Colorado get-together?
05-14-2017, 05:14 AM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,254
The Colorado Antique and Vintage Sewing Machine Group met yesterday, for the first time in two months. People came from all over the state to discuss their varied interests in sewing machines. We welcomed a new member Cheryl, who lives between Denver and Boulder. She has several treadle and electric machines and shared some of her experiences.
Courtney, who comes from Greeley and is a retired teacher, brought pictures of a treadle base he made from scratch, as well as two quilts he is making from student squares. He showed his method for seaming them together.
John and Courtney talked about the differences in rotary bobbins going two times around per needle stroke vs. some which revolve only once. Sort of an obscure observation, but with interesting mechanics.
Diane, who comes from forty miles south of Denver, brought one of the cutest toy machines that most of us had ever seen. It was a Necchi, a chain stitch machine and all metal. It was in beautiful condition and came with its own original case. She also brought a StitchMaster attachment for a back clamp machine.
John and Janey, from Denver, took care of the reservations and Janey brought some of her beginning work with a fagoter, making ornate thread patterns, each several inches in length.
We're still debating on a meeting next month, depending on how many people we have who are able to attend.
John & Janey
Colorado Antique and Vintage Sewing Machine Enthusiasts
Courtney, who comes from Greeley and is a retired teacher, brought pictures of a treadle base he made from scratch, as well as two quilts he is making from student squares. He showed his method for seaming them together.
John and Courtney talked about the differences in rotary bobbins going two times around per needle stroke vs. some which revolve only once. Sort of an obscure observation, but with interesting mechanics.
Diane, who comes from forty miles south of Denver, brought one of the cutest toy machines that most of us had ever seen. It was a Necchi, a chain stitch machine and all metal. It was in beautiful condition and came with its own original case. She also brought a StitchMaster attachment for a back clamp machine.
John and Janey, from Denver, took care of the reservations and Janey brought some of her beginning work with a fagoter, making ornate thread patterns, each several inches in length.
We're still debating on a meeting next month, depending on how many people we have who are able to attend.
John & Janey
Colorado Antique and Vintage Sewing Machine Enthusiasts
Last edited by OurWorkbench; 05-14-2017 at 05:27 AM.
06-11-2017, 05:49 AM
#43
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,254
We had a small meeting of the Colorado Vintage Sewing Machine Enthusiasts, Saturday the 10th, at Perkins in south Denver. Diane came from the south, Cheryl came from the north. Courtney is in Connecticut this month and several others were unable to attend. But we had a good talk among the small group.
Diane Brought a sample of fabric with several high quality reproductions of various Singer sewing machines. She also brought several half square triangles from a block exchange, with notes about the machine used to sew the square on each one. Quite a variety of machines, even one done with a chain stitch.
Janey brought a Kenmore buttonholer to show Cheryl. Probably from the early eighties, it features top changeable cams.
The subject of sewing machine movements came up again. Cheryl and I talked about rotary hooks which go around once vs. twice. She pointed out that a Singer 115 she has uses a single rotation of the hook for each needle stroke. I had thusfar only noticed this with White Rotary and our relatively newly acquired Junker & Ruh. Most rotary machines go around twice.
Diane asked about a Free Model 5. Being unfamiliar with it, Janey came up with the following picture from her repository of sewing machine info. We don't have this machine, so a picture is all I have to go on. It is said to have a very good feel to it. Perhaps some of you on QB have more knowledge, or even an actual machine.
The caption with the picture was "Is it a rotary or a vibrating shuttle?" While there is a novel mechanism for swinging the shuttle back an forth, it still seems like a vibrating shuttle to me, just a different method of moving it.
We're hoping to have more of the people back next month. More then.
John & Janey
Diane Brought a sample of fabric with several high quality reproductions of various Singer sewing machines. She also brought several half square triangles from a block exchange, with notes about the machine used to sew the square on each one. Quite a variety of machines, even one done with a chain stitch.
Janey brought a Kenmore buttonholer to show Cheryl. Probably from the early eighties, it features top changeable cams.
The subject of sewing machine movements came up again. Cheryl and I talked about rotary hooks which go around once vs. twice. She pointed out that a Singer 115 she has uses a single rotation of the hook for each needle stroke. I had thusfar only noticed this with White Rotary and our relatively newly acquired Junker & Ruh. Most rotary machines go around twice.
Diane asked about a Free Model 5. Being unfamiliar with it, Janey came up with the following picture from her repository of sewing machine info. We don't have this machine, so a picture is all I have to go on. It is said to have a very good feel to it. Perhaps some of you on QB have more knowledge, or even an actual machine.
The caption with the picture was "Is it a rotary or a vibrating shuttle?" While there is a novel mechanism for swinging the shuttle back an forth, it still seems like a vibrating shuttle to me, just a different method of moving it.
We're hoping to have more of the people back next month. More then.
John & Janey
Last edited by QuiltnNan; 06-11-2017 at 06:18 AM. Reason: remove copyright image, should have used link
07-08-2017, 05:58 PM
#46
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,254
The Colorado Antique Sewing Machine Enthusiasts met again today at Perkins in Denver.
Courtney brought a 221 Featherweight to show, which appeared to be in very nice condition. He also made each of us a thread spool holder, which assists with feeding from larger spools. It sits on the spool pin and alows the thread to pull upwards, allowing for better feed. Very clever.
