Say Hello to My New Elna Grasshopper!

Readers, this has been a good week for me sewing machine-wise and it's only Tuesday!

As you know, on Sunday, I picked up a lovely Singer 15-30 from 1910 at the Chelsea Flea Market.  Her new belt should be delivered later this week and I'm excited to start sewing with her. 

Today my Elna Grasshopper arrived.  I wasn't expecting her until tomorrow, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw this message:



She arrived relatively well-boxed, with lots of bubble wrap and styrofoam so she didn't knock around too much in transit.





You probably already know that the Grasshopper's case converts to a sewing table (you can see how this looks with my first Elna Grasshopper here.)  I don't expect to ever use the table, but it's a clever feature nonetheless.  I believe this machine was originally designed in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and was meant to be carried into battle -- or did I dream that?  Somebody fact check please!





My machine is dated 5-51, i.e., May, 1951.  Impressive!

I oiled her liberally at all her oiling points.  All in all she's in good shape though, unlike my other Elna, she's missing her accessories box and the (often lost) speed reduction gear.  A complete machine is nice but as far as my actual sewing needs go, they're just that much more clutter. 



Best of all -- and this relates to the reason I sold the other one -- her longest stitch length is nice and long.  Not as long as the longest stitch on my vintage Singers perhaps, but long enough.  My other Grasshopper could only manage a very small stitch no matter what I did -- and I tried everything I knew of at the time -- so I never wanted to sew with it.  This Grasshopper stitches beautifully.







You can hear the motor and see her run on Instagram here and here.  (Do those links work if you're not an Instagram member?  Hope so.)

In other news, I've also been busy sewing, finishing up a shirt I started before vacation.  Love how it's turning out.



My patternmaking class starts tomorrow evening, so I'm very excited about that.  What shall I wear?

And that's it -- time to go play with my little Grasshopper.

Have a great day, everybody!

Mom's impressed.

Home Again + TWO New Sewing Machines!

Friends, you can exhale -- I'm back!

We had a lovely time in Provincetown, MA, where we ate lobster, swam, read, and just relaxed. 

We heard octogenarian songbird Marilyn Maye perform and she was terrific --AND we sat three rows behind -- no joke -- Bob Mackie!

If you follow me on Instagram, you've likely seen enough chihuahua photos to last a lifetime, but it was fun posting there in real time.  I'm very sold on Instagram!

Now, onto the BIG news: I have TWO new (to me) sewing machines in my life.  Well, one isn't quite in my life yet since it won't be delivered till Wednesday, but it is very close.  It's an Elna Grasshopper I won last week on eBay and this time I'm hoping for a smooth transaction, unlike my last Elna drama.  Perhaps some of my longtime readers are wondering if I hadn't already owned an Elna Grasshopper.  The answer is, yes, but in a fit of overzealous decluttering a few years ago, I sold it.  It's one of the few sewing machines that I've wanted to replace -- actually, the only one. 

Meanwhile, today at the flea market I stumbled upon this:



No, I didn't buy the stuffed hen in the basket, but just minutes later I saw this:



Now you know that I love those black Singer 15's -- they're great machines.  This one, it seems, is a 15-30.  It probably originally came with a larger spoked handwheel for treadling, and I'm guessing the owner had it replaced with a smaller wheel and had the machine wired into its current wooden case (in excellent condition, complete with functioning lock and key) that operates with a knee lever.  This was likely done many, many decades ago (1940's?), judging by the condition of much of the wiring.



The seller was asking $50 which certainly seemed fair, but I was on the fence.  When 20 minutes later he said I could have it for $25, I was sold, or rather it was, to me.  I rolled it home (with the aid of a handcart) after lunch and inspected my purchase more closely.  The machine turned freely and the decals (called Tiffany) looked beautiful, if a bit grimy.  According to the serial number, the machine was produced April, 1910.  It's my oldest machine.




 





I've already rewired the main cord.  The motor (an Amsco, not a Singer) runs quietly; the knee lever works well.  The machine's missing its belt so I'll have to pick one up this week.  Otherwise, it's complete: bobbin case, bobbin, even a spool of thread.

Best of all, it sews a lovely, balanced stitch (I turned the wheel by hand).



Nice addition to the family, no?

In other news, I've signed up for a patternmaking class at FIT that will meet on Wednesday nights from now untll December.  I'm very happy to be returning to school to broaden my skills.

In closing, I hope the summer has wound down well for all of you.  I'm excited about what's next.

Have a great day, everybody!

(Marilyn sang this song at our show last week and blew us all away.)

Good-bye, Elna Lotus + How Did I Not Know About Botani Trimmings?

Friends, I sold another sewing machine this afternoon: my Elna Lotus.

Even though she had cosmetic issues (and who doesn't), she was a very solid stitcher and quite quiet.  I never could get over the fact that to reverse, you had to turn the stitch length dial all the way to the left and then back to your original stitch length position -- a headache, imo.  I never warmed up to her.



