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Thursday, February 28, 2013

the Singer


  
  


 
 














Our weather lately has been more gloomy than usual for this time of year, a mix of rain and snow, though temps have warmed up a bit.  Boots are a must for for my daily walk as we're either slogging through standing water or snow, and the path through the woods is quite flooded.  We saw the first robins last weekend, and the Canadian geese have been flying overhead--a truly encouraging sight as Spring cannot be too far off...

In the kitchen I've been baking this Special banana bread - {excellent!}, zucchini muffins,
dutch oven bread, these Thai chicken wraps, and a birthday pie from cherries frozen last year.

In my workroom, I have a new helper--she's a 1930's era Singer 101-4 sewing machine which I found sitting out in front of an antique barn last summer.  As it was a bit of a gamble--the couple in charge couldn't remember if she was in working order--they offered to discount the price to $10.  Of course she was loaded up with her bag of accessories and brought home, where she has sat until just recently getting thoroughly cleaned up and oiled.  She needs a new light bulb and new rubber for the bobbin winder, but otherwise is running smoothly. She is controlled by a knee lever instead of a pedal, but I am getting used to it.   I have tested her out on a couple bags, {mainly just for the leather work}, one of which is the wool bag pictured, a messenger tote for me, made out of an old wool blazer of mine, a thrifted leather belt, and some leather scraps I had on hand.  It has a recessed zipper closure and lots of useful pockets inside and out.  I will now be looking at thrift store clothing with all sorts of possibilities in mind--my next recycling attempt is a bag from a Goodwill-found leather jacket!

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:53 PM

    A lovely post, your Singer is gorgeous. That cherry pie looks absolutely delicious.

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  2. Love the Singer and the bag...looking forward to your next recycle item :)

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  3. Love, love, love that sewing machine.

    God bless.

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  4. LOL, Not sure why, but when I saw the title I thought it was going to be about a bird. I love that bag!Do you do custom work? I am cleaning closets and found a wool coat I had forgotten about. It is a lovely bright pea green and I think would make a lovely bag. I read in your profile you homeschool? I homeschooled my three girls. They are all grown up with families of their own now.

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  5. I have my grandmother's Singer, tucked neatly in its pretty little table in my living room...and honestly, never thought to actually use it! My grandmother helped me with one of my very first sewing projects on it... it is old. I'm intrigued. The Bernina Bernette I've been using for 20+ years may have a contender for my attention...(= Fun that you included links to recipes in this post. Thank you. Lynaea @ EverydayBloom.com

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  6. Wow, I also have my grandmothers singer sewing machine, it stands proudly in our hallway, I must take a photo of it sometime, I know it needs a belt, but a man in our town who repairs sewing machines says he could fix that for me, I must take him up on that. Baking looks tasty, by the way. Spring is almost with us here, v. warm on Saturday. Currently still working on small bedroom deor, will blog again soon. Claire

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  7. I have a beautiful old Singer up against my window and I love it! There's just someting about these old machines. It's so grey and chilly here today, the dutch oven bread sounds heavenly for a day like today. I'm going to have to give it a try!

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  8. I just wanted to let you know that I'm passing on the Super Sweet Blogging Award to you. If you don't accept awards, that's ok. Just know that I really enjoy your posts and always find something sweet and inspiring here. Happy Day!

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  9. Oh my word! That sewing machine looks exactly like my Nanaw's before she "upgraded" to a fancy electric model. She would take out the needle and thread and let us peddle to our heart's content. Must have been pretty sturdy as we really gave 'er a workout!

    Thanks so much for sharing. It brought back such happy memories.

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  10. I was hoping "Singer" was referring to a vintage machine. Such a joy to use that I almost never use my more modern "tailed" machines. If you need parts or supplies, you might want to try Cindy at Stitches in Time up in Lake City, MN. I buy lots of my supplies from her.

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Thank you for taking time to leave a comment--I love reading each and every one! I will try to answer any questions you have in the comment section. Due to the amount of spam, I am sadly no longer able to accept Anonymous comments....Kindly, Deb