The Wee Red Beastie

I've been reading M. C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth novels about an easygoing policeman stationed in northwest Scotland, the Highlands. The plots aren't bad and there are lots of quirky characters. The local dialect is infectious though. Hence, when it came time to name this restored and repainted Singer 201, The Wee Red Beastie came to mind and it stuck.

It is a beast, because I have upgraded the motor, hand wheel and controller from a much newer and more powerful machine. It will sew pretty much anything you can shove under it's presser foot. But it's red and white colors, I think, make it a too cheerful and friendly machine, to really qualify for the title of Beast...... So it's the Wee Red Beastie!

Truth In Advertising

So, I found this "Electronic" JC Penny sewing machine going cheap in a thrift store. I've never had an electronic machine before and I was curious. So, I forked over my $24.99 plus tax, and headed home all excited about leaning about electronic sewing machines.

 I plugged it in and a whole bunch of lights came on and when I pushed the pedal down, things started to move like they should. This is good, I thought, now let's see how this baby works. Popped the top cover off and had a good look inside. What I see is standard mechanical sewing machine. In fact, I recognize some of those mechanical parts. I saw them the day before on a Kenmore sewing machine. Much like my befuddled Pfaff, This is a JC Penny branded Janome.

So what makes it an "Electronic" sewing machine? Well, they hooked the mechanical switch selector knob to a multi-position electrical switch. So for every stitch position you select, a different set of lights come on. Apparently, the addition of a switch and some LEDs on a circuit board, catapults this machine into the 21st century and a higher price range...

Grrrrrrr!

CAST IRON

 Have you ever wondered why vintage Singers are still sewing half a century or more since they were built?
I was at my local sewing center picking up some leather needles the other day and came across some cutaway modern sewing machine displays. The were made of cast aluminum, intelligently designed, and won't be sewing in 50 years. They aren't rigid enough, because they weren't designed for farm use in the 1880's, and they aren't made out cast iron.

The Befuddled Pfaff

 Spare a little sympathy please. This a befuddled sewing machine and it's suffering an identity crisis!

It is badged Beaumark, but it's a Pfaff. It's a Pfaff from the unique type L bobbins to the "Made in West Germany" label on it. But it says Beaumark on it. How can it be a Pfaff?  Well, that's an interesting story.

Beaumark, now defunct, was a Canadian appliance company that sold a whole range of large and small household appliances in places like the Hudson's Bay stores. I remember buying a Beaumark blender from one in the 1980's. Beaumark didn't make those appliances though. They bought them from other companies and had their names put on them. They bought their sewing machines from Pfaff, just like Sears had their Kenmore sewing machines made by Janome and other companies.

I think it would be much happier if it could just find a new home and do some sewing. It's confusing history could be forgotten and it's capabilities could shine  forth!

The Beast: Singer 191J

  The Beast: the Singer 191J.

There are sewing machines and there are sewing machines. when I got this one, it had not been used in years, and it seemed to resent being woken up and put back to use. It was noisy clattery, slow and had bad wiring connections. So I fixed the wiring, flushed out the old grease on the  gear drive with new, lubricated, cleaned and tuned it up.

Now, it's a cocky beast. It laughed at me when I shoved 7 layers of Sunbrella under the presser foot. I swear it actually sneered at a 1/4 of soft vegetable tanned leather. Spit it out the back perfectly sewn, and wanted some more...... I don't know if I should be proud of it or send it to reform school....sigh...All I know is that the devil makes work for idle sewing machines, so it needs someone to keep it busy and out of trouble...

 

So, if you need a straight stitcher for sewing sails, upholstery or light leathers this is the machine for you.

Tough as it is though, it will still do all your normal day to day sewing as well.

Naked came the Kenmore!

Have ever wondered whats inside the shiny white plastic sewing machines that you see in department stores?

Here is Kenmore 385.15423 that had to have it's covers removed for repair (with great difficulty).

It's not an attractive view of the machine, but you were never meant to see it anyway.

What it is though, is: surprisingly sturdy and well built for the price point it was sold for, of less than $150.

Now to decide, if I put those covers back on,

or sell it as the Naked Kenmore lol

 

The Berninas; 801 & the 830 Record

These two very nice machines came my way this week. I nearly passed on them because I don't know much about Berninas and each had one thing or the other missing.

I'm glad that I took the chance though. When I got them home and started playing them, I was quite impressed with their internal design and how well they sewed.

I tried them them on light, medium and heavy work. The 830 happily munched it's way through 7 layers of Sunbrella, and if I had some leather around the place, it would sewn that too.

Nice, solid, simple to use machines. Nothing flashy about them, just good quality sewing machines.

On the other hand, parts, lets talk about parts. Expensive! The asking price for the missing cord and foot controller for the 801 is $165. (I did find an aftermarket one for a mere $80....)

