Look Ma I'm hemming!

Reading about vintage sewing machines the other day, (when I am sure I should have been doing something like dishes or actual sewing) I read about using the hemmer attachments on a Davis NVF. The poster showed a picture of a gorgeous hem, and I wanted to do that!

The attachments for the Davis are a bit different than the usual, there is one style that slides on instead of the usual slide plate:

And one that bolts onto the bed of the machine:

The hem I saw online was done with the one that slides on, but for some reason mine was not fitting onto the machine so I tried the second kind.  Let's just say it was not a fun afternoon, and the results were not pretty.  

I whined a bit online, and a kind internet friend sent me a link to a video that helped a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlXaq4PsrlU

Especially interesting to see that even more experienced folks have to fiddle and fuss to get it started.

I also found this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdDysubNrdM&list=PLG-EZUMWlx6fByx9nJOp__9ggvGlAVkoY

I like how she started out, this doesn't work with hemmer feet that are attached, but I was able to use this technique to get it started with the Davis hemmer, then tighten it down on the bed of the machine.

So I made a 1/2  in. hem,

Then a 1 1/4 inch hem.

This was becoming kind of fun!

So now I wanted to try the hemmer foot on my 99K, since it was sitting there all threaded up.  This is Singer 120855, a common low shank hemmer foot that fits on my 99K and my 66, and could go on my modern low shank machine also.  I had to fiddle with a pin to get it fed in nicely, then work on keeping the right amount of fabric in the foot -- but after only a few tries I was pretty consistently getting this:

I was getting kind of giddy now, after feeling like a doofus trying to make a hem yesterday, here I was making nice hems!  Hooray! So I had to try it on one more machine, my Singer 403a.  This is a slant shank machine, and takes a different foot, 161195 for slant shank machines.  The diameter is a tiny bit different, the 120855 makes a 5/64 inch hem.  The one I have for the slant shank is 5/32, so bigger but still a small hem.

Starting out on the slant shank was a bit harder, mainly because this machine wants to SEW and it is hard to just do a stitch or two to get it going.  But after fiddling a bit I had the same luck.  I wanted to try it with something a bit stiffer that wasn't trying to fray like my cheap cotton, so I grabbed a scrap of ironing board cover fabric I had left from a project.

The fabric ruffled a bit from stretching as I put it through, I am sure I can adjust that with stitch length and being more careful not to stretch it as I feed it through.  But yay, hemmers! 

Singer also makes an adjustable hemmer I haven't played with yet, and I have hemmer feet for my White Family Rotary too.  Lots of options to try still.  But I learned it is super important to use fabric that is clean cut, and if it is too floppy a bit of spray starch would really help.  Starting a stitch or two and then stopping and making sure the fabric is feeding correctly really helped, not too much or too little fabric or it gets all wonky.  And holding onto the threads with a bit of pressure to start those first couple of stitches feeding through helped cut down on funky folds in the beginning.  

A bit more about buttonholers, and zig zag machines.

Since I wrote about buttonholers awhile back, I have learned some new things about them.  Here is a quick link to the original post http://vintagesewingroom.freshwaterfibers.com/2015/11/which-buttonhole-attachment-fits-my.html

Most of what I have learned lately is about buttonhole attachments for zig zag sewing machines.  Of course you can use the straight stitch attachments on your zig zag sewing machine, but it doesn't go the other way.  The zig zag buttonhole attachments use the zig zag stitch on your machine to make the buttonhole, rather than moving the fabric back and forth to make the stitch for the buttonhole.

I got to try this out, with a Griest 1Z buttonholer on a Singer 237, and it made a sweet buttonhole.  I am planning to put this machine into a treadle cabinet, and it will be great to have a machine I can treadle that zig zags and does buttonholes.

So Griest made seven different buttonhole attachments for zig zag machines, they are listed on the box I photographed in the earlier post.

Singer is the big player in the vintage machine world, and they made their version for zig zag machines in the 1960s when they brought out the Professional Buttonholer.  This comes in a model for slant shank zig zag machines, and for vertical needle machines (low shank).  This is the first time there are different plates for covering the feed dogs according to the type of machine you have.

Charlene Phillips wrote a great article for ISMACS  http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/more-on-singer-buttonholers.html

So you have options.  You can use a straight stitch buttonholer on your zig zag machine by setting it to straight stitch,  of course you have to match up Shank type and needle position.  All of the Singer buttonholers up to and including the Jetson's case ones are for straight stitch machines (or zig zag machines with the needle set to straight stitching).  But the Singer Professional, and the Griest models with a Z on the end are for zig zag machines.

Hope this helps someone, it took me a bit to sort it out.  That's what happens when I get most of my sewing goodies from a thrift store!

Sphinx Singer 127, another Mother's Day machine.

Several years ago, early in my vintage sewing machine obsessession hobby, I picked up a neat 1962 White sewing machine from a Craigslist ad on Mother's Day.  I guess maybe we started a tradition, because I was due to collect a new treadle and it worked out that the day I could go pick it up was once again Mother's Day.

Isn't she a beauty?  The serial number dates her to 1928, and the ornate decals sure fit the Flapper era.  Beautiful cabinet too, although the top will need some TLC.  

This link to ISMACS show a machine that is definitely a cousin of mine, with some nice clear threading diagrams.  http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer-class-127-sewing-machines.html

This is a vibrating shuttle machine, it has that bullet shaped shuttle with the bobbin that looks like a little bar, rather than a round bobbin.  I found the VS intimidating for a long time, because it looked so different that a round bobbin.  But once I got my Davis NVF I had to get over it, and I got over it quickly.  Basically, it's a bobbin.  You wind it on the machine.  Then you have to hold it with the thread coming off a certain way and you put it in the shuttle, put the shuttle in the machine.  You close the cover plate and you sew.  No real learning curve, it's just a different way of holding the bottom thread to create a lockstitch with the top thread.

