Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

New Home Sewing Machine Service

It has been a long while since I serviced a sewing machine but when my niece-in-law was having trouble getting her vintage mid-century New Home to stitch, I couldn't resist helping. Initially, we tried a facetime call but she still couldn't get it to sew. Fortunately, I was eventually able to pick it up during a visit (not literally, however, as this is by far the heaviest machine I've ever met. My husband had to carry the all-steel beast to and fro for me) and I could not wait to get back to work.

I hadn't realized how much I've missed the restoration process and thankfully it came back to me quickly. I started by examining everything and then carefully taking apart and opening up the machine. Cleaning is the first step before trying to get it to sew and it's an enjoyable task for me. Wiping away the mold spots and grime, dusting out any lint, then polishing the body and chrome results in a gleaming machine.

Next steps are oiling thoroughly, checking the wiring, changing the needle and making sure all is re-assembled properly. After that is complete it is time to thread properly, wind a bobbin, and then test stitch. I am thrilled that it all came together perfectly, the old girl is stitching like a pro, and I only had to purchase a new zig-zag plate and some fresh felt for the spool pins.

This New Home model 108 is a real beauty! I love the chocolate and cream finish, there is not a scratch on it. The machine is not only gorgeous but stitches perfectly, both straight stitch and zigzags. Everything from the darn/sew switch to lower the feed dogs to the lock button slider on the stitch width panel work flawlessly. This machine will last a lifetime and beyond. While I can't accommodate any more vintage machines of my own, it was a wonderful chance to do what I enjoy on a fostered sewing machine. I think niece will be surprised and delighted at the incredible New Home she inherited.

Mini Dresden Spool Pin Doily

I knew the only way I would get back to my sewing room was to actually schedule it. I blocked off Wednesday afternoons for a couple of hours and silenced my phone. It worked! For two weeks in a row I had uninterrupted time in the workshop and while progress is slow, and my skills need to be reawakened, I had so much fun!

The first week I tidied up a bit from the holidays (my table turned into wrapping-central) and then planned which fabric scraps I'd use for the first project of the year - the Mini Dresden Spool Pin Doily. I believe I wrote about this being the chosen craft since it was a) small and doable, and b) used the Featherweight machine (something I really wanted to sew on again!). I got the free pattern from The Singer Featherweight Shop HERE. April has generously made it available to all and the instructions are excellent. She has a video on using a vintage buttonhole attachment with an eyelet cam, IF you are fortunate enough to own one. I do not, so I used my Horizon 7700 to stitch out the eyelet.

I cut out the templates and fabric for the blades of the mini Dresden and wow, are they tiny. I realize it has been a while since I sewed because my eyes are way worse. It took another week before I could actually start assembling the little Dresden but it didn't take long to chain-piece it together. Although the Singer 221 hasn't been used in months it stitched as beautifully as ever and I had no issues at all. Once the doily was all joined I top-stitched around the petals and centre. My stitching isn't great but as this is my first one, I am pleased with it. I think it is so darling and looks adorable on the machine with the Aurifil thread on top. I'm not sure if I will make another right away, as cute as it is, because it is just so darn small and fiddly. However, the project was just right to whet my appetite to sew again, especially on my beloved machine. I will definitely be looking forward to Wednesday afternoons now and plan to make that time off limits for other appointments.

Vintage Singer Walking Foot

I was so excited when I bought my vintage Singer 301 sewing machine and found a walking foot hidden in the drawer of the cabinet. Unfortunately, when I was quilting a rag quilt for my husband that Christmas, the foot fell apart. It's always a risk and challenge using and finding parts and feet for the old machines so I figured I was out of luck in this case.

Lately I've been searching the web for antique sewing items and I just so happened to find the exact Singer walking foot I needed. Because the 301 is a slant machine it is that much more of a specialty item to source so I snapped it up. The foot arrived in no time and after getting it attached correctly, worked like a charm. I'm delighted to be able to easily stitch through quilt layers again with this beautiful machine. The foot came in its box with instructions and the original receipt for $6.25! (dated April 15, but no year). They certainly have appreciated in value so I hope it survives longer than the other foot did!

As a bonus for being the seller's first customer, she included a lovely little roll of vintage ribbon. How sweet, and another pretty item to showcase in my workshop. So the moral of the story is never give up (once again). Sometimes finding just the right thing takes a bit of searching and a sprinkle of patience.

