Happy 2024 to one and all.
Denver's weather has been another roller coaster month. December 19th saw a high temperature of 67° which tied the record from 1917. We got snow Christmas Eve and then even more the day after Christmas.
Many were busy with holiday preparations, yet there were some able to get some acquisitions, there was some helpful sewing machine service and even some sewing done by our group.
Dorothy
Dorothy was able to get a Necchi that she is going to rehab.
Hello!
Happy New Year to one and all!
I had supper with the first person I met in Colorado, the day I moved here, all those years ago. She casually mentioned she had her mother's Necchi that was purchased the year my friend was born. Imagine my surprise to see her open up the Necchi desk and there was a dusty BU Nora!
The machine is very dusty having sat for at least 10 years at another relatives house. The motor has been replaced. It was not stitching properly binding up at the bottom. There were 5 bobbin cases! It started to stitch with choice #4 which I suspect is the original black tab Necchi bobbin. I am very excited to be allowed to get it into sewing shape eventually!
Her Mother used it to sew outfits for her job at an Asian restaurant along with other clothing, etc.
There is also an unknown Bernina with "same sewing issue". I assume cleaning, oiling & tension adjustments will fix it also.
Looking forward to the meeting!
Dorothy
Cheryl & Chris
Cheryl was able to get a sewing machine back to working order for someone to learn to sew.
This week my daughter brought over a 1941 Singer 15-91 from a friend. It had been the friend's mother's machine. The friend didn't know a thing about it but wanted to learn to sew and she wanted the machine in working order.
When Emily first told us about it, we expected the usual bad wiring etc. but someone had already done a decent job of rewiring it in the past. It just needed cleaning, oiling and lubing, tension adjustment and new bobbin winder tire. The motor brushes look great. I also printed out a manual for it and threw in some decent bobbins.
C & C
Thanh
Thanh was able to acquire a machine and is working on another.
Happy New Year!!
I had one acquisition this month which was a Bernina 530 Record for $40. The seller stated it was skipping and bunching up stitches. I figured the vertical nylon gear was cracked, but for the price it was worth the repairs. After I got it home and inspected it, I was surprised to find that both vertical and cam stack gears looked intact. With a little cleaning and oiling, it was no longer skipping stitches and all the decorative stitches were working as well. All in all, a great find for $40.
Other than that one purchase, I've been working on repairing a Pfaff 230 Automatic. There's a pin missing from a piece that attaches underneath the lever that sits on the top cover. The original pin looks like it may have been press fitted into place. As a replacement, I cut a nail that was about the right diameter and epoxied it into the shaft of the broken part. I still need to clean the Automatic Unit before testing the strength of my repairs, but I hope that solves the problem.
Courtney
Courtney received a vintage machine as a Christmas gift and tells of his tests of machines that would be suitable for someone with visual troubles.
Dear All,
Much of the last month has been taken up with holiday preparations. Our daughter has been home for over two weeks! It is the longest she has been home in 27 years! It has been busy but lots of fun. As far as sewing or sewing machines are concerned, not much has been accomplished. I did sew Connie 6 potholders for Christmas. They were red and white, and Santa hung them up on Christmas eve and they have stayed there through the holidays as decorations. For Christmas, Connie gave me a nice 1952 black Singer 301. I haven't gone through it yet but from the condition on the outside I expect it to be in good condition on the inside.
I did spend some time investigating sewing for the visually handicapped. I mentioned this last month. Early in the month Janey and I came across the Schmetz (705 HDK) easy thread needles at just about the same time. The easy thread needles come in two sizes (80/12 and 90/14) but because there is a small slot in the middle of the needle eye on one side, I think I would recommend only the larger needles because they are less likely to break. I ended up ordering two packs because the first pack seemed to get lost in the mail. It did eventually show up.
It seems as if mechanical machines are recommended for the visually handicapped because turning dials to the correct position can be operated more reliably by the visually handicapped than punching buttons and trying to read screens. I tried several machines. A little vintage Bernina 801 with a CB hook seemed to work fine, however a new Necchi K408A with a CB hook did not work at all because the easy thread needle kept coming unthreaded. All the other machines I tried were drop-in horizontal bobbin machines with full rotary hooks and they all seemed to work as the hook always mover to the left as it passed the needle. I tried a vintage Elna Stella machine with the bobbin behind the needle, and two machines with the bobbin in front of the needle, a Janome 6500 machine and a Kenmore 385.1622 machine. I think I can recommend the easy thread needles for use with the drop-in horizontal bobbin machines. I have not yet tried the easy thread needles with a Featherweight which has a vertical bobbin but I expect it to work fine as the hook moves in the correct direction with respect to the needle. I look forward to trying out the easy thread needles with my new Singer 301!
Hope everyone has a great New Year!
Courtney
Dianne
Dianne was able to get some sewing in and also writes of some needle sharpening tools and experiences.
Hi Everyone,
The last month, with the holidays, made sewing difficult, but five quilts did get finished for Firehouse Quilts, and some hexagonal coasters made as small gifts for neighbors and friends.
Having some hand needles, used for basting, become obviously dull, I looked into sharpening them. One needle’s point, using a 10x loupe, looked like the end of a well-used rock chisel - the end you beat on with a big hammer! A Clover ‘Sweet ’n Sharp Macaron’ was acquired. It ls plastic, but looks like two twist-off bottle caps facing each other, with a gap filled by black squishy stuff that does the sharpening. The loupe later confirmed the needle’s point to be in much improved condition after a couple dozen pokes - not like new, but usable again. Those tomato-and-strawberry pincushions and sharpeners have been around forever, although I don’t remember having one until it came with items from a neighbor’s estate. Very old and not in good condition, so not a fair test. A new pair, costing less than a dollar, came looking nearly identical, but with the tomato pincushion smaller than the old one, and the strawberry the same size. Poking the strawberry a few times with a needle, it seemed the fabric might disintegrate. Not a good business plan.
Machine needles could likely be sharpened, and a product just for them used to be available. It was made by 3M, and labeled Scotch Instand Needle Conditioner. It is a pad 1 1/2 x 6 inches that you run through your machine a few times. Unopened packages of these show up on eBay, and the least expensive offer (by far) was purchased. Opening the vintage package can’t be done without damaging the cardboard, so whether it works or not is not known. It will be saved for potential use on unobtainium needles.
Piecing has been done on a 15-91 held as a backup to my main machine. It is from 1951, and has had the motor rebuilt. It is noisy, and slow, but sews very nicely. The slow speed might make it good for free-motion quilting, if it will do that trick.
Happy New Year!
Dianne
In Closing
Wishing you all a great 2024.
Thank you for reading and will post again next month.