Colorado get-together?
09-04-2017, 04:10 PM
#52
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,244
We had a good meeting this month, which was attended by Diane, Courtney, Cheryl & Chris, Dorothy, Ellen, Janey and John.
Courtney brought some samples of ferrules he made, similar to those used by Willcox and Gibbs, for connecting the ends of leather treadle belts. He brought a sample of two leather belt ends connected with the ferrule to demonstrate. The inside of the cylindrical ferrule is threaded and the leather belt ends are both screwed into the ferrule, which holds the belt together neatly and securely.
Diane brought step-by-step samples of her "quilt as you go" method, with written out directions pinned to each sample, showing the process of joining two squares together. She does very nice work. She also brought an unknown foot controller she had. Janey was able to identify it as fitting a Singer 337, 603 and similar machines.
Cheryl and Chris were there with green beans from their garden and baggies for everyone to help themselves to some to take home. As we were having breakfast, her daughter was texting about the thrift store sewing machines she was finding, sending pictures to the restaurant as we ate.
We welcomed a new member, Ellen. She pleased us all by bringing a machine she acquired, a Helvetia, patterned after a Singer three-quarter size machine. It has a wooden portable case with a coffin-top lid that has nice ornamentation and decals.
Ellen's Helvetia - Front
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580078[/ATTACH]
Ellen's Helvetia - Coffin Top
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580080[/ATTACH]
Ellen is a QuiltingBoard member and has a post about this machine at:
Need Help Dating Helvetia
A woman from the next table even came over and admired the machine for a while, taking a picture of it for herself with her smart phone. Among the accessories was this small item, whose function no one could guess. Does anyone reading this have any idea or suggestion as to what it might be?
Unknown Item
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580081[/ATTACH]
Courtney headed out from our meeting a little before others, going to purchase a Singer 12 with hand crank that he saw on Craig's list. He later emailed us that he got it.
We are changing our monthly meetings to the first Saturday of the month, to better accommodate people's schedules.
More next time.
John
Courtney brought some samples of ferrules he made, similar to those used by Willcox and Gibbs, for connecting the ends of leather treadle belts. He brought a sample of two leather belt ends connected with the ferrule to demonstrate. The inside of the cylindrical ferrule is threaded and the leather belt ends are both screwed into the ferrule, which holds the belt together neatly and securely.
Diane brought step-by-step samples of her "quilt as you go" method, with written out directions pinned to each sample, showing the process of joining two squares together. She does very nice work. She also brought an unknown foot controller she had. Janey was able to identify it as fitting a Singer 337, 603 and similar machines.
Cheryl and Chris were there with green beans from their garden and baggies for everyone to help themselves to some to take home. As we were having breakfast, her daughter was texting about the thrift store sewing machines she was finding, sending pictures to the restaurant as we ate.
We welcomed a new member, Ellen. She pleased us all by bringing a machine she acquired, a Helvetia, patterned after a Singer three-quarter size machine. It has a wooden portable case with a coffin-top lid that has nice ornamentation and decals.
Ellen's Helvetia - Front
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580078[/ATTACH]
Ellen's Helvetia - Coffin Top
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580080[/ATTACH]
Ellen is a QuiltingBoard member and has a post about this machine at:
Need Help Dating Helvetia
A woman from the next table even came over and admired the machine for a while, taking a picture of it for herself with her smart phone. Among the accessories was this small item, whose function no one could guess. Does anyone reading this have any idea or suggestion as to what it might be?
Unknown Item
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580081[/ATTACH]
Courtney headed out from our meeting a little before others, going to purchase a Singer 12 with hand crank that he saw on Craig's list. He later emailed us that he got it.
We are changing our monthly meetings to the first Saturday of the month, to better accommodate people's schedules.
More next time.
John
09-20-2017, 05:25 AM
#54
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,244
mystery confirmed
Originally Posted by OurWorkbench
...
....Among the accessories was this small item, whose function no one could guess. Does anyone reading this have any idea or suggestion as to what it might be?
Unknown Item
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580081[/ATTACH]
....
....Among the accessories was this small item, whose function no one could guess. Does anyone reading this have any idea or suggestion as to what it might be?
Unknown Item
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580081[/ATTACH]
....
I'm sure glad they changed the design, but it would be interesting to see this one in use.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
Last edited by OurWorkbench; 09-20-2017 at 05:29 AM.
10-09-2017, 05:43 AM
#55
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,244
The Colorado Antique and Vintage Sewing Machine Group met Saturday at Perkins in Denver. It was a beautiful day, in the seventies, one of our last before we are expected to get snow on Monday. People there were Cheryl and Chris, Diane, Dorothy, Courtney, Janey and John.