Treadle On has some great info that helped me get over the nerves of the new system:

http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachineshop/shuttle/vsshuttle.html and if you get a vibrating shuttle machine it is really fun to watch the bobbin wind, it's a pretty ingenious mechanism with the guide going back and forth distributing the thread as you treadle. There are some great videos of the process on Youtube also.

Here is a link to a manual, it is a color scan of an original http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/127-128.pdf

This one is a bit easier to read

http://www.a1sewingmachine.com/manuals/127-128-3.pdf

Can't wait to get a belt on her.  

Something I learned about attachments that might help you.

Forums are great, aren't they?  I learn so much reading about vintage sewing machines on Ravelry and other social media.  I was listing a set of attachments in my Etsy shop today, and I realized that they included a type of attachment foot that used to puzzle me.  Finally some helpful soul explained, and it was really a light bulb for me, so I thought I would share.

One of the things about buying sewing machine stuff in thrift shops, is you find bags that may contain parts for all different types of machines in one plastic bag.  When you get home and untangle the mess, sometimes I would find a piece that looked like this:

Now how the heck does something like that attach to the machine? 

Well you need an attachment foot

This little doohickey comes with a set of feet, and lets you swap them out.  They fit together like this:

Hope this helps someone, it did help me!  

And for eye candy, here is the really nice set of Kenmore attachments I was photographing when I decided to share this tidbit.

I don't know if you can see how clean and shiny they are, but they look super clean.  If they weren't in the original box, complete with oil stain and $3 price tag I would have thought they were brand new.

White 1514, great mid-century looks.

I had to combine parts from two machines to get this one together.

I bought both of them from the same seller a year ago. One was in a cabinet, but the one I fixed up ended up being the parts machine head. Funny story, someone did the same thing, they took the best parts off of both machines, and put it in the cabinet. But they either didn’t have the set screws, or didn’t know they existed, and so they welded the machine to the hinges, burning the cabinet and the machine.

So I switched all the needed parts back to the “parts” machine, and put it in a plastic case I had. It took awhile figuring out every little bit that was missing, and polishing the chrome -- but once I got it al together it stitched perfectly right away.

A manual and box of attachments came with the machine, but if you are lucky enough to find a cool retro turquoise and chrome White 1514 you can download a copy of the manual here at the Singer site. Singer has many White manuals, just type a W in front of the model number to look them up.  Or just type a W to search all the White manuals they have.

Here is a link to the manual for the attachments from that era http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Trade-Literature/Sewing-Machines/pdf/sil10-215.pdf.

Which buttonhole attachment fits my vintage sewing machine?

You've seen those cool "Jetson's" style button hole attachments, in the awesome atomic era case.  But does it fit your sewing machine?

First we will talk about Singers, then broaden the field a bit!  The earliest Singer buttonholer didn't come with templates, it came with wing nuts and was adjustable in different directions.  This blog has pictures of the different button hole attachments. Then came the buttonholers with metal templates,

this is also when Singer began color coding the cases, burgundy for the slant shank, green for the straight (vertical) needle machines.  They followed it along with the 1960s buttonholer, the pink is for slant shanks, and the turquoise is for straight.  I know, you have a straight needle machine but like the pink??  Me too.  But then I got a slant shank machine so now I have an excuse to have the pink.

But often when folks are selling sewing stuff they don't know anything about it.  If it looks like a sewing thing it gets stuck in a drawer or in a bag at a thrift store - there is no guarantee that it is in the right box, or that even if it came with your machine that it goes with that machine.

For the earlier Singer ones the part number is on the bottom, so you can match it up, with a source like the blog I linked above.  But the ones in the cool Jetsons case don't have the Singer part number on them!  And the instruction book is for both models.  But I found out something cool the other day, look at the top of the metal part that attaches to your needlebar:

It says Straight or Slant! So you can be sure you get the one to match your machine.

In the late 60s and on into the 70's Singer made the Professional buttonholer, which many people swear by.  I have one, but haven't tried it out yet.  It often come with Touch n Sew machines but apparently can be used on early ones like my Slantomatic.

What if I don't have a Singer?

Don't worry, the Greist company made buttonholers for all sorts of different machines.  You do have to hope they are in the right box, because the model is stamped on the end of the box.  Here are the pictures of two of the box bottoms listing the models. 

As you can see they cover most of the vintage machines out there, up until the button hole stitch started being built into the machines.  

Aren't sure what type of shank you have, here's a good guide.  And for more info, I always turn to ISMACS, http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer_buttonhole_attachments.html

Do you have a favorite buttonholer?  

Gearing up for Etsy sales

Okay the sewing room is a cluttered mess, and I really have to get serious about getting rid of some stuff!  I have a few machines I need to sell, including a Singer 404 that is all cleaned up and ready to go.  And although I have been listing some things on eBay for awhile, I am polishing up my Etsy shop and working on stocking it with lots of vintage goodies.

First I got my daughter, the talented graphics designer one, to make me a custom look -- I gave her free reign, and she came up with the greatest idea: she made my new shop name look like the name plate on a vintage sewing machine!  Check it out:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchRetro

And here is a sample of her work https://www.etsy.com/shop/JenMiniDesign

Do you have an Etsy shop, or sell on eBay?  Or what do you do when the vintage goodies start crowding your space to actually, well,  Sew?