leonf

sounds like a lot of fun. Wish Iris and I could have been there.

OurWorkbench

It really is fun to get together with others that like old sewing machines.

We sure enjoyed our visit with you and Iris, when you were able to make it to the Denver area.

If you (or anyone else) are planning on being in the area, please let us know. We can always see if at least a few of us could get together - even if it isn't a regular monthly get-together. Leon, I still have a couple of things with your name on them, that I am holding on to for you .

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

MamaKitty

I've followed this thread for a couple of years but have never been able schedule-wise to ask about joining y'all for the monthly meetings. I have the first Saturdays of the next few months free and would love to meet everyone. How do I get info on where the meetings are held?

OurWorkbench

Thank you, Dorothy. We would love to have you join us.

We have an off board mailing list for our get-togethers. Some are not members on Quilting Board and/or don't check very often. We found that personal email is a better way for us to communicate. If you should like to join us, please PM us with your email. Currently, we are meeting the first Saturday of the month. Since it is in a restaurant we need to know ahead of time how many will be meeting so we can have room.

PM coming.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

OurWorkbench

We've had some cloudy and rainy days recently, but we had a sunny Saturday morning in the seventies for our July meeting of Colorado sewing machine enthusiasts. It was well attended with Carol, Dianne, Courtney, Dorothy, James, Cheryl, Chris, Janey and John.


Courtney brought miniature oilers which he gave to everyone at the meeting, with several still leftover. He bought them in bulk online. They are a very convenient size, about two inches tall and will be useful to all of us. A picture of one of the oilers, with an attached tightly fitting cap, is shown below.


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Dorothy told us of a new machine she acquired called a New Conover, actually a badged machine made by Davis. While she didn't bring the machine, we got a surprisingly good shot of it from the picture she showed us on her tablet. The treadle that it was originally with had been repurposed by someone for a table or something else, and Dorothy got the machine head. The head seems to be difficult to turn, but when she gets it moving better, it will be a beautiful machine, as can be seen in the picture.


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A few of us at the end of the table also talked a bit with Dorothy about the possibility of making hail protective mats for car windshields from the tough black fabric she has made carriers from, combined with thick Styrofoam inserts, which would be replaceable. We've had an unusually active season of large hail this year in Colorado.


Dianne brought a Coleman gasoline powered iron, as well as several other irons and heat absorbing trivets to set irons on. The Coleman gasoline powered one, for example, could not be turned upward when not in use as modern irons are. They needed to be put on a heat tolerant base or trivet. She also brought what is called a sad iron and several pictures of other similar devices. One iron pictured had a hose for connection to a natural gas supply. We were reminded how much safer ironing is today.


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Janey brought some pictures of feet with a short toe, similar to one that was a topic at a previous get together. There was talk about the possible applications and uses of such feet.


....to be continued in Part 2

OurWorkbench

James brought two machines, one of them an Elna and the other a Montgomery Wards clone of it. There were a variety of interesting attachments and accessories that came with the Elna, including a gear reduction unit that slipped onto the Elna. Pictures of the machines, the accessories and the gear reduction unit are shown below.


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One accessory that was of particular interest was a Hiawatha Magic Basting Guide. Dorothy knew about it and demonstrated how it might be used. It slips over one's finger, allowing easy basting or stitching. Below is a picture of Dorothy showing how it might be used.


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We plan to meet again on the first Saturday in August and will post notes from that meeting here.

Kelsie

It has been fun to read about the meetings you have. Thanks for posting with pictures.

OurWorkbench

Thank you!! for reading and letting us know you enjoy them.

I really enjoy them. If you ever have a chance to get together with someone that has the same interests - take it. Really is neat as there isn't anything formal or structured like a guild or class. Just being able to chat about whatever or bringing something.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

OurWorkbench

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We had a somewhat smaller group this month, with a couple of our regulars unable to attend. Thinking that this might result in fewer pictures, we are including a picture of the Perkins restaurant where we meet. (first Saturday every month at 10AM)


The group included Dorothy, Carol, James, Janey and John.


Dorothy told us a little bit about what's going on with her job and her work. She is the only one in our group who sews professionally.


We talked briefly about how the advent of sewing machines changed the clothing industry from what hand-made clothing had been. We talked a little about sweatshops and the famous Triangle factory fire.


Janey brought a White buttonholer to show James.


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Janey has recently re-discovered a sewing show she used to watch, featuring a man named George Trippon. He made many interesting sewing programs between the 1970s and the 1990s that aired on PBS, The Learning Channel and perhaps other places. Some of the shows have now been made available to watch on YouTube.


James brought a Kenmore 117-813 machine that he acquired a while back and has been trying to get rid of a musty odor. Last meeting Febreze was suggested. Having not worked completely, Dorothy suggested a product most of us had not heard of called Odo-Ban. James thinks he might try to find some and give it a try.


The Kenmore 117-813 was made by White in 1954 and has many design characteristics of a White, pancake handwheel, hook movement, thread tension and presser foot lever among them. However it has the characteristic bed size of most Kenmore machines, with squared corners. It's made of magnesium and is light weight. It also came with the parts list for a 117.552. The bobbin case is a little different from some of the White machines.


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James brought the Kenmore buttonholer that didn't seem to work for this machine. However, Janey's was tried and seems like it would work.

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to be continued...

OurWorkbench

James also brought some other Kenmore attachments. One was the Kenmore ZigZag attachment.


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The box of rotary attachments appear to be for the same machine as the buttonhole attachment, or at least some of them. The item that is below the edgestitcher and looks like the edgestitcher is actually a part for a Singer ZigZag attachment 121706.


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There was also a needle that appeared to be shorter than 15x1s. James had a pack of needles, so it was easy to compare. Dorothy noted that it had an unusual point. It does appear sharper than the Universal needle and the groove appears to go further to the point.


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James also had some instructions for the "Universal Sewing Machine Attachment" and "2-in-1 Hemstitcher."


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As can be seen from the picture at the top, it was beautiful weather for our get together. We plan to meet again in September and we will post that meeting here.