Courtney brought a sewing machine for Janey. It was one he didn't have room for and Janey was glad to give it a home. The machine is a Brittain X. We think from about the late thirties. A picture of it once we got it home is shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]581989[/ATTACH]
And the bentwood case after Janey wiped it down with boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]581991[/ATTACH]
Dorothy talked about her use of jersey knit fabric to make T-shirts and some of the issues of working with bias edges. She was wearing one of them, which demonstrated her skill in making them. She also mentioned some of the advantages of using hemp fabric.
Cheryl and Chris (both electrical engineers) talked a little about currents vs. voltages and safety issues. There are some dangerous misconceptions about the safety of 220 volts vs. 110. Bottom line, the higher the voltage, the more danger it poses to anyone contacting it.
Janey talked with Dorothy who identified the "mystery" part from a previous get together as a bias binder or folder attachment. We posted a picture of it on this thread.
Diane stole the show with yet another one of her small antique sewing machines. She has an amazing and envious collection. The machine was very small, heavy and well built. It is a New England chain stitch machine, shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]581990[/ATTACH]
All for now... until next month.
John & Janey
Courtney brought a sewing machine for Janey. It was one he didn't have room for and Janey was glad to give it a home. The machine is a Brittain X. We think from about the late thirties. A picture of it once we got it home is shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]581989[/ATTACH]
And the bentwood case after Janey wiped it down with boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]581991[/ATTACH]
Dorothy talked about her use of jersey knit fabric to make T-shirts and some of the issues of working with bias edges. She was wearing one of them, which demonstrated her skill in making them. She also mentioned some of the advantages of using hemp fabric.
Cheryl and Chris (both electrical engineers) talked a little about currents vs. voltages and safety issues. There are some dangerous misconceptions about the safety of 220 volts vs. 110. Bottom line, the higher the voltage, the more danger it poses to anyone contacting it.
Janey talked with Dorothy who identified the "mystery" part from a previous get together as a bias binder or folder attachment. We posted a picture of it on this thread.
Diane stole the show with yet another one of her small antique sewing machines. She has an amazing and envious collection. The machine was very small, heavy and well built. It is a New England chain stitch machine, shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]581990[/ATTACH]
All for now... until next month.
John & Janey
10-09-2017, 06:31 AM
#56
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,244
Some additional notes from Janey -
The New England machine doesn't seem to hold a stitch. I didn't notice any patent dates on it. Were there any? Chris held it for me so I could watch the underside while trying to stitch. It looked like it was actually catching the stitch while holding at an angle. When set down to see if actually stitched it hadn't. I'm also curious about the spring metal piece from the arm to the needle bar. The thread spool is above of the needle bar so it can't be a tension device for the thread. I know you have done some research on this machine does that include Cooper's from the Smithsonian?
I had tried to research Britain X before actually seeing the machine. Needlebar lists Britain as being a badge for Davis and not National. It definitely is a National. It is a Reversew Rex machine. As it turns out the spelling on the machine and the bentwood case both have it spelled with double "T." It does need some major electrical work. It uses those Chicago type plugs and the casings are broken along with some bare wires. The shuttle is the same length as the Singer 27s but the bobbins are a little shorter. The shuttle has a little different smooth area than the 27s. The shuttle also has a blunt tip. Just for fun, I actually got it to make stitches (by hand) with the blunt tip. The three bobbins that came with it had multiple colors of thread on them. (shucks- just remembered I did not take any pictures) I have taken the thread off all of them, now.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
ETA - I just noticed the spot on the front of the base and realized it is the reflection of the triangular ended key
The New England machine doesn't seem to hold a stitch. I didn't notice any patent dates on it. Were there any? Chris held it for me so I could watch the underside while trying to stitch. It looked like it was actually catching the stitch while holding at an angle. When set down to see if actually stitched it hadn't. I'm also curious about the spring metal piece from the arm to the needle bar. The thread spool is above of the needle bar so it can't be a tension device for the thread. I know you have done some research on this machine does that include Cooper's from the Smithsonian?
I had tried to research Britain X before actually seeing the machine. Needlebar lists Britain as being a badge for Davis and not National. It definitely is a National. It is a Reversew Rex machine. As it turns out the spelling on the machine and the bentwood case both have it spelled with double "T." It does need some major electrical work. It uses those Chicago type plugs and the casings are broken along with some bare wires. The shuttle is the same length as the Singer 27s but the bobbins are a little shorter. The shuttle has a little different smooth area than the 27s. The shuttle also has a blunt tip. Just for fun, I actually got it to make stitches (by hand) with the blunt tip. The three bobbins that came with it had multiple colors of thread on them. (shucks- just remembered I did not take any pictures) I have taken the thread off all of them, now.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
ETA - I just noticed the spot on the front of the base and realized it is the reflection of the triangular ended key
Last edited by OurWorkbench; 10-09-2017 at 06:34 AM.