Vintage Singer Blind Stitch Attachment

I am so excited to have found this vintage Singer Blind Stitch Attachment. It came complete in the box with the instruction booklet and original bill of sale from 1963. It works perfectly and again, is such a wonderful example of Singer ingenuity. To be able to achieve alternate stitches and functions on a straight-stitch only machine is pretty incredible.

The specialty foot is quickly attached to the presser bar with a screw after removing the regular foot. There is an adjustable guide to rest the fold of a blind hem against to achieve various 'bite widths' and the foot moves the fabric every 12 stitches to allow for them. I don't really do any hemming on clothing (and I only tested the foot on a small sample fabric strip which I probably folded incorrectly) but I'm sure there are situations when I might want to use an invisible hem stitch. I will have to practice folding the fabric better since that always confuses me a bit. No matter what, the box looks great in my cabinet and is an excellent new addition to my Singer attachments collection.

You can watch my brief video to see the blind stitch attachment in action on my Featherweight 221...

 

Vintage Sewing Finds

I have two things on my wish list and this weekend I knocked one of them off! My sister and I went to some antique places and I had her on the lookout for a tan Featherweight (a pipe dream) and a small, oval Singer oil can. This particular can is a wee version of the taller oval can and is perfectly sized to fit into a Featherweight black case. There is a bracket at the bottom of the case that holds the can in place. As far as I'm concerned, they are rare. I have been looking for two years so when my eagle eyed sister spotted one in a cabinet at our last stop, as I was checking out (!), I think she was just as excited as I was to fulfill my search!

The tiny can is adorable and fits perfectly into its original home. Because there is still oil in it and the spout is a bit wobbly, I am going to store it in my glass cabinet to showcase this piece of Singer history.

I also picked up two other small, vintage sewing treasures. The first is a leather travel sewing kit. It's definitely older, maybe the 50s(?) and I'm guessing it was made in Germany because there is a small packet of needles with a German wrapper and GERMANY is printed on the needle threader. It has cute metal accessories including a tape measure, thimble, and needle case. I just loved the green case, the little pin cushion built into the lining, and the pockets holding thread. There are a couple other tools (a pointy thing/stiletto(?) and a crochet hook) and a loop obviously meant to hold a small pair of scissors. It's odd there is no identifying label or stamp from the manufacturer so it's impossible for me to find out any more information about this charming kit.

Finally, I hummed and hawed for quite a while but in the end couldn't resist this advertising tin of vintage needles. The case is a pretty crimson tortoise-shell looking cylinder housing 100 sewing needles of various sizes. By spinning the arrow on the cap one can select the desired size and tip out a single needle through the hole. The company Kirby Beard & Co. is a very old manufacturer from England known for its pins and needles. Having just been to London last summer I thought this was such a sweet pin dispenser to add to my sewing collection and could double as a souvenir from our trip. The fact that it still has needles in it was a big bonus factor since I know that they really don't 'make 'em like they used to'. Of course I can't verify the needles' authenticity but they seem stronger and more substantial than the hand needles of today. That is the case with vintage sewing machine needles and I'm pretty confident these are indeed original. Nonetheless, I'm happy I picked it up and it's such a clever way to dispense needles. I plan on actually using it (and the contents) so that's kind of fun too!

Evapo-Rust & Vintage Sewing Machine Feet

Just over a week ago I shared my wonderful vintage Singer Zigzagger attachment and mentioned there was a bit of rust on the foot. While it doesn't impact the excellent functionality of the zigzagger, I was a bit concerned that the rust might rub off on my fabric or get worse if left unattended. I didn't know if it had to be mechanically filed off or if there was a remedy but the wonderful folks at The Singer Featherweight Shop suggest a product called Evapo-Rust.

This solution sounds too good to be true! It's non-toxic, safe to use, contains no acids, is environmentally safe, reusable, and easily disposed. The videos on their website show it working on really rusty items and auto parts and it actually seems to perform very well. While I couldn't find it locally at the hardware stores I did source it at Lee Valley. I asked my husband to pick some up for me while he was out of town and the quart-sized jug was about $13. Since I have very small sewing machine feet and attachments to clean, and it's reusable on about 300 pounds of parts, I know I won't be needing another container for quite some time.