Diane brought a tiny Bing sewing machine, believed to have been made in Belgium. The top and bottom mechanisms are coupled with a chain. Really cute and does a chain stitch (not to be confused with the chain drive).
Cheryl brought her husband Chris to the group, along with a beige Singer 20, complete with hard shell case and instruction manual. Also a chain stitcher.
Janey and I shared pictures of our workstand with Cheryl and Chris, who being our newest members had not yet seen it..
A picture of the three machines that entertained us is shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]576118[/ATTACH]
With people now back from their summer sojourns, we plan to meet again next month.
John
Courtney brought a 221 Featherweight to show, which appeared to be in very nice condition. He also made each of us a thread spool holder, which assists with feeding from larger spools. It sits on the spool pin and alows the thread to pull upwards, allowing for better feed. Very clever.
Diane brought a tiny Bing sewing machine, believed to have been made in Belgium. The top and bottom mechanisms are coupled with a chain. Really cute and does a chain stitch (not to be confused with the chain drive).
Cheryl brought her husband Chris to the group, along with a beige Singer 20, complete with hard shell case and instruction manual. Also a chain stitcher.
Janey and I shared pictures of our workstand with Cheryl and Chris, who being our newest members had not yet seen it..
A picture of the three machines that entertained us is shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]576118[/ATTACH]
With people now back from their summer sojourns, we plan to meet again next month.
John
08-13-2017, 05:36 PM
#48
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,254
The Colorado Vintage and Antique Sewing Machine Enthusiasts met Saturday, August 12th, at the Perkins in Denver at I-25 and Colorado Boulevard. We had a more lively meeting than usual, due to attendance by several of our usual group, plus we had two new people join us. We made the acquaintance of Paula, from the Denver area and Dorothy, who came down from Longmont, north of Denver.
For show-and-tell, Cheryl got a Wilcox & Gibbs treadle for a very good price. We looked at pictures of it, since it was obviously too big to bring. Paula and Dorothy introduced themselves and talked a little of their interests, both well experienced with sewing machines and belong to other sewing groups.
Diane brought some instruction materials for Singer Featherweights, notably a small reproduction manual in pristine condition.
Janey brought some stitching samples from a couple of machines she's working on and discussed the stitches they are making with the group.
There was a little discussion about movements, particularly a system called "rotoscillo", used by some sewing machines around the time that rotary machines came onto the market. The many different kinds of movements, and how they are related (or not), is a particular interest of mine.
Courtney brought one of his new acquisitions, a very cute Necchi "Mirella" handcrank machine. It also has an internal motor. Motorized or handcrank operation may be selected with a clutch. That way, the motor doesn't put drag on the machine when using the handcrank.
We set it up on a table in the restaurant and got these pictures at the last minute. With all of the meeting and greeting, somehow the handcrank got put away, before these pictures were taken. The crank (not shown) goes into the obvious hole shown on the end of the machine and is made from chrome rod, with two 90 degree bends and a simple handle. The machine worked smoothly as all tried it (before we put the crank away for safekeeping). What a nice little machine!
Necchi Mirella Front View
[ATTACH=CONFIG]578826[/ATTACH]
Necchi Mirella End View
[ATTACH=CONFIG]578827[/ATTACH]
We are shifting the meeting next month to the 1st Saturday of the month, to accommodate some other people who would like to attend, but have regular prior commitments on the 2nd Saturday each month.
More then,
John
For show-and-tell, Cheryl got a Wilcox & Gibbs treadle for a very good price. We looked at pictures of it, since it was obviously too big to bring. Paula and Dorothy introduced themselves and talked a little of their interests, both well experienced with sewing machines and belong to other sewing groups.
Diane brought some instruction materials for Singer Featherweights, notably a small reproduction manual in pristine condition.
Janey brought some stitching samples from a couple of machines she's working on and discussed the stitches they are making with the group.
There was a little discussion about movements, particularly a system called "rotoscillo", used by some sewing machines around the time that rotary machines came onto the market. The many different kinds of movements, and how they are related (or not), is a particular interest of mine.
Courtney brought one of his new acquisitions, a very cute Necchi "Mirella" handcrank machine. It also has an internal motor. Motorized or handcrank operation may be selected with a clutch. That way, the motor doesn't put drag on the machine when using the handcrank.
We set it up on a table in the restaurant and got these pictures at the last minute. With all of the meeting and greeting, somehow the handcrank got put away, before these pictures were taken. The crank (not shown) goes into the obvious hole shown on the end of the machine and is made from chrome rod, with two 90 degree bends and a simple handle. The machine worked smoothly as all tried it (before we put the crank away for safekeeping). What a nice little machine!
Necchi Mirella Front View
[ATTACH=CONFIG]578826[/ATTACH]
Necchi Mirella End View
[ATTACH=CONFIG]578827[/ATTACH]
We are shifting the meeting next month to the 1st Saturday of the month, to accommodate some other people who would like to attend, but have regular prior commitments on the 2nd Saturday each month.
More then,
John
08-15-2017, 05:15 PM
#50
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,254
Originally Posted by leonf
Rats. I was hoping to make it. Oh well another time.
You could bring some of those machines you passed on. I see a few that I would like to see in person. Of course a twelve hour drive one way, I would expect that you might be exhausted and I would be happy to watch over your machines. 
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
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