I looked up the new prices of some different feet, not cheap.....

Still, if you come into a complete working one, I highly recommend, the 830 Record.

The Rocketeer

This is the only 503 that I have ever come into. Here in BC they are rare and expensive so I was very happy when this one came my y for a reasonable price and a promise that it would go to someone who would use it and love it.

I love the styling of the machine.Much as I like the classic black and gold Singers,they do tend to be a bit stodgy and dull. Singer's 1950's and 60's styling is a lot more exuberant and cheerful. Perhaps they learned something from Japanese designers.

Interestingly, Singer never called the 503 a "Rocketeer". That name was bestowed on it by users, just like they gave names to all the decal patterns that Singer only referred to by number. I think that the styling of the 503 caught the eye and engaged the imagination of the users. It's the jet age sewing machine!
I also wonder if any modern sewing machine will ever have enough to style to make the users give it a name like the 503 did?
                                                                                                                  
                                            

Dance Band on the Titanic

Dance Band on the Titanic:
When I rescued this little 221 from the scrap metal guys truck, it was seized, had about an inch of powdery aluminum rot around the bottom and the back corner was broken off. I was not hopeful that much could be done with it. In fact, the more I contemplated doing something with it, I started humming Harry Chapin's song.

I'm in the dance band on the Titanic
Sing, Nearer My God To Thee
The iceberg's on the starboard bow
Won't you dance with me?

Never the less.....
I brushed off the aluminum rot, got it unstuck, gave it a light sanding and started to figure out what to do with it. Well even though Aleda suggested Elton John's Tiny Dancer as a more cheerful theme, I was still stuck with image of waves....
Things went down hill after that because, since it's too cold to paint out in the garden shed with my regular Rustoleum colors, I decided to try hand brushed acrylic paints. Not a good move, and they don't lay down evenly and don't sand worth a darn, so it's all lumpy.
So, now it's a lumpy old rust rotted feather weight, with a broken corner, but it's a much prettier, lumpy old rust rotted featherweight with the back corner broken off.
I'm in the dance band on the Titanic...sigh

Featerweight Forlorn

 Featherweight Forlorn, What to do?
This is the saddest looking 221 I have ever seen. It found me via a local scrap metal dealer, I plucked it out of the back of his truck for $5. (which is only about 3 times it's scrap metal value.)
It is currently, complete, seized, the back corner is broken off the bed and where the shellac hasn't peeled,off completely the aluminum rot has set in.
I could part it out, as there has to be at least $100 in usable parts on it, but I'm not really inclined to do that. Also I have sneaking suspicion, that if I free it up, make it sew, wire brush the loose shellac and aluminum off it, glue a stack of washers under the back corner and give a new coat of shellac , someone, somewhere would buy it off of me.
Now I just need a theme for it.  Hard to think of one because I have the lyrics of "Dance Band on the Titanic" running through my head. You know the song....
I'm in the dance band on the Titanic
Playing Nearer My god To thee. 
The icebergs off the starboard bow.
  Won't you dance with me?
Hmmm, maybe my my subconscious is trying to tell me something....🤔.

The Aristocrat

 I get sewing machines in odd ways sometimes. This very nice Aristocrat was given me by a customer who wanted a couple of machines serviced, and needed to make some space. So this and 4 others arrived on my doorstep, no charge. (Needless to say, the servicing on her other two machines was free)
While I love the color combination, I am taken by the stitch length control. If you look closely at the picture, you will see that on the top, there are numbers for stitch length. On the bottom, in the totally unnecessary window, you will see that the stitch lengths are represented by a series of two gold dot combinations, spaced closer and closer together as the length setting decreases. Not sure what the purpose of this is, but it's different and interesting.

Why I don't sew and the pink flamingo quilt.

Some of my customers think that because I selling sewing machines, I must sew.  When they ask me if I do do, I deny it, claiming that I'm a mechanic and I just fix machines. That's not strictly true......
I don't sew, because sewing, to do it well, is a skill, that takes a very long time and lot of effort to learn. Consider the Pink Flamingo quilt that Aleda Johnson gifted me.
Hundreds of pieces of fabric were cut out and stitched together precisely to form the squares. They were then sewed neatly and precisely into the larger cover, which in turn was sewn to the patterned backing. It's a lot of  fussy work.
That the squares were sewn together on 2 hand crank machines, and the quilting done on a treadle, tells me that this a labor of love on the part of the artist. And that's why I don't sew!













I was delighted to receive this quilt from Aleda, because now, Flamingo Sewing has it's very own official, Flamingo Sewing, Pink Flamingo Quilt to show off to our customers. Our QA manager, Alice (the cat) has thoroughly inspected it and given it her stamp of approval as well. (she took a nap on it it.......)
Thank you Aleda!