Sammie1

Okay, get ready. My friends call me a true jack of all trades lol!

I've always loved machines and learning about how things worked. I used to help my dad with his car all of the time. When I got my first vehicle, an old chevy truck, I learned how to do everything on it.

I've done metal working (welding mostly), built custom vehicles, rebuilt vehicles. I started enjoying making something myself because I could customize it. I added carpentry to my hobbies after coming across such overpriced and cheap furniture because I could build strong furniture that could function a certain way. I detest the throw away crap everyone manufactures these days.

But I enjoy crafts and art as well. I do water color paintings, have finished a few projects with knitting.
I'm also a sailor and have sewed various things from canvas for the boat which is what got me into sewing. Then I made some collars for the dogs, then some jackets (they're sighthounds and have very thin coats and about half the body fat other breeds have and get cold easily). From there, I decided to start making things for myself and for others. I decided to do a quilt to practice sewing since it's a longer project and involved more repetition of skills so that I could really get it down. After I made my first one, I realized I had a lot of fun with it.

Also, I love history that I can see and touch and enjoy keeping it alive. I use some cast iron cookware I restored, some of which is from the 1800's. Why? I got tired of replacing teflon pans because they wear out.


So a love of mechanical engineering, arts and crafts, and history naturally translates into being charmed by a vintage sewing machine.

They've always caught my eye even before sewing. They weren't the blocky plastic I was used to seeing for sewing machines. I've always thought they were beautiful and thought that one day I'd get one to use as a display. My house is more rustic in decor so they fit in. Little did I know that my plans would include restoring and using it. I should have known because I hate when things are broken.

Since restoring my 201-2, I appreciate it even more. The precision in these things is incredible. Today, they build things to last so many cycles, which they've calculated would be the amount of use from the average user to get it through the warranty period. Back then, they didn't do such math and things were overbuilt. If you've ever seen the inside of a differential on a pickup, you can appreciate how strong the gear driven sewing machines are. And is why you can bring these things back so long as they weren't crushed.

The ruffler attachment and the button hole attachment (the one from the 30's) are such neat devices.
Now they use computers to accomplish so many things. It's interesting seeing the answers people had before computers were so common, or even existed. Apparently, the answer was ratcheting.