Thank you Monical and Trish for this great info on threading the NVF. You guys are the greatest.
Skip

Daisy, Unless I am wrong I believe the case is covered with fabric or a paper like wallpaper. Those are probably stains. I would recommend trying to use different cleaning products in a small area. Start with the mildest one and progressing up from there. On my computer it looks like it might be rust stains. The inside of the case us often just thin paper and cannot be cleaned on the ones I have had.
On the tears I generally use a simple waterproof glue and work it into the area.
Good luck to you.
~Grant~

Daisy,

For our cases we use "dawn" because it is a great grease cutter but still very gentle.
SteveH

Is this common with the VF to tape the lever to prevent the thread from coming out on the down stroke.
Thanks, Skip

Glenn, I don't have to do that. But I have seen where Monica does. I guess each machine and operator is different. Just have to give yours a try and see how she works. Hope things go ok for you I really like sewing on mine and I know Monica and Nancy do too.

Thanks Trish, I will wait and see then after the thing is all clean and ready to sew.
Skip

(pun intended) Sew, I mentioned in a previous post that I am going to take a few of the "old ladies" to a Steampunk convention to demonstrate what Victorian sewing machine parts are SUPPOSED to be used for...

I've been a medieval reenactor for more than 20 years and have a closet full of garb that is historically correct(ish) and I can usually date outfits to within a couple decades IF it is pre 1600, but I have NO idea how to dress or sew "Victorian Style". I also know that the whole "steampunk" crowd is not into authenticity thing so much, but I would rather dress the part of the demo I'm doing.

I know this is a Quilting board not a sewing or costuming board, but I figured I would start here with the nice people before I head into uncharted blogs and such...

Anyone have any suggestions of where to find and how to tell the difference between patterns for CLOTHING not costumes of the Victorian period?

and Yes, I intend to sew them on the Victorian machines.

Steve I'm heading over to the photos thread to check out your new scores. I am so excited to hear that you are collecting that treadle today. I needed the good news :)

I'm up in Colorado right now. At this point I'm just mentally worn out so I came over here to get a break from everything going on. For those of you who don't know, I lost my youngest brother suddenly on the 12th. He had a seizure in his sleep and never woke up. He was 28. He lived up in the mountains near Breckenridge and Keystone and lived to ski and snowboard. Mom is understandably devastated and not dealing with this well, so my older brother, younger brother and I have taken over all the details. Monday I drove my mom and step dad from Texas to Colorado as they were on a cruise when this happened (thankfully not the Triumph!) Tuesday we drove up to the mountains to his apartment and cleaned/packed it all up. I also had to go around to all his "places" and notify them of his passing, like the bank, post office, work etc. and to the Coroner's office. I drove his car back to my parents house yesterday and today we finalized the details with the funeral home. Tomorrow I'm driving back to Texas. On a positive note I am bringing my Pfaff treadle home with me.

I'll be back on more in a few days when I get home but I still have a ton of work to do to settle all his paperwork, taxes, etc. We didn't plan a memorial service because my brother wouldn't have wanted one. He would have wanted a party on the slopes, so we decided to cremate him and we will take his ashes up to the mountain top where he loved to be and scatter them later this year.

I'm thankful for the distraction of my hobby. I will probably make some sort of memorial quilt for him eventually but right now thats just a little too painful for me. If you are the praying kind, I'd sure appreciate it for my family.

I have done a bit of costuming myself - 1740 - 1790 then some CW and some cowboy - cowboy was a ton of fun... we did a lot of impromptu shoot outs but so many were into the drinking we dropped out - didn't feel safe with that mix. There are companies that specialize in various period clothing patterns so focus on one time period some on another and some have a wide variety of eras.

Civil war would do, I'd just have to make the clothing look a little "used"... hehe

The situation with the pattern companies is exactly what i figured (same in the medieval stuff), hence asking here for which brand/company to try.