Vintage Love

I just have to share my new vintage treasures.

I found this circa 1958 Singer 403A at my local Savers a few weeks back. It came with the wrong power cord and foot pedal, and was very dirty. But the price couldn't be beat.

 Yes, seriously it was $7.99!! I had to take her home. She's missing a few parts but a quick search online brought me to a few websites with replacements. I was able to clean up her exterior with good old fashioned rubbing alcohol but I haven't gotten to the inner workings yet. Truth be told, I'm a little intimidated. But I plan on doing the best I can to get her running again and if worse comes to worse, I'll take her to a professional.


I found this beauty about a week ago at the same Savers. I knew right away what it was when I saw it and thought it would be perfect for my little Singer.

Check it out! The front drops down for free arm exposure. How neat is that? I've never seen a cabinet like this before. I was able to find two others (here & here) with the exact same cabinet online, and one with a very similar cabinet. But there's no markings on it anywhere, so I have no idea who made it and what machine it was originally designed for. (Update 3/17/15: this desk was designed by Singer for their Athena 2000 model back in 1976!)

 There's a bit of repair work to be done on some of the trim and there's a piece missing on the top (it's supposed to conceal the machine when not in use) but other than that it's a great little work table.

 And of course the price can't be beat! :) Funny thing is that the day I bought it they were running a half off sale on grey ticket items. I had no idea when I took it to the register, so I paid $7.50 for it! I can't wait to get it fixed and painted. It's going to be so nice having this extra storage and a spot for my 403A.

After I brought home the sewing machine, I began researching this particular little Singer. Come to find out, it's a really great little work horse! Seriously, Google it and there's a few blogs with the history and reviews of it. It's really an amazing little machine that was one of the first to have a lot of the features we see on machines from today.

Like I said there's a few websites that sell replacement parts for it but on eBay I found this box with the manual and a ton of accessories.

It came with 8 CAM discs and a ton of presser feet. I scored this auction for $15.50 plus shipping. So far, my most expensive purchase but so worth it. I look forward to getting this machine up and running to try out all the presser feet and CAM discs.

New Sewing Machine...#2

So the Brother machine didn't work out. I got 3/4 of the way done with basting Betty's quilt when the thread tension gave up on me. I tried everything, even got a family friend who is a seamstress to look at it but nothing. I got so frustrated that I just returned it. Got myself another Singer machine a week or so ago and it sews beautifully. The basting of the quilt and binding is done, now it's just the fabrics and photos. It's turning out beautiful. :)

Hello New Friend!

Hello new friend!

It's been quite a while and I've gone through a bit of drama, but I finally have a sewing machine in my hands. And the best part is that it is not only new but it also has 25 different stitches! This is a Brother XL-2600i free arm sewing machine and I bought it online at Walmart for under $100 (including tax and shipping - although I bought it during a free shipping promotion).

I was originally going to borrow my sister-in-law's machine, but it broke and she is in the process of moving so that was a no go. Then my other sister-in-law told me that I could have one of her machines, she has more than one and they are not being used at the moment. Well, her busy schedule prevented that from happening. That's when I turned to thrift shops and Craigslist. I called a bunch of thrift shops but none had any on their shelves. Then I actually found a used machine for $30 on Craigslist but after a week of back and forth emails the seller pulled the plug at the last minute. UGH! So I decided to say "Screw you" to all my frustrations and bought myself a belated Mother's Day present. Yay!

This afternoon my present arrived on my doorstep but I wasn't able to pull it out of its box until after Alex went to bed. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I have so many projects that I've been eyeing but definitely first up on the list is a fitted play yard sheet. The ones on Alex's play yard don't fit very well and I'm too cheap to spend more than $5 on a new fitted one. After that, it's on to Betty's quilt. I can't wait to show you all my latest creations! :)

Mourning a friend

I am in mourning for a dear friend of mine, my Singer 1507WC sewing machine. It was traveling across the country with my husband when he got into a car accident. Tragically, it did not make it through. I am very saddened by this, I loved my sewing machine, but I am hoping to get a new (maybe a snazzier?) one soon. In the mean time, my sister-in-law has offered me hers on loan. So once I am able to get some fabric I am going to start on the base of my mother-in-law's quilt. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will turn out with the donated fabrics, quotes and photos.