I couldn't wait to see if it would work. I added a bit to a small dish and inserted the foot portion of my zigzagger attachment into the solution. I left it overnight, checking periodically before I went to bed. In the morning the rust was gone! There is residual pitting and a black mark where it was but the damaging rust is absolutely removed.

The process of how it works is described on their website HERE and it is pretty ingenious. I have a couple more rusty machine feet to clean up and then I'm pretty sure hubby is taking it out of my workshop and into his. He has some garden tools and other items I think he'd like to restore. I am very pleased with my results and feel better knowing my vintage zigzagger is rust free and still going strong after all these years.

Vintage Singer Automatic Zigzagger Attachment

When I first started sewing on vintage machines I really enjoyed playing with all the extra specialty feet to see what they could do. Considering that the early machines were straight-stitch only it's pretty amazing what swapping out a foot could offer for changing up the way that plain stitch looked and functioned. I also tried out the old Singer automatic buttonholer and even received a fancy pinking attachment for Christmas. Both were incredibly well engineered and the buttonhole maker is still considered by many as the gold standard in buttonhole formation.

One item I had yet to try was the Singer Automatic Zigzagger. I don't know why I overlooked experimenting with this rather significant accessory since it came with one of my machines and has been sitting in my cabinet ever since. In fact, I realized I actually have two of them: one for the straight needle machines and one for the slant machines, each in excellent condition complete with original box, stitch pattern cams, and instruction booklet. I finally took a breath and took a look at what this attachment could do and boy, was I impressed!

It was super simple to put the zigzagger on the machine (I brought out my Featherweight 221 for the test run) by just removing the presser foot and screwing it on in its place. I did give it a good oiling and lubrication first and other than a bit of rust on the top of the foot, it is in excellent shape. I started with the standard zigzag pattern cam. The zigzagger comes with 4 different designs: the zigzag, the blind stitch pattern (a scallop shape), the domino stitch pattern, and the arrowhead stitch pattern. The cams are made of solid metal and are quite ingenious. The back cover of the attachment pops open and the cams are dropped into place. There is an arrow indicating where to position it in order to start at the beginning of the design. Other decorative cams could be purchased separately.

The zigzag worked pretty well and the arrowhead is beautiful. The domino pattern seemed 'tight' and made ridges between the stitches so I'm not sure why that happens. The blind stitch is very sweet and can really be changed by adjusting the width of the 'bight' (there is a setting for narrow, medium, or wide) and stitch length. I don't sew clothing but I'm definitely going to keep these fun stitches in mind for future projects (pillows, quilt labels, etc.).

Here is a quick video showing the attachment in action on my machine and a rather amusing early ad for the zigzagger - it was only "$14.95"! (skip ahead to the 1:00 minute mark)...

 

 

Dining Room Sewing

I moved my improv stitching upstairs to the dining room so I could use my vintage Singer in the cabinet. I've had trouble with this machine and getting it to run with the foot pedal. I haven't stitched on it for a long time and had noted in my book that I needed to use an alternate controller. Sure enough, it resisted sewing at first but I fiddled around and finally got her motor going. It's a bit of a pain to move all my stuff and the table is really low, but it's great to be able to use this machine again.

I have put together a few more improv blocks, trying to trust the process and not think too much or too far ahead. It was nice to be able to pop into the room while making dinner or when the family watched t.v. and sew a few strips at a time. I love the sound the old Singers make while they stitch and this relaxed method of piecing makes it very fun to work on "Gladys". The blocks come together quickly (maybe too quickly - I don't want it to be over!) but since I really don't have a concrete plan I can continue to make them and have some options at the end.

Thanks to a recommendation from my quilty friend Maureen, I've ordered The Improv Handbook For Modern Quilters: A Guide To Creating, Quilting, And Living Courageously by Sherri L. Wood. I'm very excited to read about her process and perhaps get some inspiration and guidance for putting my blocks together in some kind of quilt! Until then, I'll continue to zip along with the old 1950s machine, using up my scraps, waiting to see what happens at the end.

Wonky Log Cabins & Improv

I knew my next quilting project had to be something that would work with my vintage machines. They haven't been sewn on in about a year so this was something I wanted to correct. While I get a gorgeous stitch on any of the old gals I find it difficult to get a precise 1/4" seam allowance. I can get really close using the guides on the needle plate or an after-market 1/4" foot, but not the kind of perfect 1/4" that is necessary for a really fussy patchwork piece.

