Repainting of my mid century J C Penney Model 902 Sewing Machine
 

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You too can repaint an old sewing machine!

I decided to repaint my panty hose brown mid century J C Penney Model 902 Sewing Machine a lovely pink and black. T

Please note, a hand crank doesn't work well on this machine--but it was a fun camera pose! Later, I put the black motor back on the machine, along with its original chrome and black hand wheel.

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I carefully removed all the parts I could, and photographed each piece from its location as it was removed.

Some parts were best taped and left alone. I stuffed and taped newspaper into all the cavities. I was able to successfully remove the top lid, but not the front end door because of its permanent hinges (shown here taped up in blue painter's tape).

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I did my painting on a comfortable sunny afternoon.

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I didn't rush my project. First coat, then waited a couple days.

Third day I did some light sanding (800 grit), and DH did a second coat of pink for me.

After a second quick sanding and wipe down, I sprayed the machine with two clear coats.

A day later, I removed all the tape and paper stuffing.

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Covering the now pink machine securely, I sprayed the front end door gloss black and also the top lid. For the gloss black--I followed same sequence with spraying paint, allow drying time, sanding, wiping down, and clear coat.

It isn't a special paint really, just a good quality spray paint in a can suitable for wood, metal, etc.

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Replacing all the bits was time consuming, but the initial deconstruction photos paved the way to put it all back together again.

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How did it turn out? Excellent. If you have a couple hours each day for a week--you can do this too.

What's next? I have half a dozen black Singer 15-91s with bad decals. Now don't cringe, but I'm going to sand them down to the quick, and paint them some fantasy colors. I bought a can of purple, metal flake teal, copper and fuscia (sp?). Don't be afraid to try painting an old machine . . . you can do this . . . and turn an old panty hose brown toad into a prince (or princess).

I am a collector/restorer of vintage and antique sewing machines. I will be sharing pictures and histories of some of the machines in my collection. I belong to a group of restorers, and all of us have some old hand crank machines in our collections. We decided to name our group, "The Cranky People". Ha. Ha. We have a good time meeting every other month; a afternoon of working on our old machines, sharing information and learning. For me, sewing and restoring machines is the best part of being retired.

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thanks for those interesting pictures of masking the machine.

It really turned out beautifully! I'd love to paint a machine or two some day. It would be fun to steam punk an old Dressmaker.

"Panty hose brown" is the perfect (and funniest) description of the original color. You've done a great job painting this a fun pink color--and it looks really sharp with the black and chrome. I got a chuckle out of your group name "the Cranky People," too. I'm one of those people who will not cringe at the thought of stripping down ugly decals and painting an old machine a fantasy color. Hey, it's your machine, and the machine had a good former life as a pristine queen or a plain Jane, but why not for your own delight revamp everything for your pleasure? I mean, you paid for it. I can see if it's a rare piece why you'd want to restore it to its former glory, but not for some of the more common vintage models. I say "go for it"--you only live once!

Mrs. D, that is just the bomb! Job very well done. My problem is that I want it to be a car paint color, lol. I'm going to have to find a body shop to suck up to. i had a friend in the 70's who painted cars for Autoramas, but I doubt he's still in business. Hmmm, maybe some research should be done.

Looks great. I'd love to see the before picture. Since you're from Wisconsin I'm guessing this was done a while back.

What sort of prep work did you do before painting? Did you sand or strip the old paint? Primer?

Cari

I love vintage machines and I admire those of you who do the restoration. This machine is beautiful. Thank you for sharing the process; it makes me respect those of you who do the work and chronicle the history.

Answering Cari's question: I did a fair amount of hand sanding the body with high grit paper to de-gloss the finish. But first, I did all the reference photographing/removing parts to store in a bag.

For me, it wasn't a goal of removing the existing paint as there was no cosmetic damage to smooth away. Like any wood or metal surface around the house you want to paint to refresh, or give it a new color--it is important to sand and clean to prepare the surface.

Note: I did not spray inside or underneath the sewing machine, and was careful to cover even the smallest screw holes with pointy tooth picks to keep the mechanisms safe during the spray process.

I am a sewing enthusiast, been sewing for more than 50 years. My sewing machine collection grew rapidly after I retired and now numbers 53 machines. The oldest machine is 1876 Domestic treadle in its original cabinet--that would be the same year as Custer's Last Stand.

Then there is the 1880 Remington treadle in a walnut cabinet found in our 125 year old barn. Once restored we noticed a child's scribbling inside one of the drawers--"Gusta was sick today". We recognized the name right away and understand it belonged to the previous owner of our Victorian house. Now, this lovely machine with hand-painted decals sits in our dining room in front of a window--where Maren Q may have sewn lots of garments for her children Ragnhild, Augusta, Bessie, and Peter. I try to justify in my mind why I would have so many machines. My answer is the same as yours. Collecting is addicting. Each one has its own story--lovingly restored, and fun to sew.

Thank you for allowing me to rattle on about old machines. I am an old timer too.

The Pink JC Penney's Model 902 is the only machine I've repainted--I did it just for fun. I wanted a pretty little pink and black machine from the 1950s to play with. I hope you'll find a little gem to paint your fantasy color. Please share photos of your repaint project!

she is just too cute!!!