A New Home.

Two posts in a row with the same title - how clever! how lame? Oh well - here goes!

Oh, y'all. I can hardly believe it!
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She is in beautiful condition. Definitely used - not a little princess that sat gathering dust, but she works perfectly, and frankly, the wear adds a certain charm, in my opinion.
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Everything is here, too....EVERYTHING!
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Little Bit's most favorite accessory - the oil can!
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See the one with the little crank on it? I'm pretty sure you hook that up to the machine and use the treadle to pull teeth and do various bits of dental work.
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OK...So I still need to get hold of a manual, and find out what all those gadgets and attachments are really for.

There are seven bobbins! (and two shuttles)
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This little wood 'skirt' has to be re-attached, but that should be a fairly simple task.
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(Psst...for those of you who aren't familiar with a sewing machine like this one - see that 'foot rest' down near the floor? That is a treadle. You 'pump' the treadle with your feet - a sort of rocking motion...it turns a wheel that's hooked to a belt that's hooked to another wheel, and that is how you sew! No electricity required.)

The needle cases are empty (well, Little Bit put pins in them) but they should help me find the needles that I need.
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See the date? 1910. That's the patent date, not necessarily the date for the actual pack of needles.
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However...I found the serial on the machine, and looked it up on a chart. This machine was made in 1909. One-hundred years old this year!
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It's beautiful. I'm so happy! All I need to do is clean it up a little (gently, without removing any of the beautiful decoration - just the dust and oil!)
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Then...oil it. I found a chart for that online. I still need to find needles and learn to thread it and thread the bobbin and shuttle. (found the chart for the bobbin/shuttle online too!)

Then, sew sew sew! You know...in my spare time.

Comments

Scottish Witch said…
OMG that is a fantastic find! Congratulations and enjoy it!
Laura said…
Thank you! I'm really excited about it too! :)
frau424 said…
wow where did you find that beauty?
D.
Laura said…
craigslist!

The price was super-reasonable too. The family had been moving it around for decades and was tired of that, since they never used it. From what I understand it belonged to the husband's grandma. :)
Anonymous said…
Cat,
How wonderful!
I am sooo happy for you.
Kind of sad for the family though that they didn't want to hold onto such a piece of history both machinery and family wise.
I can just see kitten years from now,runnin up seams on this very machine.What a legacy!!!
Love and God's blessings,
Helen
that is just gorgeous, you are so lucky.........

Gill
Laura said…
Thanks, Gill!

I know what you mean, Helen. The lady who sold it to me told me that they had five sewing machines at one point in time, but only one daughter sews and she prefers electric. (The other machines were all modern machines.) They were a really nice family, and said they were happy we were buying it because I didn't buy it just to fix it up and re-sell it or something. I plan to use it some (once I find needles), teach Little Bit to sew with it, and give it to her some day if she wants it. :)

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