Sewing Machines

My Mom's sewing machine.

My mom taught me how to sew using her sewing machine - a 1950's Singer that still works as well as it did the day she bought it.  Even though she no longer sews, twice a year, she still pulls out the oil and the brushes and cleans the mechanism of the machine.  I wish you could hear the hum of that motor when it gets going.  It almost purrs, it runs so smoothly.  It went with her when she married my Dad, and survived through the 14 moves they made while he was in the Air Force.

Stuff Bags for the House of Ruth

When I started college, I bought my own sewing machine.  I've had my sewing machine for 30 years now.  I bought it at Minnesota Fabrics in the Fair Oaks Mall when I was a college student for $70.  I've used it over and over again.  I've sewn clothes for myself.  I've sewn quilts.  I've sewn clothes for the children, and I've made quilts for Project Linus and purses and bags- some for myself, and some for House of Ruth.

My 1980 something sewing machine.

It's a very simple, no frills machine that works one stitch - straight.  It doesn't do a lot, but it meets my needs. And has met them well for 30 years.  It has moved with me from house to house, and city to city.  It's a portable machine, and I have hauled it to school, sewing classes, my Mom's house, and friends' houses.  I've taught my daughter how to sew with it, and she too, has made tote bags, back packs, and purses for school.

Middle Child's graduation quilt.

Alas, my machine is beginning to have issues.  It's having problems with the tension.  I've taken it in to be serviced, but the tension issue is a continuing one.  Now that I'm an empty nester, I've pulled out the machine and have some projects I want to work on.  Unfortunately, every time I begin to work on a project, that tension problem becomes an issue.  No matter how I adjust things, the back of the piece of fabric is a mess of loosely looped threads.





What's a woman to do?  I've taken the machine in to be fixed before, but I was told that the tension issue is going to cost more to fix than a new sewing machine.  I'll play with it some more, but I know what needs to be done.  I am going to have to pull out the brushes and the oil, and clean out the machine the way my mother taught me.  And, if all else fails, I'm going to have to take it to my Mom and ask her how to fix it.  She has forgotten more than most of us know.  I'm positive that she'll be able to talk me through fixing my machine even if she can't see it. You know, she grew up during the Depression, and that generation can fix just about anything, make anything from nothing, and find ways to stretch a meal ten ways to Sunday.

The problem is right down there - with the bobbin.

Just in case, though, I'm going to have to look for a new machine.  I'm looking for a 1980's machine - something simple that sews straight stitches and doesn't require a computer microchip to run.  Something that will last and last and last.  Wait - that's my machine.  If Mom can't tell me how to fix it, I might just have to suck it up and take it in to the shop and have them work their magic on it for me.

Why mess with a classic?