is a 1957 Beige/Brown aluminium-bodied 201K with a belt drive (201K23?). I had been prepared to learn how to re-wire the machine, but the nice lady I bought it from said she had last used it 6 months earlier, and sure enough, we plugged it in and it went fine. The machine is is fair condition. Lots of rust, and I think the lady was a smoker, sometimes I detect a whiff of something when I am close to ...

In 2005 I inherited my maternal grandmother's Singer treadle sewing machine. My grandmother had never used it much, so it had spent much of its life stored in a packing shed in their orchard. It became rusty, and dirty from the fine soil of their fruit tree orchard. Sometime in the early 90s my mother's Pfaff had some issues, and while it was being repaired my mother brought the treadle over to our house and oiled it up, I recall us all marveling at the fact that it still worked. After a brief period of use, my mother put it in her foyer and my brother promptly stored his sneakers on the treadle. It then came to me, and I moved it across the country with some other furniture I had inherited. I regarded it as something sentimental but decorative. In 2010 my parents were visiting and had to make some repairs to a sail on their yacht. My mother looked at my Lisa, and said, "Oh, I might break that, where's the treadle?" So it was wheeled out, and impressively, sti...