I've been doing underquilts for our hammocks today. Insultex and 1.1oz ripstop are pretty annoying to work with so I decided to take a bit of a break and post photos of the machines. The 66 is still in pieces and the treadle 15 is in the last post so I'll skip them. Here are the rest.
The Sew-Maid. A Japanese reproduction of a Singer 99. I call her "Imouto-san" (Little Sister). It was old when I got it in the 80's but I don't have a year on it. It's a solid sewing machine I've done tons of work on it. Would even go back to it instead of using the 328K at times just because I can trust it to do a dead straight stitch. Boxed up with everything it comes in at 19lbs.
This one is the wife's. A Singer Sewhandy 50D. When someone talks about their Featherweight I imagine them paying a couple hundred dollars for this.
Next up is the 328K. We have two of these. Each of us had one before we got married. Not sure whose this one is. The second one is in storage or lost in a move somewhere along the line. It's a workhorse. The only two complaints I have about it are that it will never do a truly straight stitch and it requires more pampering that all the other machines combined.
And now the 403A. I got a deal on this one because the zigzag and the needle position selector weren't working. Took some doing (I had never worked on a zigzag machine before) but after a day of wrestling with, including a retaining clip shooting across the room at one point, it decided to zigzag and let me set the needle. It has pretty much replaced the 328K as my primary zigzag machine. Doesn't see constant use though, just not perfect on straight stitches and a little on the loud side.
And finally The Wicked Queen, Grimhilda. The 15-91. Even though she's cruel and tortures me at every turn I can't help but love her. Since I bought her I have done two tops for the wife and three camping hammocks, about a hundred yards worth of stitching. I keep her on 12 stitches an inch so that's right around 45,000 stitches and not a single miss. The only mistakes are when she punishes me for not giving her my undivided attention. I bought her from a Goodwill auction for $50, including a bentwood case. I was expecting a project machine to rebuild. I was stunned when I unwrapped the box and she still had a receipt and test stitch cloth on the bed from the last time she was serviced in the 1970's. Other than a quick oiling I did nothing. She looks like a museum piece. She's in the cabinet that the 66 came in right now. I toyed with the idea of converting her to use on the treadle, but it just seems wrong to take a drill her and tap a hole for a belt drive.
