Just so you know, I read all of your posts and enjoy the pictures and conversations that have occurred also..........Keep 'em comin'!

Judy, thank you -- will " Keep 'em comin'!" :)


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

June 2, 2018 CO Get-Together
 

We met Saturday for our June meeting, ten o'clock at Perkins as usual. We have a core group of six or eight people, most of which attend every month. It really helps to make our get-together's work. As people come from various parts of Colorado, it makes it worthwhile for people to make the trip. Attendees were Dorothy, Diane, Cheryl and Chris, Janey and John. Courtney was unable to attend this time.

Dorothy brought samples of what she does in her job. The pieces were automotve accessories, sewn on an industrial machines that they use. The pieces were heavy fabric, specially treated to be waterproof. There were straps of a vinyl-like material, probably most of an eighth of an inch thick, that the industrial machine sewed right through. Very impressive. Dorothy is the only one of our group who has sewn professionally with the industrial machines and we welcome her experience. Unfortunately, Janey didn't get a good image of the samples by themselves but can be seen on the left side of a couple of later pictures.

Cheryl and Chris brought pictures of a treadle that they recently refinished and it turned out beautifully. We talked about shellac and the great results that can be obtained with several coats. It's easy to repair if ever needed. They were on their way to an event later in the day, where Cheryl plays accordion and Chris plays mandolin. They again brought the accordion inside, to get it out of the heat of the car. It has a case that looks like a sewing machine leaning to one side- but not a sewing machine at all. An unusual looking case that we joked about. Cheryl did not bring the "12" as they had already determined that they had the wrong bobbin winder for her machine.

Janey made embellished key fobs for all in the group. They were felted on a recently acquired embellishing machine, each with an initial. They were felted onto wool (that had been given by Courtney), as a protector for keys attached to machines with bentwood cases. It protects the case, so the keys don't cause scratches. Here is a picture of a few of them. Each has a sample key, with a string to attach it to a sewing machine. Also brought some handkerchiefs that she had hemmed for her brother. Most of the corners did NOT turn out as well as the one in the picture.

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Diane brought two interesting things for evaluating the weight and thread count of fabrics. The thread counter is from the early nineteen hundreds and made of brass. It has a magnifying eye piece and a screw adjustment, allowing a microscope-like view of the threads. The screw moves the eye piece and pointer across the scale marks, making it easy to count them. It has metric on one side and inches on the other. The other device allows cutting a small piece of fabric between two metal plates to assure proper size, then weighs it to allow a good estimate of what a yard of the material would weigh. Pictures of both devices are shown below.

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Some samples on left - thread weight scale - case for thread counter. The clasp was missing on the thread counter and a new one fashioned.

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Thread counter with teaspoon for scale.

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Just a little bit of samples on the left, thread weight scale with fabric hanging from hook.

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Scale in case.


Thanks to everyone who came. We look forward to our next meeting, which we will post here.

Some additional notes:

The scale had both metric and ounces measurements.

My apologies for the not up to par pictures. I'm at least getting better about taking some pictures.

About the key covers... A couple of them I felted the top hem, but the others I ironed on some interfacing or iron-on patch fabric at the top where the cord goes through. I had thought initially of pinking each side individually, but then found I could run it through my Singer hand crank pinker after it was stitched together (two layers).


For the handkerchiefs I stitched them on a 1949 15K90 with 35996 (5/64") hemmer foot. I have heard about the narrow hemmers being different even though they are for low shank machines. I realized that the recommended narrow hemmers for the different machines is based on the direction the flat of the needle is inserted. I did try another foot for 1/8" hem and didn't see much of a difference in width of the hem, but the stitches seemed to be a little closer to the outside edge.


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

Janey I think that button hook might be cellulose, earlier than bakelite. I sold a whole bunch of cellulose vanity items out of the house I inherited that looked like that. At least that's what I was told it is.

Cari

Large size cutting mat
 

Something else that was talked about Saturday was cutting mats. Dorothy told us about the mats they use where she works. They are thick, but translucent. They use exacto knives daily and has held up well, She is unsure how rotary cutters, would work. According to the website, https://www.draftingsteals.com/20877.html I think they would hold up well and can be custom cut to size. Sizes available can be found at https://www.draftingsteals.com/catal...ting-mats.html

Since the grid is placed under the mat, should you eventually need to replace the mat, you could order the one without the grid.


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

P.S. Thank you Cari. I really don't care what it made of. I just don't want to damage it. I think button hooks are neat. I don't need one all the time, but they sure come in handy sometimes.

