So this is how it starts huh?
09-25-2013, 04:34 AM
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 8,141
hehehe! I love how this affects the guys as much as the gals! My husband is working down in NE right now, and has been spending some time in the evenings checking out the local thrift stores. He found a very nice Kenmore, but at this point we've got to be more selective about what we bring home (have over 50 of them already LOL!).
He kept saying how nice it was, and that it was going to be a great machine for whoever bought it!
He kept saying how nice it was, and that it was going to be a great machine for whoever bought it!
09-25-2013, 04:53 AM
#23
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Denver Colorado
Posts: 232
Originally Posted by manicmike
For Aussies eBay's alternative is Gumtree, although I've probably bought about half on eBay, half on Gumtree.
That lovely tan machine in the cabinet seems like a 206. I have a real fondness for this type, which includes the 306, 319 and 320. They use a special needle (206x13) but can do almost any pattern of stitch. The 319 has several built in too, meaning you can select a combination. Miriam started a great thread a while ago about her 319. The cabinet it's in is amazing: I'd love to have that one at my place. You need to ignore it when people say things like "Picked up that phone yet?" but... have you? Ha ha! With that cabinet I think I'd be just weak enough to say "to hell with the consequences".
amcatanzaro, a work colleague offered me her grandma's machine a few weeks ago. I haven't seen it but it sounds like a 201. I know they're fantastic, but I already have three!
Regarding the prices, yes they fluctuate really stupidly, hence the "what are they smoking" thread. In this Internet age it astonishes me that so many people still do minimal or no market (or any) research!
I think you're now attuned to seeing old machines and if you wait, you'll find them everywhere. Those Japanese machines from the '50s are a great one to collect: They're really good quality and generally extremely cheap.
You should still get the 206, though
That lovely tan machine in the cabinet seems like a 206. I have a real fondness for this type, which includes the 306, 319 and 320. They use a special needle (206x13) but can do almost any pattern of stitch. The 319 has several built in too, meaning you can select a combination. Miriam started a great thread a while ago about her 319. The cabinet it's in is amazing: I'd love to have that one at my place. You need to ignore it when people say things like "Picked up that phone yet?" but... have you? Ha ha! With that cabinet I think I'd be just weak enough to say "to hell with the consequences".
amcatanzaro, a work colleague offered me her grandma's machine a few weeks ago. I haven't seen it but it sounds like a 201. I know they're fantastic, but I already have three!
Regarding the prices, yes they fluctuate really stupidly, hence the "what are they smoking" thread. In this Internet age it astonishes me that so many people still do minimal or no market (or any) research!
I think you're now attuned to seeing old machines and if you wait, you'll find them everywhere. Those Japanese machines from the '50s are a great one to collect: They're really good quality and generally extremely cheap.
You should still get the 206, though
There certainly is no shortage of treadle machines out there but talk about no room!
It would be nice if there was a real market for these machines. Thing is - so relatively few people have a use for them. The nice young woman who had the Universal bought it some years ago from a friend of her Grandmother. She was attracted by its looks and thought it'd be fun to learn to sew. The last part never happened. Apparently she now has an infant son. Well that's just when my mother was at her busiest...when raising children.
My wife learned to sew and sew well in parochial high school. Apparently it's a skill people no longer need as it seems fewer people have it. Do they still teach it in schools? I know "Shop Class" for boys is all but a thing of the past. Probably deemed too dangerous - what with the real tools and all.
At any rate, I'm having fun learning how to sew and hopefully our project will bear fruit aside from a multitude of machines!
09-25-2013, 05:03 AM
#24
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Denver Colorado
Posts: 232
Originally Posted by Macybaby
hehehe! I love how this affects the guys as much as the gals! My husband is working down in NE right now, and has been spending some time in the evenings checking out the local thrift stores. He found a very nice Kenmore, but at this point we've got to be more selective about what we bring home (have over 50 of them already LOL!). He kept saying how nice it was, and that it was going to be a great machine for whoever bought it!
09-25-2013, 05:36 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 1,850
Originally Posted by Lew Schiller
My wife learned to sew and sew well in parochial high school. Apparently it's a skill people no longer need as it seems fewer people have it. Do they still teach it in schools?
As a consequence nobody (yes I know I'm generalising) knows how to sew and we have a skills drain and a glut of superior yet really cheap sewing machines.
They still teach it in schools, although now it's called (in Australia anyway) "textiles" or some such thing. Apparently, home economics didn't sound career oriented enough so was renamed (cooking has been renamed "food technology").
OK, I've ranted enough, must be bed time.
09-25-2013, 05:55 AM
#26
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Denver Colorado
Posts: 232
I've often wished that we boys would have had a semester of Home Ec (economics as it was called then) which would have helped tremendously when we left the nest. As it was I think they intentionally didn't so as to put us in the position of having to seek out a domestic partner arrangement as quickly as possible to prevent our dying in a pool of our own filth...so to speak.
Seriously - we were sent out into the world, by and large, not knowing how to properly buy food, make a decent meal, do a load of wash, repair a garment - let alone make one. We were destined to spend our young lives circling fast food drive throughs wearing filthy clothes...but in really nice cars.
Seriously - we were sent out into the world, by and large, not knowing how to properly buy food, make a decent meal, do a load of wash, repair a garment - let alone make one. We were destined to spend our young lives circling fast food drive throughs wearing filthy clothes...but in really nice cars.
09-25-2013, 06:05 AM
#27
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Denver Colorado
Posts: 232
Taking this back to machines...
What's the deal with Featherweights? I've never been in the presence of one.
They're out there... seem to be one of the few that bring a price...I need some education on this.
They're out there... seem to be one of the few that bring a price...I need some education on this.
09-25-2013, 06:11 AM
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: NW MO
Posts: 591
Originally Posted by Lew Schiller
What's the deal with Featherweights? I've never been in the presence of one.
They're out there... seem to be one of the few that bring a price...I need some education on this.
They're out there... seem to be one of the few that bring a price...I need some education on this.
09-25-2013, 06:13 AM
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 670
I think that discussion is fascinating, Mike and Lew and all. I really appreciate hearing other people's observations on this topic.
I think there is definitely (sadly) the consumerism, get-things-for-cheep-cheep thing going on, but I also think that as more people become aware of the sadness of sweat shops and child labour and environmental and social impacts of the clothing industry, there is a movement, if only a small one as yet, towards people sewing their own things. It would be marvelous to see this grow!
That said, I must hone my own skills - so far I have not progressed much past The Rectangle. ;-)
I think there is definitely (sadly) the consumerism, get-things-for-cheep-cheep thing going on, but I also think that as more people become aware of the sadness of sweat shops and child labour and environmental and social impacts of the clothing industry, there is a movement, if only a small one as yet, towards people sewing their own things. It would be marvelous to see this grow!
That said, I must hone my own skills - so far I have not progressed much past The Rectangle. ;-)
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
barnbum
Pictures
104
10-17-2010 07:10 PM
butterflywing
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
20
09-05-2009 07:07 PM
