Lesson Plan

I made this today.  It is the prototype for Wednesday's class.  It was a fun little project.  There are plans on the web for free. 

It isn't hard to make at all. I did take photos and have outlined detailed, step by step, fully illustrated instructions.  I plan to hand them out at class.  Contact me if you would like them.....might be a nominal fee,  just so you know.  The blog is free. The Website isn't. 

 Next class we will be making a pieced, envelope pillow cover.  I guess we had better get busy on that lesson plan........

I wish I could just sew all day.  Maybe someday......

Sold!

It's going to Florida.  I spent two hours packing it tonight.  Ebay is funny.  I was pretty convinced that the machine was going to stay home.  Five minutes to go on the auction and I was trying hard not to be too disappointed.  I mean, it is a Centennial 201 and it is a lovely machine.  Quiet and powerful and it makes a nicer stitch, really, than my own.  But still, I don't need two (or three).

I was working on the Drawstring tutorial for Wednesday night's class.  The email bing sounded and to my surprise eBay informed me that the machine had sold.  Must have been an auction stealer according to the bidding times.

So it is off for the South.  Better it than me. I lived in Florida in 1973.  I was a kid (20) and it was ok but I don't do well with the heat. Still, I had a great little sports car there; a TR-4A.  It never ran when it rained.  How can a British car never run in the rain? 

http://world-viewer.com/photos/triumph-tr4-a/11/

OOOHHH now that I look at it again, I  want one......

No Charge

I took in a Singer 348 to Clean, Oil and Adjust yesterday.  The machine was expelling some millet and sunflower seeds.  When I removed the drip pan this is what I found

Now G. had told me she was sewing along fine with the machine and it all of a sudden stopped sewing.  None of these seeds were to blame. When she brought it to me, I found that the power cord was loose and I thought that was the problem.

I happily cleaned this machine.  I oiled it, cleaned old grease off of the gears and applied new grease and wiped the whole machine down with some Krud Kutter.  It sure was pretty when I was done.

Then I decided to test its stitch.  OOPS  I forgot to clean under the power cord.  Double OOPS and some other expletives when I unplugged it, turned it over and found THIS.

So this is scary.  I did not run the machine.  I tucked it away, called G. and told her about the sad finding.  She retrieved her machine tonight and offered to pay me for the work I had done.  I said  "NO"  I would not have done any of that work had I been smart and checked this out first.  My fault and she shouldn't have to pay for that, for Pete's sake.  She argued a bit and finally I said, " Just make a donation to the SPCA then."  Seems fair.

You know, I really do want to repair and refurbish sewing machines.  But it takes a lot of skill and even more common sense.  Some day I will acquire enough skill.  Its' the common sense I worry about.  I wonder if there is a gene for that?  Sort of like the tidy gene.

www.sewingmachinemagic.com

Our web site is up.  It is a baby and has only one page.  Folks just have to be understanding right now as I get educated about how to build a site.  I figure if I can learn how to re wire a motor I can learn how to build a web site.  Wish me luck.   www.sewingmachinemagic.com

Bye Daddy

Betsy and I decided that we needed a Web Site.  More than just the little one page deal we got along with the Domain that we bought from GoDaddy.  So I signed up for their WebSite Tonight do it yourself Web Site Builder.  It was a disaster.  Apparently the latency in my satellite dish is too long and I was unable to log in successfully 9 times out of 10 and when I was successful I would get booted out for time delay....It was a most frustrating experience.  After three days of trying this and that and that and this (I went next door and used a neighbor's Hughes Net satellite, worked just fine, though slow).  Today I finally went over to Betsy's to try one more time.  It did not work there either (she has the same dish that I have )   According to the ISP tech, GoDaddy is supposed to have some sort of setting that could be adjusted to accept satellite users.  Not so according to the very nice young man who helped me today.  I cancelled the account.  Now to find a Web Site builder that will work.

Bye Daddy

Kenmore 158.1931

I just had to work on a machine today.  I spent too much time trying to get a decent photo for the web page http://sewingmachinemagic.com.  I had to haul the 201 down from the sewing loft and set it all up and try and try to get something in the back ground that would allow readable text.  This will just have to do.  Later I will take another photo...Much later.

This Kenmore is one of my favorites because it has a free arm.  I use my 1760 a lot and I love the free arm capability.   There are times when I feel that I should be loyal to the flat bed machines....then I need the free arm and I am done with that silliness.  There is nothing like a free arm when you need it.

I bought this machine on eBay from BM.  She packed it very poorly and it arrived damaged.

 She did agree to take it back.  Then I changed my mind.  Forgetting to include the foot controller in the package when I packed the machine for return  inluenced my decision.  Plus it came with a whole lot of goodies.  The machine makes a very nice stitch and the stretch stitches now work (they didn't when it arrived, "fully serviced and ready to go.")  Whoever serviced this did  a lousy job.  The old grease was still stuck on the gear cover.  

And the gears were dry

I cleaned out the old grease and put some Tri-Flow grease on those gears.
Much better....You can see how the Tri-Flow grease really sticks. 

The tension was all wacky and I spent some time taking that thing apart and re-assembling it.  I finally got it right.  Setting the number dial on this machine is not as easy as setting it on a Singer such as the 66 or even the 401.  I just fiddled with it.  Don't ask, please, I just really don't know what I did.  I did not try to machine out before I took the tension apart.  It looked odd to me so I just figured it was wrong.

The machine stitches very nicely now.  Except that the cams don't work right.  Tomorrow the machine goes in the Jetta for a sauna.  Maybe that will heat some of the gunked up oil and grime and then I can put more Tri-Flow somewhere in there and try it out.  Who knows?

Why I love my Kenmore 158.1760

I made this little clutch purse today after I got home from my disappointing trip to fetch a Singer 223. http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/2012/06/consolation-prize.html

It was a bit of a pain making all those pleats.  I am going to try the Ruffler next time I make it.  Experimentation time.

This is fabric that I got for free at an auction.  You know, the stuff they didn't sell and don't value and leave out at the end for us scavengers to scoop up.  There were a lot of "home decor" samples.   Most of them are about 24 inches square.  That's a lot of fabric.  I love to make bags and 24 inches is a pretty useful size.

Except that I needed a piece 30 inches long for this.  So I found some matching fabric of about the same weight and went to town working on this bag.  The only problme, this fabric frays.  Now if I were an expert with the serger I would have just gotten it out and set it up and that would be that. BUT the Kenmore 1760 is ALL set up and ready to go.   Honestly, I did not want to add to my frustration.  So I used one of the special stitches on the Kenmore to bind the edges.

 Now pay attention.  One hand is holding the camera and they  other is guiding the fabric.  Pretty steady feeding.  And just listen to that machine.  It is a bit rattly at the higher speed.  I may look into that.  But I do love this machine.  It's such a joy to use.

The free arm is another huge advantage. I love the whisper quiet of the 158.511 and the rhythm of the 158.96 but I love a free arm.  Oh I know that I could manage with a flat bed and I have, but still why make life more difficult?  Aren't they pretty stitches?