Singer Sewing Machine 201K Refurbishment & Service

Hello

Bronia from the sewing group said that she had her Aunt's vintage sewing machine and showed me a picture.  Ooo err, the later 201K so very desirable.  I volunteered to have a look at it and see if it worked.  Unfortunately, she hadn't found the electric leads with it so we put mine on it.  It worked, yeah!

She thinks it was last used in the 1970's, and had been stored in the loft ever since.

This is what 40 odd years of dust looks like.  Why is that old sewing machine cases always have a paint spill on them?

This is the later 201K which is made of Aluminium so much lighter to carry than the original cast iron one, this one dates from 1955.

Don't think that it has ever been cleaned out with a lint brush.  The paintwork had a layer of grime over it which took some getting off.

Here is the finished product, cleaned, polished and oiled.

Really pleased how its has come up.  I had to take the tension disks apart to clean and reset them to get it to stitch correctly.

All tucked up ready to go home.

Gave the case a clean and polish

The paint spill was there to stay so I coloured it in with a brown furniture pen that you use on scratches.

Look whats moved in my garden!  Its parents have been bouncing around for a couple of weeks, there are 5 of these cheeky chappies, my garden is going to get eaten.  Pity Buzz is too old to chase them out of the garden.

Cheers

Sharon

Machine Quilting on Singer 201K

Hello

The lovely Anita asked me to finish off a quilt top she had.  It's an Amish inspired quilt that she had made along with her friends from across the globe.  Ladies from Germany, New Zealand, Australia and USA had made some of the blocks.

Seeing it was a large quilt, Mavis the Singer 201K was deployed again as she is the one in the built in table.  The quilt was far too large for the Featherweights.

I refurbished this table, it was in quite a state when I got it.  So stripped it down and used Danish oil to revive it.

I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't got a good shiny sheen on it. Then realised that it was the last thing that I needed was a slippy surface for the quilts to slide off.

It was tricky to do as it had to sit on the machine table at odd angles, the fabric and machine both wanted to run straight so lots of fabric wrestling.

The names of Anita's friends were written on some of the blocks so prior to quilting, I embroidered them on with vintage thread.  I marked the quilting lines with tailors chalk.

 I used a micro tack gun to secure the layers together, which are great until you have to snip them off the finished quilt, they ping all over.

Ta daa

 Mavis, the Singer had a good service on completion of the quilt, I have decided that I will keep her in the house instead of the summerhouse as a reward.  Lizzie made me feel guilty for not using her.

Cheers

Sharon

Dear Jane Quilt Book

Hello

I have had a lot of time off work, the gardens are sopping wet which is starting to get to me, its frustrating when you can't get to work.  Decided that I needed a challenge so got my Dear Jane Quilt book out.  Again!

This book has been in a cupboard for a couple of years, I was full of enthusiasm when I first got it until I actually looked at the patterns! Tried doing a couple of the blocks using English paper piecing, one worked the other didn't so the book was put away until I improved my quilting skills with a couple of new to me techniques,  Foundation and Applique.  

This March my sister bought me a lovely charm pack of Moda fabrics called "Farmhouse Reds" for my birthday so I put them to good use and out came the book.  Also using another Moda charm pack called "Lizzie's Legacy".

This little case keeps the fabrics together and out of the sun (that is if it comes back).

I am picking at the patterns doing the easy Applique ones first along with a couple of the easier foundation ones.

As you can see its rained a lot in North Yorkshire!

Really enjoying making these, 34 down, 191 to go.

The Author has a super website you can find find it here http://www.dearjane.com/

Cheers

Sharon

PS using my Singer 221K Featherweight for this "little" job, it sews perfectly straight so the blocks are accurate and goes really slow when I want it to, perfect for sewing the curves when making the applique shapes which are then handsewn onto the 5"blocks.

Cresta Sewing Machine by Favta

Hello

Well I have been at it again, Ebay has a lot of answer for!

Found this little machine.  It's a Swiss machine, very similar to an Elna Grasshopper in looks.  The Company Favta made the Darling sewing machine as well.  There is a little bit of history here Info

They are fairly rare machines, seems to be very well made.

It's about the same size as a Singer Featherweight but weighs slightly more

A zig zag machine that comes with decorative stitch cams which sit in a little cupboard in the back of the machine.  The feed dogs drop by turning the knob at the front.  The zig zag stitches have 3 setting, you can zig zag from the left, centre and right so you can do buttonholes easily.

Has a really good size extension table.

The instruction booklet said the motor needed 2 drops of oil in 2 oiling points in the motor, that you had to take the cover off the motor and they are marked in red.  Couldn't see them (the red strip in the middle has the voltage on it) so I quickly put the cover back on working on the theory, that the motor seems fine so leave it alone.

It comes in a neat sturdy case.

Still had the original sales label on it, the other side had the original purchases name on, her address is in Glasgow.  Also has the keys to the case.

Little pocket for the manual, the pedal unplugs from the cable has its own little holder, and the 5 yard (how long!) electric cable unplugs as well.

