Elna Carina - Together at last!

I had left this poor Elna apart long enough. Time to get all its bits back in place. If I can remember where they all go. The first photo below is the shot that I showed in the previous blog post. I had taken the machine apart to this level to try and sort out a slow-speed jerkiness but didn't get the problem sorted. It's just a minor inconvenience, so back together it goes.

Necchi-Alco A709-4

Ok, so I'm a little delinquent on posting new stuff to this blog. It's been a busy 4 months. Below is a photo I took this morning of my sewing work bench, with a poor Elna that's been all ripped to pieces for 4 months or more, patiently waiting for me to reassemble it. I just hope I can remember where everything goes...

No Grasshoppers here - Elna Carina TSP cl. 56

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted something here (March to be exact, and now it's July). That's what happens when I don't stop at Goodwill stores. So, guess what? I stopped at the local Goodwill last night. And what did I find? Well, there was a Singer 404 for $19.99, some other generic plastic thing for $19.99, and this wonderful *Swiss Made* Elna for a paltry $12.99. As soon as I saw the price on the Elna, I promptly had to take the machine to the closest 120v outlet to see if it worked. Since the "air" foot control was missing its friction end plug, I could only get the machine to briefly go while I held the end of the tube against the air intake and simultaneously pushing the air bulb. The machine showed enough life that I felt confident that my $14.12 (after tax) was well-spent.

Yet another Kenmore - model 385.17928090

There's a reason there are so many older Kenmore sewing machines still floating around the thrift stores these days. They're built well (in my humble opinion) and just seem to keep on going with minimal upkeep. I've been sort of lax on my hunt for sewing machines lately but last night we stopped at the local Goodwill on the way home from dining out (hot date, huh). This Kenmore model 385 had just been put out on the shelf (Goodwill dates their price tags) and at $12.99 I couldn't pass it up. I could have waited a few weeks for the half-off sale but it wouldn't last that long at the low regular price. I have a couple other model 385s and they are both good machines so I figured, hey, one more? Why not.

How to wire in a motor controller

I have a 50s vintage Morse zig zag sewing machine in the basement that has the two plugs coming off the machine, one for the motor and one for the light. Here's what the plugs look like, along with the $2 motor control I picked up at Goodwill to connect up to the machine:

Mini Kenmore - reminds me of tax time coming up - Model 1040

I've heard of these miniature (well, maybe not that small) Kenmore sewing machines but haven't had one in the stable (actually, my basement) until recently. It's probably a 3/4-size machine. Cute little thing. Actually I saw one of these at a Goodwill a month ago but didn't buy it because the outer case was fairly trashed. I ran across the one pictured here last week and decided to take the plunge. It is missing its small tray for accessories, which the other machine had that I didn't buy... Oh well. Can't have everything.

This is a Kenmore 158.1040. Yes, it reminded me of the 1040 tax form. So I'm weird. Deal with it.

Something else has consumed my time lately... a car.

Not just any car, mind you. On the contrary, this is something you don't see every day. A 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury.

Ok, so maybe I should have changed pants for the photo... Just don't tell my wife I'm publishing a photo with "those pants" in it. The pants have since gone to that great pants fantasy land in the sky, much to my wife's delight. But I digress (I seem to do that a lot).

Merry Christmas! German Hand Crank

We sewing machine nuts are usually easy to buy for at Christmas time. Anything sewing machine related is fair game for the giver. This Christmas my wife gave me a cute hand crank sewing machine from the late 1800s/early 1900s. I can't pin down a more precise date because the sewing machine has no maker's name on it. It looks to be German but I'll need to do more digging in order to find out who made it.

What says 1950s more than a PINK sewing machine?

I have no clue as to the distributor of this sewing machine, only that it was made in Japan. It appears either someone took the badge off the front or it never had one. I would guess someone just removed it, or it fell off. It could have been a Brother, Remington or Morse, or any number of other branded machines from the era.

In any event, here it is in all its glory.

BelAir Bantam Model 33

I broke out of my comfort zone when buying this next little guy. It was more than I usually pay at a thrift store but I just couldn't pass it up (and how many previous times have I heard that statement in my brain?).

Green without envy - 1958 Singer 185K

I presume sewing machines don't have feelings, like being envious of other machines around them that might be getting more hands-on time. So it is with this little green guy. He's (I'll just make the assumption that it is a he) content being green without having an envious piece of cast iron in his extremely heavy little body.

More Sewing Machine Window Dressing

First, to make things perfectly clear, I'm not the window dressing. I realized after publishing this that it was a strange title for having me in the first photo. Focus here, it's the machines, not me.

This is quite something. Two stores with sewing machines in the windows in two weeks (see previous blog entry). We happened to be in San Francisco a few days ago and found this:

Nice birthday outing

A few days ago I had a birthday. My loving wife planned that we go to Seattle and visit a certain address downtown. I was driving but had no idea where we were going (I could insert a lame joke right about now, but will refrain). We got off the ferry in Edmonds and hit the local Goodwill since it happened to be on the way. Then onto I-5 south, bound for the big metropolis. We exited I-5 and wound around in the bowels of downtown Seattle. Oh look, there's the Sheraton, where we spent our honeymoon night. Nope, that wasn't the surprise. A few more blocks and we were stopped at a stop light. I wasn't very observant because my wife finally had to point out a building across the intersection...

Reunited at long last... Dressmaker 7000

A couple days ago I mentioned I'd picked up a Dressmaker 7000 at Goodwill.

It took cams but didn't come with any. It was unfortunate too, because on the front of the machine was a depiction of each of the 30 cam's designs.

Dressmaker 650 - built Ford tough

These old sewing machines are nearly indestructible. Take this cast iron Dressmaker 650. I could probably run over this thing with my 6,600 pound Ford F250 4x4 and it would still work. Little bits might snap off or bend and it wouldn't look pretty but it is so beefy that it would probably still work.