Singer Pinking Hand Crank Attachment No. 121379

Hello

I've been looking for one of these for absolutely ages, they are rare in the UK,

This one is a bit worse for wear.  Amazingly it still works.

It's a really nifty machine for pinking edges on material. The blade isn't actually sharp but it cuts really well by pressure between the blade and the bottom roller.

I had to take it apart to clean it.  This is where I came unstuck, I couldn't get the blade out, the tension knob was well and truly stuck, I knew that it unscrewed the opposite way to normal but I still couldn't undo it.  The adjustment screw on the width guide was also stuck.  My partner came to the rescue and dismantled it.  The bearing on the hand crank was seized but he managed to free this up as well.

Unfortunately, it didn't come with the original table clamp but there was one with the toy Singer sewing machine I had as child.  Don't know what became of this machine but I found the clamp in Dad's garage when I was clearing it out.

It cleaned up quite nicely. The Featherweight Shop came to the rescue for a copy of the Manual, you can download one here  Pinking manual.   A big thank you to them.  They sell new blades as well, including a straight one,

Tried a few different fabrics, it cut them all with ease, even the slippy waterproof fabric.  It even cuts paper and card because the blade isn't actually sharp the paper will not blunt it.  You can adjust the bottom roller to put more pressure on the blade if its not cutting properly.

It will sit on my sewing table ready for action!

Cheers
Sharon

Homemade Xmas Pressies

Hello

Hope you all had a great Christmas.

I have been beavering away making Christmas pressies this year.

After buying some felt at the Knitting and Stitching Show, had a go at making felt brooches.

These worked reasonably well so then went onto Xmas tree decorations.

Including a little flock of birds

Finally, a personised dog bone for my neighbours with their dog's name on it.  I enjoyed working with the felt.

A new set of pot holders for my sister to hang on her Aga cooker, they have the heat resistant wadding in.

With a matching teapot coaster

These maple leaf coasters were for Steph who's favourite holiday destination is Canada.

 Followed by a patchwork large bauble complete with bells.

I also made a dog coat for the lovely terrier Archie, this was adjusted twice to get it to fit him without it moving sideways when he walked.  I finished the alterations on Xmas Day morning so in the rush forgot to take a picture.  Doh.

My lovely friend Sarah gave me a super present, she kindly made me a pretty pouch to keep my sewing projects in.  I have filled it with pieces of  felt.

Cheers

Sharon

Teeny Quilt

Hi

Its ages since I have done a blog, blame Burt the collie at 16mths old he has loads of energy so lots of walks.  I have gone down one size in trousers!  Who needs a gym membership when you have a Burt!

The downside of all this extra exercise is that I don't have as much spare time to sew and as the weather has been really good recently no unexpected days off work when it rains.

I bought this little mouse for my great niece Violet who loves ballet.

Thought that she might like a surprise so I put it in a pretty box.

Seemed a bit mean to just leave it in the box so I made a comfy bed for it complete with mini patchwork quilt, the pink is Liberty Lawn.

Cheers
Sharon

Greist Decorative Zigzagger Attachment

Hello

I found this interesting attachment on Ebay, it was under £10.

 It came in its original box which is a bit tatty but functional.

The instruction booklet was in good condition but bent in the middle, I had a fix for this problem.

A fairly hot iron made it flat again so that it will stay open.  If you want to tidy up any of your vintage manuals, this works a treat, its surprising how even the tattiest manual brushes up.  If you are wondering what made me think of ironing paper, I used to work in a posh hotel, we ironed the daily papers to put in special canes so that they could be hung up for the residents to read.

I like the Greist manuals, the later ones has tabs with headings.  This is date 1953.

It does a really excellent zig zag which is adjustable in width.

The decorative zig zags are changed by using little disks

They go under the press stud on the side.

It just pops off, no disks makes it do its zig zag stitch.