It came with cams x 5, zig zag foot, button hole foot, hemmer foot, free motion embroidery foot, embroidery hoop, spare bobbins, screwdrivers and oil can.

It was missing its accessory box so I got one off Ebay (not a Favta one, its too long, the original would have sat behind the free arm) which came with some contents including some bobbins which I hadn't actually looked at as it was the box I was after.  When it arrived, I discovered the bobbins were exactly the right ones for the machine!  I have never seen ones like this before.  How jammy was that?

It's a lovely machine, in good condition.   It does a beautiful straight stitch.  Had a quick go with one of the decorative stitch cams but I must be doing something wrong as it didn't quite work properly.  Will have to have another go.

Word of warning, when you lift the cams off to take them out, make sure you have a good grip, I let go of mine too soon and it fell down the back inside the cupboard, it was a devil to get out, there isn't much room behind where it sits.

The down side that its been owned by a smoker and has a strong odour.  Yuk so have put it away after airing it, popped some lavender bags in the case, kept the manual in my box of loose lavender.  Going to see if it makes any difference.  I did give it a clean and oil as well so it was started to smell a bit better.

Not sure what I am going to do with this machine, I was curious as I had a little go with a Darling machine which was cute.  This one had much more going for it and it wasn't a great deal of money.  So hey ho, pressed the buy it now button.

Cheers
Sharon

Sylko Trylko Bobbin Drawers Refurbishment

Hello

I bought this Trylko set of drawers a while ago, at the time I just touched up the paintwork where it was flaking off on the edges.

It looked Ok at the time, here it is with its "sister" drawers

BUT keeping it in the conservatory in the sun did not do it any good at all.  The paint started to flake off the back big time.  Ooops.

So drastic action was needed, I went to the decorating shop with a drawer in hand and got them to match the paint.  Unfortunately, the smallest quantity of eggshell was one litre so I have enough for loads of these boxes.  I can't see myself a painting anything else purple!

I sanded down the flaky bits and started  painting.  

Only have 3 vintage Trylko bobbins of thread (I did have but sold them on Ebay before I got the drawers, doh).

There is something about neat tidy rows of bobbins.

Still haven't found a teeny handle for the bottom drawer.

Trylko was a trade name for Dewhursts Terylene Polyester thread for sewing synthetic fabrics.  I am guessing that these drawers and bobbins on top of the drawers are from the late 1960s or early 70s.

Sylko was their trade name for their 100% cotton thread.  The mustard thread reel has a price ticket on it for 10p, 

Cheers

Sharon

Winter Weather Makes - Clay Gift Tags and Patchwork Covered Notebooks

Hello

Well I have had quite a bit of time off work, first due to the 10+ inches of snow we had, then the gardens were far too wet to do anything with over the last week or so.

Had a little go with DAS Air Dried Clay making gift tags.

Got a bit carried away, made loads, it was very addictive.  Used my biscuit cutters (biscuits are off the menu for the considerable future due to my trews not fitting!) and the bottle was my rolling pin.

My stamps and inks for the messages.  Pressed pretty buttons and beads in the wet clay.

Then had a go with painting colour onto blanks with of all things, emulsion which were finished off with brush on glaze.

The pattern on the grey tag below was made with my thimble.

All wrapped up.

The next project was to use up some fat quarters of Moda fabric that I bought at the recent Quilt Show in Harrogate, couldn't resist them.

My sewing book is nearly full of patterns, measurements and ideas.  I have been planning on covering it for ages, finally got round to it.

Then made a couple of others just cos I could!

This last week has been machine quilting another one of Anita's unfinished quilts, so that has kept me out of mischief.

Cheers
Sharon

Sewing a Motorhome Awning on a Singer 201K

Hello

Mavis the Singer 201K had an outing as she is the machine housed in a nifty sewing table.  She had a challenge to do.

Please note this is not where I normally sew, we had put her in the garage so we had plenty of room.

She was sewing a Motohome Awning which was big and cumbersome.  The fabric (if you could call it fabric) is rubberised/vinyl stuff.  As the surface was on the slippy side, used a handy roller foot.  The only other time I have used this foot is when I made a cover for a wool carding machine with Oilcloth.

We were adding a beaded edge to the awning panels and making some alterations by adding fabric panels.  Used a size 16 needle and extra strong thread.

The machine coped with the tough fabric really well, not sure that I was so laid back.  The size of the panels caused problems, his nibs (aka Glock) had to lift the them and help guide them through the machine while I concentrated on keeping the seams straight.

I haven't used this machine for about year, she lives in the Summerhouse, when I first got her I put her in the conservatory where I sew but the heat of the summer sun melted the glue that holds the  oak veneer surface on the table and it lifted up so I had to move her.

I had forgotten how well she sewed, really good stitches.  Might have to rethink where I keep her so that I can use her more.  I am really lucky to have these wonderful vintage machines (Mavis was found on Freecyle)

My quilts will seem so easy after sewing this beast.

Cheers
Sharon