Another Vintage Sewing Machine

Here it is - a Singer 15-91:

The cabinet is in rough shape.  I've seen worse, but have a better one in need of a machine (not the same style though).  I have little interest in, and no time to embark on a furniture restoration project.  All the same, I'd rather not junk what could be a nice cabinet.  I am not a fan of repainting these, but in cases like this, it needs help.  I'd rather see someone restore it to its original varnish, not painting it in chalk paint!

The machine is in excellent condition cosmetically - the decals are just about perfect.  I have not tried to run it yet, I'll probably try it out next week when things slow down a bit.

Auction Finds

I had a good day at the local junk auction this week.  I came home with three sewing machines, though not anything greatly desirable.  These machines are robust but lower end models, not the machines that I look for as a collector who uses her collection.  This bunch will be serviced and donated to a group that works with abused and homeless girls.  The girls are taught sewing as a part of a therapy course, and each girl gets to keep the machine that she learns on.  I’m all for any program that gets any youngsters into making something.

I also bought this:

An unfinished hand sewn quilt top made with lots of different strips of 1930s printed feed sack cloth.  As much as I rant against looking at the backs of contemporary quilts, I must say, this one warrants study of the back.

The underside is a collection of more print scraps, and plain feed sacks.  This quilt top begs so many questions.  The obvious, who made it, and where?  Why was so much time spent on what is here, to leave it unfinished?  It also came with several loose stars, and two quarter stars.  Those little pieces will go into a collage.  I want to do something with the part top that preserves its integrity, but I have no desire to attempt to continue the pattern.

The Little Things in Life

I got quite sidetracked by the New Year's preparations and celebration, though we celebrate rather quietly compared to most - a weekend with family, lots of food, and doing things we enjoy.  For me, that included sewing, of course.  Some progress was made on the fabric collage that I've been discussing, it will reappear next week.  Today, I have just a short list of five things that I like.

1. My Elna Model 50 sewing machine, from 1951.

2. the "Anvil Chorus," from Verdi's Il Trovatore

3. Peanut Whirligig cookies (homemade)

4. Fiesta Ware colors

5. The Cretan stitch

Find delight in what you have around you.

Pillowcase binding

Not a very exciting topic, but I've had several requests to post instructions for pillowcase binding.  I'm not a fan of the traditional bias strip edge bindings for quilts.  The pillowcase technique suits my style now.  Here's what you do:

1. Cut batting and backing fabric same size as quilt top.  Partially quilt the top and batting together, just enough to hold the two layers together.
2. Place backing fabric onto the top/batting layer, right sides together.  Sew 1/4" around the edges, leaving 1/3 of one side open.
3. Trim corners and excess batting from edges.  Turn right side out, iron.
4. Stitch or fuse the opening, quilt as desired.

There, that is the quick version!  For this collage, I am creating a three layer quilt base that the actual collage will be attached to at some point.  Here is the base in progress, with the collage to the right of the sewing machine, showing that it is clearly not being included yet in the construction.

I have to quilt the base layer again, and then decide if I want to attach the collage now, or do some more work on it.  I need to think about this for a bit.

Yes, that is a vintage Singer 201.  I LOVE that machine, a sturdy workhorse!  I am one of those people who names their sewing machines, this is Grace.  I found her at an estate auction, and I can prove that I am the second owner of this machine.  Grace was the first name of the machine's first owner.  I never knew Grace, but she took great care of her sewing machine, and I am honored to be the next owner of her treasured Singer.

Collage Project - Machine Couching

One of my specialty items at quilt shows is my small packs of embellishing fibers – assortments of funky yarns cut into manageable lengths for art quilts.  One way to use these funky yarns in a project is to machine couch them onto your quilt surface.

Set your machine for zig zag sewing.  Your stitch length and width will vary with the yarn that you choose.  On my vintage Singer 503A, I use the General Purpose foot.  Any open toe foot for your machine will work here, some machines have a couching foot.  The funky yarns won’t work in a foot that you have to thread with your couching cord.  Check the manual for your machine for specifics.

Place the yarn where you want it on your quilt top.  Here, I’ve pulled back a piece for fabric that is pinned for later sewing, and I am starting the length of yarn so that the end will be hidden under the fabric piece.  

I usually start by sewing a tack stitch, then slowly start zig zag stitching, keeping the yarn centered in the foot.  Watch your fingers!  Don’t try this if you are tired, or have other distractions happening in your sewing room.  I recommend having a toothpick or a chopstick that has been sanded to a point, so that you can safely guide the yarn as it feeds into the foot.  Yes, I learned all this the hard way!

This first yarn I selected is a flat one with a loopy flower at widely spaced intervals.  I decided to sew down several rows next to each other.  This is a good way to build up texture, use lengths of the same yarn, or use several different yarns.

Here, I am sewing a single strand of yarn to create a line that will draw the viewer’s eye around the collage.  I simply turn the fabric slowly as I sew to create a gently curving line.  

If you are using a yarn with loops in it, the loops will get caught in the prongs of the presser foot from time to time.  When that happens, stop, sew in reverse a couple stitches, slip off the loop, and use a toothpick to hold the loop down while sewing forward again.  Or, just cut the offending loop!  The loopy yarn is worth the extra effort, I like the way they look in my collages.