Unfortunately, this one only had 3 of these disks and it's missing the blind hem stitch which is a shame.

Depending on the number of the disk, ie 3 and 3 means, 3 tiny straight stitches then a zig, 3 more tiny straight stitches and then the zag.

Unlike the Singer Swiss Zigzagger, this one does not require you to either drop the feed dogs or cover them up to disengage them.

So if you are looking for a reasonable priced attachment for your straight stitch vintage machine, this is a great buy.

All I need now is the missing disks but I think they might be tricky to find.

Cheers

Sharon

Baby Quilts No. 11 and 12

Hello

The grand total of baby quilts made is one dozen, there has been a baby boom over recent years.  When I made my first, I had no idea I would end up making so many.

Here is No. 11 for my friend's 2nd Granddaughter, Sophia.

No. 12 is for my Sister's 7th Grandson (a few years ago, she was grandchildless then her 3 children really got to work producing them!). He arrived yesterday, a whopping 10.7lb.

If you look carefully there are little mice hiding.

There I am done, no more babies planned (that I know of!).

Cheers

Sharon

Singer Sewing Machine 221/222 Swiss Zigzagger and Walking foot No. 160991

Hello

My sister bought  a Swiss Zig Zagger that fits low shank machines, especially the 221K and 222 machines.

She raved about it soo much that I searched Ebay for one and found this in Italy.  Yeah.

It should have 10 discs with it to change the style of the stitches but sadly this one didn't have them my sister kindly gave me 2 spare ones.  You can order them on Ebay, not original but copies of them. They work fine. The sample is of all 10 stitch cams plus the ordinary zig zag stitch.

The beauty of this little attachment is that it doubles up as a walking foot as well.  For straight stitching move the levers on the back the manual shows you how.

It comes in a really cute box.

 It should have a feed dog cover plate but its gone walkabout as well.  I pinched one out of the Griest Buttonholer box, the one that is missing is smaller than this one so it fits in the box.

There is another version of this attachment, No. 160990 the only difference is that it doesn't have the cream shell cover on the attachment itself.

There has been quite a few on Ebay recently a couple of them went for over £100 so not cheap but there was one that went for half that last week.

Cheers

Sharon

Burt the Collie meets a pig

Hello

I had forgotten how lively a young border collie is!  Luckily, there is a field full of animals for Burt to watch.  He has stopped barking at his new friends.

Today, Pricilla the old pig came to the fence for apples, I was taking some unripe fruit off my tree to stop the branches snapping.  Burt couldn't believe his eyes, he wasn't sure what it was.

He is very keen on the sheep, think he is lying down so they can't see him!

Doesn't work, she knows he is there.

He is a terror when there are cats around, oh and bunnies.  When its dark he goes into mega hunt mode, running around the garden like a headless chicken, will have to try a few things to see how I can stop this, if I don't fix this, he will be a real pain when the nights draw in.  

He found a poorly hedgehog in the garden on Friday, to be fair to him, he only looked and didn't touch it.  I had to take it to the vets as the poor thing was having difficulty breathing, the vet had to put it to sleep.  

He also find moths in the house, he sniffs them out of their hiding places (last one was under the cooker), Buzz my old dog was great at finding animals, it looks like Burt is following in his pawsteps.

Apart from the small furries hunting mode, he is being quite good.  He is a very clever dog which is proving a challenge, if he doesn't want to do something, he refuses!  He was supposed to have a good recall, yeah right!  He just naffed off (he was in a secure field thank goodness) so I had to teach him to lie down, so now if he gets too far away from me, I can shout lie down and he will drop, phew.  That was last week's lesson, this week is a recall from the down,  He is getting the hang of it in the secure field, not sure if this will all work when there are other dogs around or bunnies! 

I keep have to remind myself we have only had him 3 weeks and we have had lots of success with him.

So for a dog from the Dogs Trust, he is doing OK (fingers crossed).

Cheers

Sharon