I’ve been Sew Blessed, as I noted a couple weeks ago. And the blessings being rained down turned to an outpouring. I’ve been abundantly blessed again. As with many blessings (such as children) this one came requiring much work.
I noticed the overhead doors open at the shop of an antique guy I know, so I ventured in. He always has a lot of pretty furniture I admire. I asked about sewing. He showed me a couple of cabinets, with no machines. Then said he had 3 heads I could have for $10 total.
Under all the layers of dirt and dust I recognized a Singer 27 with Sphinx decals. The 27 is a shuttle bobbin type machine, different than any I have. She takes a long bobbin in a bullet shuttle, which is a type I’ve been hoping to get someday, and actually had already inquired on one elsewhere. Regardless of the dirt, and the fact that much of her decals were silvered, the wheel and needle moved and the shuttle and bobbin–and even both slide plates–were there. I also knew she would fit in the treadle cabinet I have. So with a good cleaning, she alone was worth more than the $10 to me.
Machine #2 was in far worse shape. Frozen solid. Nothing would move and quite a bit of rust. But she’s the same model as another gift from a great-grandma, a White Family Rotary. I figured even if I just take her apart and learn more about her, or even use her as a donor machine, (bobbin case and throat plate there if nothing else,) she was worth the rescue.
Machine #3 was far newer than the others, a light blue early zig-zag “Dressmaker” from post-war Japan. She turned, but had no foot pedal. Again, I figured if nothing else, a machine I could autopsy.
So home I came with 3 machines from 1 stop, and only $9 lighter (the amount of cash I had on hand.)
The 27 cleaned up fine and is sewing well. I’ll post about her later.
Meet Ruthie. She’s an 85 year old shirt-tail relative, who joined my family a couple weeks ago. She’s my dad’s wife’s daughter’s husband’s grandmother’s. She shows her age in more than just her style, but also in her wear–which also shows she was well loved and used. She needed a little help in a few areas, but still gets along pretty good for an old gal.
