No Seriously.

Last weekend we moved into our new rental, a pretty little house on the better side of town that has room for me to bring Millie home.  At long last that beautiful machine is home.  Friday I took a short break from unpacking to give her some cosmetic love.  Quick bath and dry with a coat of Turtle Wax and we have awesome.

So encouraged by this I spent a few hours after work last night cleaning and oiling many of the moving parts and found out though extremely dirty she's a great looking machine! At about 11:30 last night we gave her a try.  Not exactly a success, but she sews now its time to figure out how to work the different controls and get the stitch regulator unfrozen.  So after that let down (yeah I was hoping she'd be easier then Sparky) off to bed as we are planning on moving more things today.

At about 5am the Hubby and I were awakened by our cat Nori howling. This is not exactly a normal occurrence but usually means he is hunting paper. Yes Nori steals paper (bills, letters, homework) and kills it.  After several months of not hearing the hunting howl my husband jumped up and hurried to find out what the cat was doing.

The awesome hunter in his natural state!

Well Nori had found my restoration kit and had stolen the bag of cosmetic cotton rounds and was standing over his kill howling for acknowledgement!  After laughing and taking away the rounds and going back to bed we were again awoken by the howling of the wild Nori!  This time he had gone back into the kit and stole another bag this one a ziplock with my scrubbies in it.  Guess its time to put the kit under lock and key! Silly Kitty,those are for sewing machines!

Sparky Rides Again!

Ok so after over 20 years... Sparky rides again! While I still want to rebuild the original motor I have just ordered and recieved a replacement motor for old Sparks. So today after over 20 years of setting... Sparky sewed a single line. Now remember I ran out of bobbin thread about half way through.

Happy Bornday!

Well, today is quite the milestone in Millie's life, another year older. Today is the old 66's 96th birthday.  I had hoped to have it home by now but unfortunately the space thing just isnt working yet. Soon though must be soon!
I've been thinking a lot about how much this machine has survived through. Being "born" in 1917, I can only imagine the amount of clothing and linens and quilts, etc that she has created. Can you imagine, how many hours of work this gal has probably put in over the years, how many technical advances it has survived through. Not only survived but has not been altered like so many have been. Its simply mind boggling.

Happy 96th bornday my old friend! 

Life is Good

Life is good. Recently my husband I went to the ultimate yard sale with my in-laws, niece, step kids and my daughter. Of course the in-laws arrived first, as they and the step kids live closer to the flea market/yard sale and my husband, daughter and I brought up the rear.  My daughter and I both scoured the booths and tables for sewing paraphernalia as well as something for her birthday.  

One thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of sewing machines out there in beat up condition.  We found a total of 5 machines and only one peaked my interest, but it was too expensive.  Other then that there was nothing of sewing interest. My daughter however did end up with an unusual jewelry box.

That night my wonderful in-laws had over the nieces (there are two), two of the step kids and a long time family friend who might as well be family and we celebrated father's day, my daughter's birthday and my own (coming up soon!).  The amazing thing is I then found out why there wasn't any good stuff at the yard sale... They had bought it all!

This is a collection that my in-laws have been working on for about a year, two small toy sewing machines, a sewing box and a pin cushion which has a tape measure!  I really am lucky to have these wonderful people in my life. But the one thing I cannot get over is the sewing box. It is a match for the 66.

And now to continue the search for the regular foot for the Ole 66. 

 

Sparky!

In my last post we had just changed the plug on the Commodore branded De Luxe and had quite a light show. Well being optimistic people (stop laughing) we decided to try to change the plug to a more heavy duty one in hopes that this would solve the issue of the sparks.  Last week we picked up another plug, this time a vacuum cleaner replacement plug and gave it a shot.  Before we plugged in Sparky (now aptly named)  we grabbed a spare surge protector just in case we had to shut it down quickly without becoming fried ourselves.  When we tried it this time the light lit up just like before and worked perfectly! So then I made the hubby try the pedal. Yup, nothing, that's right no sparks, no TV  no cable box, no light, just that noise that you hear when the breaker trips and everything shuts off. Yup, no sparks just dead quiet.
So deciding that we would check out the motor to see if there was some sort of easy fix, both of us being mechanically inclined I started taking the motor off the sewing machine and can you guess what I found?

Yup that's right our culprit, or so we reasoned.  Perhaps its an easy fix, so we opened the case and started taking the motor out.  Easier said then done there is another wire inside that goes to one of the brushes that is fried too. So now its the debate of fix it now or replace it and fix it later. 

On a positive note, the other night our beautiful calico suddenly noticed there was another cat staring at her, a cat trapped inside of the Commodore, that's right the machine is that shiny... 

Bright lights and shiny stuff....

Ok so this week I spent some time working on the Commodore badged Deluxe.  I went off hunting for the belt on Friday when I was off from the main job, but was unable to locate one. I hit several stores locally looking for something that remotely resembled the belt.  I did see some vacuum belts that were almost perfect so I went off in search of a vacuum belt that would match. You would be surprised at how people are not willing to help you when you ask about a vacuum belt that is the same size as what you have in your hand... Needless to say, I wont be going back to that location.
So after all that, I ordered a belt from Ebay and set off to clean up the machine properly. Of course the beauty cleaned up so nice. A little Turtle Wax and an old pair of sweats seem to go pretty far.

The chrome on the wheel is nearly perfect and shined up with almost no work.

As you can see the chrome that Justin shined still has the awesome mirror shine and now you can see the paint is almost new car shine. Not very good pictures but they catch the shine. 

