A New Machine and a Spool Pin Doily

I got a new sewing machine yesterday.  I found it at a thrift shop, and couldn't resist it.  It is a toy machine that was made in England in the early to mid 1960's. It is a Vulcan Countess.  

I learned how to use my vintage Singer buttonhole makers.  I've been wanting to make a Mini Dresden Spool Pin Doily (from The Featherweight Shop).  The pattern is free if you sign up for their email list.

I don't have the correct buttonhole template.  I need the eyelet template.  I made due with one of my oldest Singer buttonhole makers, and set it to the smallest buttonhole I could make with it.  It will do.  I did order the eyelet template, so that I can make a few more of these.

on the machine that I made it on

I have another one ready and waiting for the eyelet template to arrive.  

Blogger is frustrating!  I can only reply to comments from people that I have their email addresses.  Everyone comes thru as 'no-reply'.  How irritating!  I like to reply to EVERY comment that I get.  I appreciate all the comments that I get.

Update on Toy Sewing Machines

I have more information on the Toy Sewing Machines that I posted about yesterday. 

I have two great reference books on Toy and Miniature Sewing Machines.  These were written by Glenda Thomas.  I found the 2nd book at an Antique store, a few years ago, and ordered the first book a year so so ago.  Both are great books!

By looking at the great pictures in the books, I found that Debbie's Singer 20 is from around 1914.  You can tell by the handwheel.

middle handwheel is from around 1914 (from the book)

Here is a picture of Debbie's hand wheel.

Debbie's handwheel

It is also easy to tell from this picture, and description:

from the book

from the book

Here is another picture of Debbie's machine.  Check out the tension, in comparison to the picture above.

Debbie's matches the tension from the 1914 machine in the book

I also found information on the toy machine that Carrie gave me.  It is a Casige, made in Germany.

Casige emblem, from the book

picture of the same decal set, from the book

description of same machine, from the book

Here is a picture of my machine, showing the same decal set at the picture above.

front of my machine

back of my machine

This means that my machine is from the 1930's. Casige made Toy machines from 1902 to 1975.  Can you believe that a machine like mine, sold for only 98 cents in 1934? 

The sewing plate on my machine has an imprint stamped on it.  I couldn't get a picture of mine, but, the book had a great picture, and the imprint is the same.

imprint on the sewing plate

I love being able to find information about the machines that I collect.  I wouldn't have been able to find all this info, if it hadn't been for both of these books.  Thank you Glenda Thomas, for all the hard work you did, in writing these books.  What a treasure trove of information.  I highly recommend both of these books.  I've been able to find information on almost every toy machine I have, no matter how tiny.  

I had a few queries about the rust erasers that I use.  My contact has just found them again (they were unavailable for a while), and she is checking on her prices.  One person who asked is a no-reply blogger, thus, I can't send her the info.  If you are no-reply PLEASE include your email address, so that I can respond to you. 

Debbie's Machine, and a Gift

I offered to clean up Debbie's grandmother's Singer 20 toy machine.  These were one of the few toy sewing machines that actually worked well.  I know of one woman who takes her Singer 20 on trips, and sews with it on the airplane.  She just clamps the machine to the tray table.  The Singer 20 is a chain stitch sewing machine.

Here are some pictures of Debbie's machine before I started cleaning it.

Debbie's Singer 20

This machine did have some rust on it, but, overall, it was in pretty good shape.  I took my rust eraser and some steel wool after the rusty parts. 

Here is what the rust eraser can do to the chrome plate.

half cleaned

fully cleaned

Here is the cleaned up machine, with the before and after photos.

before, see the rust on the gear towards the bottom?

rust cleaned off the bottom gear (and other places)

rust on the hand wheel

most of the rust cleaned off the hand wheel

before cleaning

after cleaning

Not all machines can be cleaned up this well.  I hope Debbie is pleased with this.  She will still need to find a handle for the hand wheel (missing when I got the machine).


A friend gave me a toy machine yesterday.  I decided to clean it up after I finished Debbie's machine.  This machine was in much worse shape than Debbie's, so, it didn't clean up nearly as well.  Too much of the chrome was already gone.  Still, I think it is an improvement.  It's such a cute little machine. 

my new toy machine, before any cleaning

 I haven't had time to look this machine up, so, sorry, no info on it yet.  Aren't the decals great?!?!

Here are some before and after photos.

before cleaning

after cleaning

before

after

I had to almost completely disassemble this machine to clean the parts.  It still needs more cleaning, but, this is all it will get for a while.

before

before

after cleaning

back, after cleaning

I just love those decals.  Such a cute little machine.  Thanks Carrie!

Batesville, Arkansas

I've been to my family reunion, in Mountain View, Arkansas.  We just got back on Sunday evening.  We left the Sunday before, so that we'd have a few days to 'play' before the reunion. 

One of my 'play' days was in Batesville, Arkansas.  I met up with another vintage sewing machine collector at Marshall's Dry Goods.  I'd heard of this store, but, I wasn't prepared for the size of it.  They sell to the public, but, they also sell wholesale.  I didn't enter the HUGE wholesale area (thank goodness).  Thousands of bolts and flat folds of fabrics.  There were already thousands of fabrics on the retail side of the store.  When I arrived, there was a van with California plates, that was trying to figure out how to fit all the fabric in the back (it was STUFFED full). *(Hey people, they will ship).

Here is a picture of Deena and I.

me and Deena

I figured out that I purchased a little over 99 yards of fabric (Oh My)!  Thank goodness the most expensive quilting fabric they had was $4.99 a yard.  I purchased mostly $1.99 & $2.99 per yard fabrics, along with some $1 per yard scraps.  I do have plans for most of the fabrics.

probably for Quilts of Valor, etc

couldn't resist the 2nd from the bottom, and found more fabrics to go with it

sewing themed fabrics (yes, there were lots more, but, I was good)

background fabrics

misc fabrics I couldn't resist

After we left Marshall's. we went to lunch, then we went shopping at several antique shops in the area.  I only found a few things I couldn't resist. 

wooden toy hand crank

Of course, I found a great teapot.  Not only does it have a sewing machine on the top, but, it says 'Rosemont, IL' in two places (Rosemont is where the International Quilting Show is every year, and is only a bit over an hour from me).

sewing machine on top

one of the Rosemont, IL labels, and also London, that I've also been to

I love Jim Shore.  My mother in law bought this same figurine a few years ago.  I just had to have my own.

Jim Shore Thanksgiving figurine

These were just my Batesville goodies.  I'll have to meet up with Deena again, before the next reunion.  We had a great time together. 

I'll show more goodies in another post.  Hope you all had as fun a week as I did.