Monthly Archives: August 2018

This month went by fast!

Posted by terip on August 29, 2018 1 comments

I really didn’t mean to be this long between posts. I managed to take a week’s vacation during the week we had mid 90s temperatures. And we had smoke from some wildfires up north, to make it even more unpleasant. I really didn’t get anything done. I do have two skirts put together that I need to hem. I gave away some machines during the Sew Purty workshop and am still happy they are gone. So far, I’ve managed to avoid looking at sewing machines. I am trying to convince my stepson’s girlfriend to take up sewing as a hobby. I think she might enjoy it, but I don’t really have the right machine for her. The Singer 237 would be great but I just can’t part with it. I’ll see what turns up.

We went to the Toledo Boat show. Got there late and I didn’t even make it over to where the boats were. It was smoky there as well. We just don’t seem to have a lot of interest in going anywhere these days. We are still trying to get some work done on the house and there are a few small things that have been finished up. It just never ends.

I am writing a column for Low End Macs about Palms. First column is  here. I have a second one almost ready to go. And I started a funky little website for my Palms at Pocket-retro.org. I didn’t want to bore folks here with my Palm chats. It was sort of interesting picking it back up, because my Palm was like a time capsule from 2008. I’ve brought it up to date, picked up maybe five more devices, but keep going back to the Zire I used to use. There seems to be a certain amount of nostalgia for them. To be honest, it’s a relief to be disconnected from the internet for awhile.

And, in the more things I am collecting category, I have another dulcimer! This one was $40, which is the main reason I decided to check it out. It turns out to be a kit from Dulcimer Shoppe, home of the McSpadden dulcimers (which are considered THE dulcimer to have). It’s a high end walnut plywood and was built in 1976. It’s really a nice instrument, although I don’t think it’s as nice as my Ron Gibson.

I am signed up for a workshop mid September with Stephen Seifert in Portland. He’s considered one of the best dulcimer players around and known as an excellent teacher. He does many of the videos for the online school I subscribe to, Dulcimer School.  So this will be a fun thing for me and something completely different. I just want to play well enough to amuse myself and Lon.

The weather is supposed to stay on the cool side and I just might take a little time to work on one of the sewing machines I haven’t messed with yet. I would like to see if the National Two Spool works. And I would like to spend a little time sewing with the Davis Vertical Feed. And then, the Necchi needs attention. I am taking Tuesday off next week, so maybe I will accomplish some of this during the long weekend.

Bag repair

Posted by terip on August 3, 2018 None comments

I’m trying to sort out doing a repair on my very nice bag. The strap that is attached to the bag has torn. I’m considering adding a leather patch on the inside of the bag and sewing it back together. I also think vertical stitching, rather than horizontal, would make this stronger. I’m on vacation next week, so I guess I will find out which machine can handle leather.

 

Sew Purty Workshop

Posted by terip on August 2, 2018 None comments

I’ll start with this, for anyone needing a sewing machine fix. I went to the Sew Purty workshop in Portland. Ray Elkins is a fun guy and I learned a lot. I took my White, aka the Hillbilly Handcrank, as it was the dirtiest machine I own. To prove that, here’s the starting pictures of the inside, showing the presser and needle bar.

 

When I had all these pieces cleaned, I had problems putting it back together. It was so clean that it didn’t resemble these pictures! Finally managed to get it all back together. I haven’t tried sewing with it yet, but will give it a try next week. Here’s the finished machine:

More pictures from the workshop:

I recommend the workshop. I wish it had been three days, as I would have liked a slower pace. If you are very experienced, you might not learn a lot. But if you’ve messed around with machines a bit, I think you’ll pick up some useful tips. I learned that my documentation of taking things apart could use some work! I got to see how to time a Singer (the White didn’t need to be timed). I won’t get a chance to really put this to work, due to moving, but I can at least clean off some of the surface grime. It’s a good thing, when you can learn how to keep these machines sewing for another hundred years.