11-05-2017, 08:08 AM
#57
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,244
November 4 Get-together
Our group met yesterday morning at Perkins. The people there were Paula, Dorothy, Courtney, Cheryl, Chris, Janey and John.
The principal item of interest was Courtney's grab-bag of accessories, that he purchased very inexpensively, which we went through trying to identify. Most of them were known as belonging to a puzzle box. He had gotten mainly because it had the hemmer foot for bar hemmers. However, there were a couple of items that he wasn't sure about.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]583427[/ATTACH]
As soon as I saw this wire, I knew what it was for. Fortunately, I now have a 15 puzzle box. (Thank you, Cathy.) For some reason I couldn't remember how it attaches. Once I explained that it was for the bobbins, Courtney, had a better handle on how it was attached to the box.
The other item was
[ATTACH=CONFIG]583428[/ATTACH]
I was fairly confident it was a hemstitcher, but I don't know which machine it would be for. I'm guessing that it might be for a 15 as well. The only stampings on it were the patent dates. The patent dates are for US304447 and US311673 by W R Parson and only show the long shuttle type attachments.
Courtney also had a brochure that he printed out for us for the Wilcox & Gibbs portable electric sewing machine.
Paula was using the purse she had made. She talked about the difficulty of putting a zipper in vinyl or leather.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]583429[/ATTACH]
Unfortunately, I kind of missed out on some of the other things going on. Anyone who wants to add to this, please do.
We all agree, how neat it is to just visit with others about our vintage and antique (and some not) machines.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
The principal item of interest was Courtney's grab-bag of accessories, that he purchased very inexpensively, which we went through trying to identify. Most of them were known as belonging to a puzzle box. He had gotten mainly because it had the hemmer foot for bar hemmers. However, there were a couple of items that he wasn't sure about.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]583427[/ATTACH]
As soon as I saw this wire, I knew what it was for. Fortunately, I now have a 15 puzzle box. (Thank you, Cathy.) For some reason I couldn't remember how it attaches. Once I explained that it was for the bobbins, Courtney, had a better handle on how it was attached to the box.
The other item was
[ATTACH=CONFIG]583428[/ATTACH]
I was fairly confident it was a hemstitcher, but I don't know which machine it would be for. I'm guessing that it might be for a 15 as well. The only stampings on it were the patent dates. The patent dates are for US304447 and US311673 by W R Parson and only show the long shuttle type attachments.
Courtney also had a brochure that he printed out for us for the Wilcox & Gibbs portable electric sewing machine.
Paula was using the purse she had made. She talked about the difficulty of putting a zipper in vinyl or leather.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]583429[/ATTACH]
Unfortunately, I kind of missed out on some of the other things going on. Anyone who wants to add to this, please do.
We all agree, how neat it is to just visit with others about our vintage and antique (and some not) machines.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
12-02-2017, 07:19 PM
#60
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,244
We met today at Perkins. We had several people there, including Dorothy, Diane, Cheryl & Chris, Janey & Jonh.
Diane brought a sixties era Nelco machine, which has been fitted with a hand crank. It is a little more blue than we had thought. Very pretty and in very good condition. There is a picture below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]584698[/ATTACH]
Janey made paperclip angels as Christmas ornaments for everyone there, shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]584699[/ATTACH]
John and Chris talked a little about electronics, which is an interest of both, related to foot controller designs and repair. John and Diane talked a little about ground fault testers and using them on un-grounded machinery.
Dorothy, Diane and Janey talked for a while after Chris and Cheryl had to leave, but that was after we had met for a couple of hours already, so we had a fairly lengthy breakfast meeting this time.
John & Janey
Diane brought a sixties era Nelco machine, which has been fitted with a hand crank. It is a little more blue than we had thought. Very pretty and in very good condition. There is a picture below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]584698[/ATTACH]
Janey made paperclip angels as Christmas ornaments for everyone there, shown below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]584699[/ATTACH]
John and Chris talked a little about electronics, which is an interest of both, related to foot controller designs and repair. John and Diane talked a little about ground fault testers and using them on un-grounded machinery.
Dorothy, Diane and Janey talked for a while after Chris and Cheryl had to leave, but that was after we had met for a couple of hours already, so we had a fairly lengthy breakfast meeting this time.
John & Janey
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