Weekend Review: The Complete Sewing Machine Handbook

The Complete Sewing Machine Handbook / Karen Kunkel
NY: Sterling, c1997.
160 p.

I'm going through some of the older books on my shelves this month, and this is one I picked up at the thrift store a while ago. It is a great book even if it is nearly 25 years old! In fact, I'd like to see it updated, since it's really solid apart from the one section on computerized machines. 

It's made up of 8 chapters, starting with buying a machine (points to consider), getting to know your machine, needles and thread, and moving to stitching basics (straight stitch, zigzag, buttonholes, blind hem), decorative stitches, specialty presser feet, then the aforementioned chapter on technology in the sewing room, and finishing off with some tips on care and maintenance of your machine. 

There is a ton of great info in this book, presented clearly and succinctly, perfect for beginners who are just starting out with their machine sewing hobby. There are numerous clear photos to illustrate parts of a machine, stitches, presser feet, techniques, etc. Every time she discusses something there is either a clear list of steps or images to follow. She's a really good communicator. She shares a trick to checking your machine tension that I haven't seen elsewhere -- sew a line on a folded bias square, then pull it evenly from either end. Both threads should break together; if just one breaks the tension isn't balanced on that side. 

Even after sewing for so long myself, I still learned things, especially in the decorative stitching and specialty feet chapter. I now have a couple more specialty feet on my wishlist (fringe foot I'm looking at you!). I found that there were some really basic things I wasn't doing in my sewing, to use my machine to its full capacity. And it gave me a bit of a bug to try out some of the stitches I've never used before -- I don't take advantage of some of the abilities of even my pretty basic machine. 

I got busy with some scraps and various kinds of thread and tested out some of the patchwork stitches. Here's my sampler trying out the feather stitch -- in regular sewing thread (blue) to topstitching thread (pink) and in rayon embroidery thread (gold). I liked all of them. Then I tried bobbinwork using handwound embroidery floss in the bobbin (coral). That didn't work well in the decorative stitch but in a plain zigzag or straight stitch it looked kind of cool. 

So this book has inspired me to try to use elements of my machine I haven't been using, and to be more careful to keep it running well by regular cleaning and by ensuring I'm using the right threads and needles for my projects so there's no extra strain going on there. I think it's a great book! 

The Mystery of the Singer Sewing Machine...Solved!

Last summer I shared a story about my mother's inherited Singer sewing machine, and how she's had it for years but had never been able to get all the drawers open.

 

This summer I visited my parents. And those questions a year ago had made my mother curious. Seeing as how she is pretty handy, she examined the locked drawers and had an epiphany. The keyholes looked to be about the same size and shape as a square-head screwdriver.

Lo and behold.....

To our chagrin (and perhaps a faint relief?) there were no dark family secrets hidden inside, but no excess of ephemera either. There was, however, the original manual, and the original oilcan.

 

We seem to have estimated correctly -- the model was indeed from the 1910's but as the latest copyright of the manual was in the 30's we are probably correct that Granny Emma bought it around then. 

The 1913 model -- booklet's latest copyright date was 1934 though, so it was still going strong!

My mother also had the set of attachments that her stepmother Emma had clearly bought later on, as they are marked as made for a later model. But there were many more feet than I have for my modern machine -- all stored in their own special vintage box!

I covet her ruffler, and bias binding foot. And so many more...I could barely identify them all! 

You can see the little bag she sewed to store them in...it's pretty holey now

Just look at how complicated that ruffler foot is!

We had fun looking through the guide to all the feet.

The manual found with the feet...for a later model, with knee control (which we didn't have)

 

We were also greatly entertained by the illustrated instructions for the non-present knee lever (is that what inspired my new haircut?)

Finally...a mystery solved, and a lot of fascinating sewing history uncovered. Granny Emma's deep dark secrets, however, are still her own...

The machine tucked back up into its original factory paper wrapping

The Mystery of the Missing Singer Skeleton Key

There's an old Singer machine in my mother's house, a beautiful treadle with a wooden cabinet. She's had it for years; it belonged to her stepmother, who bought it sometime in the early 30's, though we place it as a model from the late 1910's. When Granny Emma passed away, my mother was given the machine, as she was the one likeliest to use and/or appreciate it.

I remember it always being there in the house, though when I was younger, I didn't truly appreciate the beauty of it. Now I wish I could investigate it a little more closely -- there was so much I never discovered about it. I regret those incurious years!

Particularly because my mother just dropped this amazing fact in casual conversation: the cabinet has 2 rows of 3 drawers each, the bottom 2 of which are locked. The topmost drawers were able to be opened when my mother lifted the machine out and finagled the drawer open from the inside. They had a few used needles, a bobby pin, and a few bits and pieces of notion ends in it. Not much to see. But the drawers below have never been opened since Granny Emma's days.

In all her antique-shop travels, my mother has never found a key that fits this machine cabinet. Now that she's revealed this mystery to me, I am extremely curious! Is there anything in those drawers? Did Granny Emma tuck away something that no-one knows about? I guess I'll never know, well, unless we can find an old skeleton key that matches this machine. Has anyone else ever come across such a thing? Are there any secret key sources out there?

Knowing my step-grandmother, the drawers could either be empty and bland, her secrets kept forever; or, there could be fascinating little items tucked away at the back of a seldom-used drawer, revealing things about her life that I never knew. Which is it? This is a case for an intrepid girl detective. I'm going on a key hunt!