Sewing Inside

It is winter here in the Northeast.  It gets cold.  My sewing loft is in an outbuilding and while I have a lovely little Jotul wood stove, I can't get it warm enough after work in the evening to go out there to sew.

"I've been thinking." said I to Steven the other day. "What do you want to do with the bed in the front bedroom?"

"Sleep in it."

"No, I mean, really."

"We need it for guests. We can't really give up a double bed. Why?"

"I need a place to sew in the house, evenings."

"Honey, you have sewing machines and sewing stuff all over this house.  Why do you need to take over a guest room?  We don't have enough sleeping space as it is when everyone comes."

"Well, you have a room special just for your bike trainer."

"Yes and we always set up a bed in there when the kids come."

"I want to be able to sew after work.  I think it will keep me off the computer...."

"OK, well, why don't you set up in the foyer.  You can use the dining room table for cutting and the sewing machine will fit right in front of the door.  You will be warmer there because it is near the stove and the light is pretty good.  You can use the bench for storage."

"Well, all right.  I will try it.  But you will have to clear your stuff off of the table."

"Right, let's see, this is mine, this is mine, that is yours, that is yours, that is yours, that is yours, that is yours, that is..."

"All right, already.  I get it."

So today, after I vacuumed and did laundry I set up the recently refinished Singer Cabinet # 42 in the house.  Right next to the "office" (the briefcase and scarf on the chair).  Frannie isn't too sure about this idea.

I am happy with the out come.  (Gee I sound like a Health care provider....Oh wait...)  Even the patch doesn't look so awful now.

With a machine installed, it looks quite classy

1941 Singer 201-2

So tonight I sewed.  I made an apron with it.  This 201 is for sale.  It is a nice machine though it isn't perfect cosmetically.  There are a few dings on the machine bed.  Still the decals are not worn in front of the needle the way some of these machines are.  I have three others for sale, too.  Gotta move some machines out.

Next project I will use one of the other 201s.  I always like to sew a project with each machine.  Just test stitching on a small piece of fabric never gives me a sense of how the machine really works.  This one is very nice.   Stitches are nice and consistent.  It will work for another 72 years easily.  My electronic Viking, I'm not so sure.

Progress?

I put the first coat of polyurethane on this weekend.  I am surprised at how it darkened the wood.

Before and During

During and After

I tried staining the repair on the bottom front.  It looks awful. 

 I think that I will buy some Mahogany colored paint and just paint it.  Supposedly this stuff was stainable.  Apparently not.  As you can see in the photo of the back (above this one) I left the repair "natural" that I did on the back.  We aren't building pianos here.  My goal is to get this project finished, the machine installed and move on to the next project.

Which is another Singer 301 with very icky gooey gears

Beer

 A few weeks ago I cleaned the house.  This was a momentous occasion.  Steven  seized the opportunity and invited some friends over for dinner.  He cooked (i.e. ordered take out from the Chinese restaurant).

K. brought over a beer that had been given to him.  It came from Middle Ages Brewing Company in Syracuse.  http://middleagesbrewing.com/content/view/69/39/

Now,  I am a wine drinker and had started on a glass of a very nice Albarino.  But I tasted that Dragon Slayer Stout and LIKED IT.  K. and Steven liked it too.  D. and I were jabbering away about sewing and machines while they were slowly sliding under the table.  The stuff is STOUT. D and I were oblivious to their increasing inebriation.  Turns out, D. learned how to sew on a 201 and was thrilled to see mine in the sewing loft.  Long ago her 201 disappeared.  She said she would like another. ( I wonder where she would ever find one?)

Tuesday Steven and I were reminiscing about that dinner and about that beer.  I looked up the brewery on the internet and we decided that we should go over for a visit one day.

"All we have to do is find a sewing machine up that way and we can go." he said.  Oh the enabling..

I needed no more encouragement.  I immediately checked Craigs List.  Whoopee  There was a 201-2 for sale in Liverpool.  I responded right away.

"Can you go tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Nope, I have to show the apartment."

"Thursday?"

"I have to work."

"Friday is out for me, I have a hair thing."  (I might add that it is sacrilegious to EVER cancel a hair thing with my hair dresser.  It just isn't done)

"Well, you know, D. wants a 201-2.  This looks like it might be a good one for her. If its available I may just have to go by myself."

 I did and came home with a 1947 201-2 in a very nice Singer # 42 Cabinet.  You cannot tell from the picture, but the numbers on the SL regulator are legible.  The machine has been used but it is dry.  The motor leads look OK but I haven't checked them thoroughly.  I disconnected them with my good hand and the seller lifted the machine out of the cabinet and loaded them both into the Jetta.  Steven brought them into the shop for me.  This dependent damsel nonsense is getting to me. Not my style.

I am keeping this cabinet.  D. may get the machine.  She can have the library cabinet that I am using now or the other 42 I have.  Or I may keep this machine, depends on how it stitches.....

Oh how I love the 201-2

And to read what was originally said about the #42 Cabinet check out this link:
http://www.ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/42_cab.html