Thank you, every one, for your commiserations at the thought of having no sewing machine. I forgot to say that I do have another machine, a 1963 Singer 201. This is a great little machine that sews just a straight stitch, but stitches a much better seam than my Elna. I use it mostly for free motion machine quilting (when I actually have something to quilt, which doesn't seem to be as often as I would like - my machine quilting skills keep getting rusty.)
I only bought it for the table it is in and it didn't go when it arrived home. My friendly machine mechanic was around at my place one day, returning my Elna after a regular check up, and I proudly showed him my table (and the machine in it which I hadn't given much thought to, I thought it was going to be too awkward to get the table with the machine in it to him to have a look at.) Hugh very quickly unclipped it from the table and took it away! I was amazed. I never thought about the machine unclipping from the table (well, doh!). It was just seized up from lack of use and needed gentle coaxing and lots of lubrication to make it a very useful addition to my sewing room. Hugh found me a free motion foot* to fit and "Bob's your uncle"! It has twice as much space under the arm as my Elna and the only thing I really miss on it is needle up/needle down.Speaking of sewing rooms and quilting machines, Frances, Donna and I went out to my friend Janice's place on Sunday to help her reorganise her sewing space so she can fit her new Juki machine and Swiftquilter frame into the space. The four of us pulled everything out, cleaned all the walls (and cobwebs) and put everything back in the position Janice wanted it. Janice has now finished tidying and you can see some great pictures here. I am (still) green. As our reward Janice cooked a very yummy lunch of smoked salmon omelette and salad. We had a wonderful day.
*actually I broke the first one, but Hugh found me another, much better one. Isn't he great?
8 comments:
You are so lucky to have such a helpful person to work on your machines! That sewing machine table is beautiful! If it wasn't so pretty out today I would work on organizing my sewing room too...maybe if I promised myself an omlet?!
"Bob's your uncle?"
Welcome home to your baby!!
I have an old Montgomery Ward's machine that I bought for the cabinet it was in. And found it does beautiful machine quilting. MUCh better than any other machine I've ever had. So I keep it around just for that purpose.
you HAD to tell them about the cobwebs!! but I'm a quilter! I've got way more important things to do than vacuum cobwebs. And at least I do vacuum the floor (mostly) before you visit to sew...
I want a "Hugh"!! He sounds a gem to be treasured!
So glad your machine is back & going so well. Loved the story of your Singer. Happy sewing!
Happy sewing with your Elna that is bach.
ciao ciao
It's nice to have two working machines - at least you have the opportunity to sew and quilt whenever the mood strikes you! Great that you have a good mechanic.
I can see why you are green about the quilting frame. I would tell about the cobwebs too - how dare she have that quilter and you don't. I saw a frame for use with a domestic machine that I covet...
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