Measure Twice

cut Once.

For years my sewing surface was a cobbled together collection of sewing machine stands.  These were the ones that I might need someday.  One is a Kenmore stand that fits my all time favorite Kenmore: (click to see her photo)  Lila .

The other came with a 404.  I had removed the machine and parked it at the Quilt Zoo, in hopes that someone, needing a machine, would use it and fall in love.  IT WORKED!!  So when the buyers told me they wanted a stand, I said HOORAY, and happily removed it from my loft into their truck.

 I am not lacking for sewing machine stands.  So when a nice lady from Vermont called me and asked if I had any sewing machine stands, specifically a Queen Anne or a Model 44, I said COME GET IT!
She has a 201 and was looking for a stand for it.  She would cruise Craig's List looking for machines with stands,  thinking that she would buy the machine, use the stand and ditch the machine.  Just the opposite of what I used to do.  Perfect match. 

The Queen Anne was in the living room holding a lamp and a photo and one of my Red Heads.   I needed to replace it, so I moved Lila's stand from the loft to the living room.  







That night, at dinner:  "Honey, do you remember how you promised you would make a new table top for my treadle stand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you think now would be a good time to  make good on that promise?"


Turns out, he agreed.  I wasted no time in designing the top.  I wanted plenty of space to my left to support the large quilts as I pieced rows together, added borders and binding.  I also wanted space to support the fabric as it passed under the needle.  We decided on a 48 inch square with a cutout for seating.


By now all that was left in the loft was the treadle stand itself.  When Steven asked how big to make the cut out, I merely measured the length of the treadle stand.  

I decided to live with it.

I positioned a school cabinet underneath the left side of the top.  We trimmed the feet just 3/4 of an inchso it would slide right under it.  I moved all four drawers to the left side of the cabinet and Steven added two more to the right. 

I love it.

The only problem is that I have to use the Necchi hinges because Singer hinges don't fit the Necchi.  I am in love with this Necchi.

But not to worry, thanks to Betty, who sent a link to the McKenna Linn's site, we drilled out the holes in the Necchi and now I can switch out machines at will.  Oh and Steven decided that yesterday would be a good time to add an extra piece to the top to correct my measurement error.

I finished the quilt so I have time to sand and paint this repair before its time to attach binding.  If you notice, that is a Singer 15-90 in the stand.  I like this machine.  It is noisier than the Necchi; much noisier.  The Necchi dislikes my polyester thread.  My Super Nova is just as fussy. I think it has to do with close tolerances in the machining.  I doubt I will give up this machine in favor of the Necchi, but if I had to choose between the Necchi and this one, well, I'll let you guess.

I would not call it a summit

I finished the quilt today.  I could have done a bit more but I was done.  I think that I should have practiced some more.  I am not unhappy with the finished product, none the less.   It is definitely a practice piece.  Betsy loves it.  I am giving it to her.

I learned a lot.  Frame machine quilting is not easy.  It takes practice and a certain understanding of how machine, fabric, needle,  thread and frame interact.  I think that a faster machine might be easier. I have a stitch control device on this machine but did not use one on the smaller frame.  I could remove it but I have all this experience now.  I am definitely going back to practicing before I attempt another quilt. 

I serged the edge.  Someone I know will be happy that I used it. It is hard to tell in the photo below but the quilt is folded on itself.  What you see is the serged edge of the quilt lying on top of the quilt back.

I stitched along the design in the fabric.  It makes for an interesting front, but a very messy looking back.  Like I said, I needed more practice.  The trick, I learned, is to start quilting by moving the machine forward and then start the backward and side to side design.  Think about it, the machine is designed to stitch in a forward direction and so if you start that way, there is much less difficulty.  I don't think that I jammed one needle today.  WOOT WOOT.

 To make the binding I plan to fold it over.  I was going to fold it over again to hide the serged edge.  I think it will be too thick.

But, my darling 15-90 as a treadle could do it.  I marched through the jeans french seam, doubled,  no problems.  I love that machine. (PS I used the serger on the hem of these jeans too.)

WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN ?

They, in this case, being me.   When I figured out that the Mystery Singer was actually an Improved Family modified for leather use, I thought it would be fun to use it to make a bag.
http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/2013/07/why-mystery-singer-is-not-improved.html

older photo, the machine is now in its nice refinished stand.

It took me a while to adjust the tension, again.  Finally I declared it ready.   I started on the bag yesterday afternoon, late.  First I made the strap. That was pretty thick for this little machine.  The rest of the bag went together pretty quickly since I had so much experience with the pattern.  But I had an awful time making the final seams.  The machine just wouldn't handle the bulk.

I thought, some, of trying the 31-15 but by the time dinner was over and I had taken my cholesterol lowering, heart disease prevention medicine, I was spent.  Besides, I wanted to watch The Princess Bride.

This morning I surveyed the machines in the sewing loft; Singer 237, Singer 201, Kenmore 1760 and, of course, the Singer 15-90.

I popped it in the treadle stand, swiped the bobbin from the Non Improved Family and started to sew.  That machine went through the four layers of the strap and the two layers of the seam plus the lining with ease. I also gave up on the leather needles. I went through two, and the points on both needles failed. IOW, they became burred.  Back to microtex sharp Schmetz.

I think I will be able to use that Non Improved Family class 15 Gloversville Machine for sewing very fine leather.  I have some nice soft stuff.  I could try making little change purses.  I suppose I should keep the machine for the "museum."  Likely there aren't many of them around.  I wonder if this guy would want it. 
 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22GLOVERSVILLE.html?pagewanted=all

Gloversville isn't THAT far from here.  Maybe on a lark I will load it into the car and trek up there to see.