Saturday, April 20, 2013

My latest Find!

I had to get out yesterday, so, before heading back home, I decided to stop by a thrift store a few blocks from where I was.  I headed around a corner of the mens area, and, under the shirts, barely sticking out, was a case.  I'd never seen a case like this, but, I decided I needed to see what was in the case.  I figured it would be a projector or a typewriter.  Nope! 

case I spied, hidden under the mens shirts
I looked closer, and, what do you think I saw????

Pfaff
Ok, I'm getting excited now.  I'd already seen the price tag, before I even saw the word Pfaff.  I opened the case, and....

contents of case
Woohoo!  I snapped that case shut, and quickly put it in my basket.  I wasn't going to let anyone else know what I'd found.  Sewing machines are usually found on the other side of the store, never before in the mens department, under shirts. 

When I got home, I opened up the case to see what I'd just purchased. 

sales slip, warranty, and manual

purchased for $275 on March 18, 1961
This was purchased (floor model) a little over a month before my brother was born.  It was purchased in New Brunswick, NJ. 

Pfaff Automatic 360, with table pulled out, and attachment end added
The table can be pulled out, and the end part is another attachment, to make the table longer. 

Unfortunately, also in the case was a broken lever.  It is the zig-zag finger control lever. (see above, middle dial lever is missing)

broken zig-zag  finger tip control lever

this is where the lever goes
There were also a few other items in the case.

Singer 15 bobbins, Greist ruffler and 2 feet
There was a plastic Singer 15 bobbin in the metal bobbin case.  It didn't fit.  This is what it did.

thread nest from wrong bobbin, I don't know where the other 2 parts go, that are on the plate
This morning, I went to the basement, and grabbed the bag of attachments from my Pfaff 130.  Woohoo!  The bobbins from that machine fit this machine.  She sewed some stitches.

Pfaff 360 stitches
Unfortunately, when they broke the zig zag lever, something else got broken, too.  I can't get this machine into straight stitch mode.  I really want to get this machine to sew with all of it's stitches.  It has more stitches than my modern Janome. 

Pfaff Automatic stitch card, more stitches are shown on the back of the card
It also came with this cool card.  If you turn the dial (one on each side of the card), it tells you what to set each dial at to get that stitch.  Oh my!  I HAVE to get that stitch lever fixed and working.  I want to try out all of these embroidery stitches.  Too much fun! 

I also found a few other things, last night, in my flower bed.  Nope, not flowers.  The dogs found baby bunnies!  Hubby and I caught two of them, last night.  I caught them with my hands.  Poor things, they were so scared.

baby bunny #1

baby bunny #2

Hubby found these a new home last night. 

This morning, when I let the dogs out, guess what!?!  They found more baby bunnies in the same flower bed, that we'd missed last night.  I caught one, but, I just couldn't get down to the other one, and now it has disappeared.  Here is the one I caught this morning.

baby bunny #3
Isn't it just the cutest little thing?  This one has also found a new home.  Maybe we can catch the last one, and find it a new home, too.  Bunnies and dogs don't do well in the same yard.  We had chipmunks in that same area last summer, but, they moved on.  I guess they got tired of being barked at and chased.  Not fun for us or the neighbors. 

I'm picking up another machine today.  It won't be for me.  I'm passing it on.  I'll post about it next week. 

Sunshine today!  Yipee!  I'm going to enjoy it for the short while it is here.  Have a great weekend!


23 comments:

  1. How cute are those bunnies. Where is their mother, do you think? Did she get killed?
    Cool machine and it seems to work perfectly well. How many machines have you now in total?

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  2. Hope you can get the Pfaff working as it should - it looks like a real beauty!

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  3. YOu so lead an exciting life!
    Sweet little bunnies - off to the woods?
    New machine, you are the Fairy God Mother of old sewers. I do hate for things to go to the landfill. Way to keep 'em working.
    Hugs

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  4. Amazing find! These are legendary machines. Hope you get those decorative stitches to work for you.
    Cheryl Warren

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  5. You certainly have a knack for wonderful finds!

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  6. What a great find! I am thinking someone was hiding the machine until they could come back to get it. At a price of $275. in 1961 it was a deluxe machine. Cute bunnies, have a great weekend.

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  7. What a find! I have replaced a broken zig zag lever with a knob sold for a crank type window. go nose around the hardware store- I bet you find something that will work!

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  8. Jackpot!!!! That's what I call GoodWill Hunting...even if wasn't at Goodwill. Pfaff is a fantastic machine. Hope you get it working. It's worth it just for all the neat 60's booklets and other stuff that came with it...the case, too!! It looks very portable and ahead of it's time with the pull out table.

    My Letter 'R'...Rags to Riches
    Sue CollectInTexasGal
    AtoZ LoneStar Quilting Bee

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  9. Do you mind sharing how much you paid for it at the thrift store? I've never seen one like this...very interesting. How fun for you! Hope you are able to find a repairman for it.

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    1. Celia, there is no way to contact you. UGH! I hate to reply this way, I'd rather contact people personally. The machine was $15, but, there was a sticker from another thrift store, on the foot control, that read $3.99. I'm thinking that someone bought this machine, busted the handle and couldn't get it to stitch (using the wrong bobbins) and re-donated it to another store. Their loss, my gain.

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  10. I hope you can get that machine back in order. It sure has a handsome case. Boy, do I remember bunny days. We always had nests to stir up each spring.

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  11. What an amazing find! I have yet to have such luck at the thrift stores near me but I had some amazing luck with fabric when thrifting in Wisconsin last weekend. Maybe some sewing machine luck will head my way in the near future!

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  12. I have one of these machines and the other lever is broken! I have never blogged about it, but I found it on Craigslist in Dubuque for $40 with an original Pfaff cabinet and chair! After the lady listed it, she found out that it was worth a lot more, but decided to let it go to me since she found out how much I love machines. We found a new lever on ebay, and we have it, but hubby has never found the time to fix it. I did sew a few stitches with mine, and it sews beautifully, but that is as far as I have gotten with mine. Maybe someday I'll blog about mine. Good find!

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  13. What a great find!! I hope you get it working correctly. =)

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  14. What a great find!! Lucky girl!! I'm sure you wil be able to get it fixed and running soon so that you can use all of the stitches! :)

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  15. You have to be the luckiest human on earth. Our thrift stores in Alabama only have JUNK.. I think folks send things there to keep from having to pay for trash to pick it. I quit going .. But if there was one like your's I'd be there daily.. Love your post Chris

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  16. I would be willing to bet if you wrote the company or emailed that they may could help you.

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  17. http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/pfaff-sewing-machine-parts-model-list.aspx

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  18. Nice find! Hopefully it is just a problem of the lever and not more. Have you tried super gluing or gluing with a special glue made for plastics to repair the lever?

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  19. Wow oh Wow!! What treasures you have happened upon....and hiding underneath men's apparel......amazing!! It's obvious that you and your beautiful case and sewing machine are meant for each other!! Enjoy!!

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  20. LOVE LOVE LOVE The Machine! And the Bunny!~ :) ♥♥♥

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  21. Oh Cheryl you are lucky to find such a machine. Looks as if it hasn't been used much at all. I am now gonna have to visit my local goodwill more regularly.. Good luck on finding the part and getting it up and running.. Happy sewing..

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