Couching is so easy, and you can do so many creative things with the technique.  Try using other decorative stitches to couch, just be sure the stitch won’t dominate the yarn.

Collage Continuation

Welcome back to the creation of my latest fabric collage.  I thought that I would sew more pieces down this afternoon, but I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do.  Some days are like that.  So far, all I have on the collage is flat fabric.  I want more texture in this.

I've had to rethink the attachment of the lacy trims and funky yarns that I love so much.  I don't want the ends unraveling, so I have to come up with a way of hiding the ends on a seamless base.  The obvious solution is to hide the ends under the fabric pieces that I will raw-edge applique to the base.

I don't want every trim end to start and end underneath fabric.  This is a design element, to vary what I do with a particular material, adding visual interest.  To avoid the unraveling of crocheted trim, I simply will fold under 1/4" of the ends that I don't hide under fabric.  

On this piece, I decided where I wanted the trim piece, and flipped it back to sew it as a short seam.  After trimming the first stitching line, I put the trim back in place and sewed the top edge.  The other end will be hidden under a fabric scrap:

Another consideration in design is to use a specific element in more than one place in a piece.  Keeping this in mind, I cut another piece of the light green trim to try sewing it by tucking under both ends and not hiding them under fabric.

Success!  It might be easier to sew the ends under by hand, or fuse with bits of Mistyfuse, then sew.  Sewing this piece by machine wasn't too bad.

 Onward with the trim!  I also will add some silk sari "ribbons" with this technique over the next few days.  On Tuesday, I plan on discussing machine couching.  For now, I have sewing to do...

Auction find! Singer Sewing Machine adversting

I'll admit, I am rather easily distracted.  While I am still basking in the glow of new fancy threads from my Lexington trip, the excitement has dimmed a bit due to this:



Image copyright RPS, please do not post elsewhere

Something I had never heard of before, an annual almanac put out by the Singer Sewing Machine company.  It is my latest find from the frequent junk auction near my residence.  It is filled with the usual suspect information akin to the still published Old Farmer's Almanac, but of course peppered with useful articles and advertising about Singer sewing machines.  This particular one still has a string through the hole in the upper corner, for hanging in an easily accessible location and its condition indicates that it was consulted frequently.  It is a fascinating look back into another time; a postal rate chart (two cents an ounce for a first class letter), time of transit table from New York City to various locations around the world (two days to Quebec, 33 days to Singapore), an article on "The Family Medicine Cabinet."  No one now knows what Jamaica Ginger was used for, on page 30, it was recommended as a stimulant for severe pain.

Also on page 30 is the following advice:
     "Every sewing-machine operator should have a piece of white (cloth or paper) and a piece of black to put under the needle in threading.  When the thread is black use the white cloth; with white thread the black.  One who has never tried this will be pleasantly surprised with the help it gives."

Image copyright RPS, please do not post elsewhere

Some of the Singer promotional articles are a historical gold mine.  I'm especially intrigued by a discussion of their cabinet making processes in the almanac.  And then there is the proclamation that Singer sewing machines were "America's chief contribution to civilization." (p. 45)  Arrogant?  Maybe not, the 1997 special edition of Life magazine listed the invention of the sewing machine at number 67 in their "100 Events of the Past 1,000 Years," and quoted Gandhi as claiming that the sewing machine was, "one of the few useful things ever invented." (p. 57)  Learning to sew certainly has changed my life.

Little Green Machine

Take a look at my latest find:

Image copyright RPS, please do not post elsewhere

Isn’t it cute?  It is a Bell Sewing Machine, from the early 1950s.  Only 9” long, it fits into a case that looks like a small briefcase.  They are rather unusual, and apparently did not sell well.  There is not much information available on Bell machines on the web.  I found one site that has am image of a Consumer Reports review of the Bell, but does not give a date for the article (cite your sources, even on the web!  I'm also not keen on linking to sites that don't indicate where they got their information).  Whatever issue it appeared in, it was on page 31.  I know, not very helpful… 

Anyway, the article, “The Bell – Tiny, Light, But Very Slow,” might have been the death blow for the little machine.  The lack of a traditional hand wheel was a problem, instead, it had a small knob on the top right to manually move the needlebar.  It takes a lot of turns on the knob to cycle through one stitch if you are trying to draw up the bobbin thread.  The article goes on to lament that, “tension retention was inferior at the so-called fast speeds, and at top speed, the upper thread occasionally jumped the guides and tension discs, and the lower thread jumped the bobbin case.  Considerable drift was noted.”  The top speed of the Bell was reported to be 70 seconds per yard. 

The Bell with a Singer Featherweight and Singer Sewhandy

Image copyright RPS, please do not post elsewhere

The Bell, a straight stitch machine sold for $69.95.  The best price comparison I have is from an early 1960s Singer ad (from Life magazine) for their budget model Spartan, much larger than the Bell while still compact, faster, stronger, also straight stitch at $59.95.  I’m going to venture a guess that the Bell was intended more for travel mending than complete garment construction.  I will be on the lookout for vintage ads to confirm my conjecture.  

There is a sticker on the bottom of the machine that reads: “Bell Manufacturing Corporation/Freeland, PA/Made in the United States of America.”  Freeland is in Luzerne County, eastern Pennsylvania, south of Wilkes-Barre.  Some rainy day, I plan to see if there is a historical society there that just might have some information on the Bell company.