I've now sold three machines and donated one; I'm proud of myself.  Unfortunately, I still own a dozen others.  Since some of you may wonder, here's what my collection currently consists of:

3 black Singer Featherweights (practically silent and oh-so-smooth)
1 white Singer Featherweight (unnecessary; not as quiet as my black FWs)
1 Kenmore 158.1040 (another unnecessary machine, never sewn anything with it, but cute)
1 Kenmore 158.141 (my go-to zigzagger, great for straight stitch as you can adjust the stitch plate)
1 Singer 15-91 (beloved)
1 Singer 201 (also great)
1 Singer 66 treadle (I should use this more than I do. A wonderful machine, but I'm lazy)
1 Singer 66 Lotus decals (lovely to look at; never use)
1 Viking 3240 (no-frills zigzagger; I wind EVERY bobbin on her, that's all she's used for)
1 Bernina Record 930 (My best free arm)



The next to go would have to be the white Featherweight and the 3/4-size Kenmore (158.1040).  It would hurt to sell the 66 with the Lotus decals, but it takes up a lot of room and is never used.  We'll see.



Today I found a great source of high-quality rib knit -- Botani Trim. (A big thank you to Clio for mentioning it to me in a comment yesterday.)

How did I not know about this absolutely jaw-dropping trimmings store that's only eight blocks from my house?  I visited today with my Canadian friend Jo, who's been vacationing in NYC this week.









Botani (263 West 36th) is huge -- an entire city block deep!









Their collection of zippers (particularly the Italian brand Lampo), buttons, snaps, buckles, rivets, and more, is enormous, and they have a great selection of rib knit trim -- precisely of the weight and quality I was looking for.

Their colors are largely limited to conservative mens outerwear colors -- navy, gray, camel, black, browns, forest greens, and beige (solids, no stripes).  But it's the real deal.  (Pacific Trim had a wider variety of colors.)









Even though I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the Garment District, like many (most?) people, I tend to frequent the same stores.  For example, I never walk down 36th St. (I'm mainly on 38th & 39th, with occasional forays to Elliot Berman on 35th.  I also hardly ever go east of 7th Ave.)

Speaking of Elliot Berman, we peeked in there too, primarily to visit Eugenia, my favorite fabric store employee (along with Diane, who works the register at Mood).  I was surprised to find a bolt of this leopard-print knit: look familiar?



And that's it!  Thank you for your many suggestions about rib knit sources yesterday.  Who knows -- there may be something even better than Botani out there.

Have a great day, everybody!

Kenmore Feed Dog FAIL -- What am I doing wrong? (With UPDATES)

Friends, if you watched yesterday's vlog, you know I've been doing some long-delayed maintenance on my beloved Kenmore 158.141, my go-to vintage zigzagger.





I picked this machine up at the Chelsea flea market three years ago and paid $25 for her with the table.  Since that time she has worked flawlessly and I use her (him? it?)  for practically everything.  The one issue I've had since I brought her home, however, is that I can't get her feed dogs to drop.  The mechanism seems stuck.

I was buying something minor on Amazon last week and needed to spend $35 to qualify for free shipping.  I'd had Liquid Wrench on my wishlist for more than a year precisely for the purpose of unsticking this feed dog mechanism, but never acted on it.  Now the time seemed right and I am now the proud owner of a small can of this toxic, stinky penetrating oil.



But I haven't been able to free the mechanism.

This is the switch (below).  When I unscrew the bar that attaches to the feed-dog drop on the underside of the machine, it moves freely.



This is the bar in question.  I removed the screw to have better access to the mechanism immediately to the left.





I sprayed some Liquid Wrench in that cylinder and left it overnight. It doesn't seem to have loosened anything.  BTW, what's that wire passing through it (below) -- is that the culprit?  What purpose does that wire serve?  Does it need to be removed?

WHAT is that paper-fastener-looking wire for?

The other end of the cylinder is pointed (conical).  I'm assuming that the black bar is supposed to pull that pointed cylinder out so that the feed dogs remain in the down position.

Needless to say, there's nothing about how this is supposed to work in the owner's manual.





So what do you think?  Am I doing something wrong, or is there something obvious I've missed?

To be clear, I have plenty of other machines to make buttonholes with.  I do not need the feed dogs on this machine to drop.  I just WANT to make it work!

Thanks for your insights!

UPDATE:  I GOT IT UNSTUCK!  I used my portable hairdryer (which I'd bought used a long time ago for just this kind of thing) for a few minutes and repeatedly knocked on the pointed end with the head of a pair of pliers (I couldn't fit a hammer in the space) and slowly but surely I got it moving freely.  I then oiled it liberally.  Thanks so much for all your help!

Special shout out to Paula W. for getting me photos of her (very similar) Kenmore in both up and down positions (from below).