What better way to make use of an antique machine than to create a modern quilt piece. After making several detailed quilts in a row, requiring accurate cutting, measuring, sewing, and following a pattern in detail, a free-form, spontaneous improv quilt seemed like a nice change. Of course, I still did my research! Letting go of rule following is really tough for me so I needed to make sure I had guidelines to at least structure my thoughts and loosely plan my course of action.

I started with the two things forming the backbone of my quilting knowledge: books and Craftsy. Create Your Own Freeform Quilts by Rayna Gillman, has been on my shelf for a few years now but I've never done more than flip through it. After reading her easy process for stitching strips of fabric together in mindless meditation and then cutting them up again and again, I was inspired to use up old stash and abandoned quilt blocks. There are no unfinished quilt tops in my cupboard but several experimental test pieces are definitely waiting to find a forever home in some form or another. Next, I turned to the INSPIRED MODERN QUILTS Craftsy class in my library, with instructor Elizabeth Hartman at the helm. I've done several lap quilts from the class and love her modern and tidy style. While Elizabeth is known for her organized piecing of many units of patchwork and currently has gorgeous woodland animal patterns in her on-line shop Oh Fransson!, she does offer several Lessons on Modern Crosses, Improv Pods, and Wonky Log Cabins. The latter was just what I was looking for and my starting point for my project.

I am also a member of QNN.tv and a fan of Quilt Monkey. On it, co-host Nick shares his Liberated Log Cabin blocks so by combining what I've learned from all 3 sources, I was ready to dive in. I chose to base my quilt on a curated tote of fat quarters and yardage. That will give me plenty of fabric to form a core of blocks and background and then I can raid my stash for an extra pop of colour and print with some favourites I haven't used as of yet. My 1957 Featherweight was the first vintage machine to get a crack at the improvisation and even though she is 60 years old and hasn't been sewing in over a year, she purred like a Featherweight should right out of the cabinet. I have never made any project on this particular machine so I was excited to put it through the paces and see how she behaved after her initial test drive.

I think things are going well and these are the blocks I have completed so far. Of course, 'completed' is 100% up to my whim and I may end up adding more or leaving some out when it comes time to put the whole quilt together. I like what I see on the design wall already and have a few ideas of what direction I might go - while still keeping an open mind about the process. According to Nick at Quilt Monkey, we aren't supposed to overthink things as we go, and as I said, that proves easier said than done for me personally! I'll keep going, zipping strips under the needle and see what fun results I end up with. I'm enjoying the process and it's very addictive not having to worry about cutting accurate sizes and achieving that perfect seam width. I don't need to know what piece goes where or which print matches; so much fun it's hard to stop!

I've Stripped...My Stash

I wanted something simple to sew on my Featherweight machine back in March and settled on some strip piecing using batik fabrics. The fabric created (you can read my post HERE) is going to be for a pretty circle quilt from the Strip Your Stash Craftsy class. I made yards of the gorgeous, colourful strips and I've been anticipating actually getting to the cutting.

I made plastic templates using the class materials to trace and cut both pieces of the drunkard's path units. I'm slightly intimidated by the pinning and sewing of the curves but Nancy Smith has such a relaxed attitude to the whole process that it totally gives you the confidence to dive right in! I actually did do some curved piecing in the FREE 2012 Block of the Month Class with Amy Gibson and it wasn't too bad. The fabric is cut on the bias so it is easily manipulated into the arc, even though it looks like the two halves will never fit! The adorable Angela Pingel (she has a Disappearing Blocks with Pre-Cuts Craftsy class) is also a huge fan of curved piecing and she has some great tips. She actually sews from one side to the middle using one pin to hold the fabric. Then she cuts the thread and sews from the other side to the centre and gets a great curve with no shifting. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to go without a lot of pins but I might try the technique once to know for sure!

This was a fun way to use my vintage machine without worrying about a perfect 1/4" seam. I could stitch away mindlessly and it was so relaxing. I think I'm going to try some half square triangles next because I can draw the stitch line right on the fabric. Again, no need to worry about a special foot or measuring the seam allowance. In the meantime, I'll share the first few blocks of the circle quilt when I get them done. It is going to be fabulous to see those curves of Batiks popping out from the white background. Check out Nancy's class if you're interested in learning about strip piecing - she's a hoot!