Tuesday, July 19, 2011

One fine mess

In between doing other things, I've been cleaning up my great-grandmother's sewing machine.

And making a big mess of my dining room.

I decided I wanted to figure out when the machine was made. (I had no idea - until recently - that you can go to Singer.com and look up when a machine was made, you just need the serial number!) I figured out she was made in 1934. As you can see it is missing the pedal. It was converted to an electric machine way back before my time, but I have no idea when the conversion took place. As far as I know, this was the only machine my great-grandmother ever owned and it has sewn many a mile.

I think she needs a name. How about Sally? Sally Singer - has a rather nice ring to it!

Anyway - I dust the cabinet whenever I clean but I can't remember when the last time the machine was pulled up. Can you say dusty?
So, I've used the vac, q-tips and a small paint brush so far in my efforts to clean her up. I even managed to put a new belt on (by myself, thank-you-very-much) I still haven't plugged her in to see if she will actually work. Since it was moved to storage then moved again to this house, I'm betting I will need to replace the light bulb (which you can't see - it is behind the body of the machine - you can see the cord coming off it along with electric motor that is also attached to the back). This picture was taken before I got the q-tips and brush to it - I'll take another one when I get her working!

I've thought about bringing the machine up here to my sewing room but she is a heavy sucker!

So - what have you been spending your time on?

4 comments:

annemarie said...

What a prized possession - love that old machine. I hope it works once you give it a try - the old machines are still the best. I am not a fan of the newer plastic machines. I have an old Kenmore that is probably 40 years old - good heavy machine - works like a charm - just does not do all the newer fancy stitches. I bet your great grandmother is smiling down at you as you clean up her machine!

Terry said...

That is a very special thing to have! I want to wish Tina a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow!! (Wednesday) :)

Siobhán said...

Oh my goodness--what a special heirloom to have! Lucky you.

Deb said...

What a wonderful heirloom to have. I've been trying to find a good one, but it would have the same meaning to it as yours.