July 7, 2018 CO Get Together - Part 1
 

We had a well attended and busy meeting this month at our usual Perkins restaurant. It was the beginning to a warm and sunny day here in Denver.


Janey and John brought a sewing machine called a Miracle. It rode on a new luggage carrier from Harbor Freight, acquired for the purpose. Janey has been recently testing and making samples of some zig-zag cams that were purchased separately and work nicely with it. It was brought, in part, as an example showing the movement of the bobbin, back and forth when zig-zagging. We talked about the reason and need to do this with vertical end bobbins.

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Dorothy was there and brought a picture of an electrified VS2 machine. We got the best picture we could from her tablet. It is in an "alligator skin" covered case. Dorothy also brought a motor and light set, wired together, needing to get the light and motor apart for service. The motor is not as obvious as some in how it comes apart. The consensus was that it is held together with circular rings. She also brought a book entitled The New Dressmaker, by Butterick.

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To be continued in Part 2 ....

July 7, 2018 CO Get Together - Part 2
 

Courtney brought a less common kind of controller (from a National made Montgomery Wards sewing Machine), which needs rewiring. The issue is how to get it apart. It is very small and substantially built and seems to have two circular metal clips, one at each end, that holds it together. It has good ventilation from the perforated metal of the case. (More pictures can be found at https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintag...l-t298113.html ) Courtney also brought a thread guide, for insertion into one of the many Featherweight holed to guide the thread. It has an upper part made from coat hanger, with a bottom made from two sections of dowel, one small enough to fit in a hole. The wood avoids damage to the aluminum Featherweight if it was accidentally bumped. A nice little invention, typical of Courtney.

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Diane brought samples of her work with string quilt blocks. There were several of them, all nicely done for us to see. Unfortunately didn't get picture of just the string quilt blocks (part can be seen in lower right of paper pieced block). Diane also brought two pictures. The first is of her Royal Shakespear machine. Note no "e" at the end. The reason why can be found at http://www.sewalot.com/shakespear_se...ne_sewalot.htm While the machine would appear to be a chainstitch machine, it actually produces a lockstitch. She also brought a picture of an unfortunate machine that had been apparently used for target practice, something she and her husband found while doing geological searching in a area known as the Book Cliffs, in western Colorado. Funny and sad at the same time, Diane was able to get a few bits and pieces off of it, about all that was undamaged.

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Cheryl and Chris were there, too. Cheryl brought thread catchers for everyone. They are cleverly made, from triangular pieces, double folded, with a button on the three sides. They stand about two or three inches, serving as a collector for loose ends of thread, so they don't get on the floor and in the machine. Several were passed around the table and people picked the one they liked. It sure was nice that she made a purple and turquoise one that went well with the Miracle. Cheryl was wearing a top that she made which is very appropriate for our get together. She has the machines illustrated, but don't know which machine she used to make it.

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Before adjourning, we talked about possibly having a book session next time, featuring the many and varied sewing books that our members have.


We'll post here about it next month.

August 4, 2018 CO Get-together Part 1
 

We met, ten o'clock at Perkins on Saturday for our monthly meeting. We were glad to welcome a person who had not been there before, named April, a friend of Dorothy's. Dorothy was there too, along with Cheryl and Chris, Dianne, Janey and John.


April brought some samples of free motion quilting she is doing. Very nice work and we got some pictures. It was nice to meet her and we hope to see her again.


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Dorothy brought a VS2 machine that she wants to put a hand crank on and we looked at possibilities of doing so. It currently has a motor and is in an interesting snake skin case. It also has a smaller handwheel that was added. The motor is mounted with one screw through the kidney shaped rear inspection plate. It has a second screw under the motor into the pillar. But there is no motor boss, usually used for attaching handcranks. She also brought a sample of another hobby of hers - knitting - which was done with 00 needles.


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Cheryl wore a shirt that she made, a brilliant purple, with quilting across the yoke of the shirt. A picture of it is shown below.


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As we had planned, the rest of the meeting (after eating, of course) was devoted to the many books and magazines brought by everyone to pass around and browse through. We have snapshots of many of them, shown below. (Sorry, the different versions of "Singer Sewing Book" by Mary Brooks Pickens books didn't get pictures taken.)

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to be continued...

August 4, 2018 CO Get-together Part 2
 

continuation --

Lots of good books. Really needed more time to look at them all.



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We plan on meeting again next month on the first Saturday, same place, same time. We'll post more then.