So now that I have the belt ordered, the machine shined its time to change the plug... So after changing the plug thought to leave that test for the husband.  Well when he finally came back from the race today, he plugged in the machine (after checking my handy work) and the light turned on. Woot! Or so you would think.  So lets press the pedal... Can anyone guess what happened? Big old spark shot out of the motor of the machine and I thought Neil was fried. So lets see if a heavier plug works then hopefully it will be fun to play with, if not... well lets see what the motor will cost to rebuild.  Can you tell I'm just heart broken that the machine isn't currently workable and that the belt is in transit. 

WOOT!

Ok my beautiful machine is running, now only to bring her home and make the adjustments to it so that it will run.  I am having a problem where there normal 66 class bobbins aren't fitting but will have to figure that and the needle thing (cause thats not fitting either). YAY it works!

Deluxe Commodore clean up

Today I was working on the Commodore by De Luxe with my middle child Justin. He's going to be 16 next week and can polish metal to a fine shine.
After some assistance from Mr Wonderful-Husband, I was able to pull off the face plate and also the bobbin cover assembly.

Oiled the whole machine, and worked the oil through.

And gave the old gal a nice sponge bath.

What the main thrill of this whole thing, was that my nearly 16 year old was helping. I cant begin to tell how much it means that he's helping. I'm pretty sure he might find some of these motors interesting. 

Bad Jill, bad bad bad Jilll

Well, I brought home another machine... Bad bad bad Jill.   This is a beautiful Deluxe made Commodore machine.
Last night my husband started perusing the craigs list ads again and we found this beautiful machine that is in need of some TLC. From what I understand this old gal has been unused for at least 26 years. Yet she starts right up just needs a belt and a new plug. Also from what I understand I have purchased this machine from the original owner's grandson and his wife (lovely people!). Now a special word to a great co-worker who is such a nice person he came with me to pick up the Commodore, thanks Tom!  This gal is a portable and will fit in a corner for now while I restore and wait for the chance to bring home the 66. I look forward to learning more about this terrific, hernia causing, darling.
I have already done some research and found out that the Deluxe brand is a Japanese clone.  They were often branded for stores, and were often the economical choice. Yes they were not as expensive as the main name brands but this baby weighs a ton, definitely solidly built and built to last. I've read more then once that these are machines that last.
Pictures of this beauty will be following shortly, but I didn't have the time to take them tonight.

Slowly

So not too much has been going on with the old 66. Having the beautiful machine in storage makes it very difficult to work on, except for what pieces I can pull off and carry home. So this weekend my 13 year old daughter and I went shopping for machine pull and steel wool. After our mini shopping spree we stopped by to visit the old gal. While we were there we tried to try the belt in the drawer. Of course it was way too small. So after a lot of research we ordered a belt from Amazon and are now impatiently waiting for it to arrive

Feet

So now the hunt for a plain old rear attaching foot is in full swing. The early Singer 66's were definitely odd balls according to my research.  Of course being an odd ball myself, I truly feel a kinship to this old lady.  Being different does have its perks, however finding a rear attaching foot for a sewing machine isn't one.  After days of searching online I have found two, one in iffy condition with spots of rust on eBay and a second which is a set of four feet, three of which I cant see myself using, but its a decent price, but still more then I want to spend. So now its time to start searching local antique stores!

I am beautiful

Tonight I finally got back to storage and started going through the drawers of the treadle table to see if there is a presser foot for the 66.  My fear was realized when I discovered she is indeed a 66-1 with the rear attaching presser feet and there is only one foot in the box that fits this machine.

Of course the one foot was not one I really plan on using with this machine, but its nice they had ONE in the box. I will have to sort out the button hole foot.

Although these are common, people seem to really love this machine. Each and every time I have had her out  and am working on something, someone has to stop and comment.  I love to hear about how these people who have stopped have grandmothers or mothers who have had the same or similar machines.  I think in the past week and a half I've had this machine it has brought smiles to so many people, not just me.  I think its time to name this beauty. Any suggestions?

Organizing.

Well, now that I have cleaned and polished the parts I brought home from storage, its now time to start working on organizing my sewing area and perhaps, just perhaps be able to find enough room for the 66 to come home.  I have been searching high and low for different storage and organization ideas but first you must understand my sewing area(s).  We live in a small apartment on the second floor. My quilting rack/sewing table/storage area is tucked in under the eaves in the tiny livingroom. And on the other side of the room is my beautiful sewing armoire and ironing board.

The day we bought it.

So I have been searching all over the web for fabric storage solutions and have come across several interesting suggestions I do plan on employing. One of the most neatest ones I had to do was to use comic book backing boards to wrap the fabric around and then store on shelves. OK the wrapping of the fabric works even if the boards are a little less firm then I had hoped. But for $12 for 100 they fit the budget and don't detract from my fabric money.

Metal Polish

Ok so today after two days of waiting for it, my Maas Metal Polish came in the mail from Amazon. So tonight My husband Neil and son David piled into the car and headed off to storage with supplies.

Pulled off most of the detachable shiny stuff. And ran home to start scrubbing.

And so it begins

I have always loved the classical style of the older sewing machine. The rounded corners and sleek lines. To me this is what a sewing machine should look like.  Until we started to antique with my in-laws I believed I was stuck with today's plastic machines.  Once we started going to the antique shops we started finding the old machines, some in OK shape and some... well, not in OK shape, but all above my price range.  My wonderful in-laws continued to look at machines, but not knowing what I wanted or how much I wanted to spend. The dream of an older machine continued. Until this weekend.  My husband found some wonderful antique malls in PA. At a small antique mall, in the back, we found a beautiful Singer treadle, in my price range (cheap).

And so it begins