Sewing a Lutterloh Pattern
As most buyers/collectors of pre-loved knitting or sewing machines know, often when you get a machine you are given a collection of assorted odds and ends along with it. Pieces for other machines, random thread, bobbins, old elastic – anything that may have been associated with the machine in question. With one of my acquisitions, I can’t remember which at this point, I was given this box: At the time I had no idea what it was, but at some point I opened it and figured out it is a pattern drafting system made by Lutterloh. I put it aside, and hadn’t looked at it much until recently when I…
Needle Quest – Part 2
If you read Part 1 of this series, you will know that I was on a quest for suitable needles for a Bellinky linker. They are virtually impossible to get as it turns out, and although I have a stash, they won’t last forever, and other people are in need of them as well. I won’t keep you reading for no reason: the new needles work perfectly! But not without a few adjustments, so read on if you’d like details. I received the 88×1 needles (very quickly might I add) and look how closely they resemble the Orange PYE-2 needles: I apologize in advance, by the way, for these photos.…
Needle Quest
That’s what I’m calling what I did yesterday. Over the last while, I have heard from several people looking to buy spare needles for their Bellinky linker. And there is a shop that I have directed them to, where I myself bought some of the needles after an internet search, but they are out of the size 22. What I have been using successfully is the size 140/22, in the PYE-2 system from Orange needles. I can find NO ONE else who makes this type of needle, nor can I find anywhere besides that one shop to buy them. (A quick Google will bring them up. They are in the…
Insert Industrial Revolution Pun Here
My brain hurts, make your own pun for the title. It’s like choose your own adventure! So as the weather changes, and my natural crafty inclinations swing back toward sewing, I’ve been hard at work making spring/summer things for the kids and myself. If you’ve been following my Instagram, you’ll have seen the monstrous piece of cotton fleece I ice dyed to make myself some shorts, and the spring softshell jackets I made for two of my kids. I’m exceptionally happy with how those jackets turned out, but I have to say, they were not easy for my sewing machine. I used the vintage Kenmore for all of it, (well…
Buttonholes, and More Buttonholes
I don’t know why, but I love to make buttonholes. I think it’s because I was afraid of them for so long, and never used them. I would use grommets, snaps – anything to avoid making buttonholes on garments, but since I got over that fear, all I want to do is make buttonholes. And I have discovered that this is something certain machines do much better than others. My modern Kenmore has the built-in automatic style – with the big long foot that you place the button into to control the size, and then it automatically makes the buttonhole you choose from it’s several built-in styles. It works fine,…
Kenmore 158.18022 Vintage Sewing Machine
Well well well, if it isn’t the post I started some time ago and then forgot about. Honestly, this past year (can you believe it’s coming up on a year of this?) has been so weird that I just can’t concentrate on anything. But, better late than never, right? You may have seen my post a few months back about the Viking 714 vintage machine that I picked up in the summer. I have since sold it on. At the time, I thought that would be the main vintage machine that I would use for things where I didn’t want to use my modern Kenmore (a 385.19110 computerized machine.) It…
RetroBrite – Again!
You aren’t experiencing déjà vu, I have actually blogged about this very topic before. But I needed to do some of the pieces on my new Brother machines, and since I always get a lot of questions about the process, figured I might as well make a video. It still works amazingly well. Case in point: It’s a simple, inexpensive process that yields quick, dramatic results, and takes years off your knitting machines. (I should sell face cream.) If you are curious about the process, check out my YouTube video here: Check it out, and let me know if you try it, I’d love to see your before and afters!
Viking 714 Vintage Sewing Machine
Well well, it has been A WHILE since I last posted here. I haven’t stopped crafting, but what with the pandemic and all the insanity it has brought, along with everything else, it feels like I blinked in January and ended up in June. What has kept me so busy? Trying to help the kids do their online learning (and keep them from punching each other), sewing 300 masks, piecework sewing, trying to bake my way sane, knitting a few things when I had time, and then of course the warm weather brought with it the need for garden cleanup, pool opening, and OK, occasionally sitting by the pool with…
“RetroBrite”: Lightening up Old, Yellowed Plastics
If you follow me on Instagram (and you should!) you will have seen these photos already, but I thought I’d throw a post together with some more details. My basement knitting/sewing room has been recently renovated, and I am finally getting all my things back out that have been packed away for almost a year, including my Singer SK155 bulky/chunky machine and ribber combo. I bought that machine for a song, and it knits perfectly, but it was extremely yellowed from being exposed to sunlight. (This is normal, and due to a chemical added to these old plastics to enhance fire retardant abilities.) It doesn’t affect anything knitting-wise, but cosmetically…
