A new addition

As I hinted in the last post, I have a new addition to the collection. Yes, I bought a new sewing machine. Well not new, but new to me. I have always been a big Pfaff fan. I originally had a 1471, updated to a 1473 about 18 years ago and I absolutely loved that machine. Way ahead of its time - built in dual feed/walking foot, bobbin thread monitor, needle threader, hundreds of stitches 9mm wide and various types of alphabets. You could even design your own stitches and enter them into the computer of the machine and store them. I was so happy with this machine I was beginning to worry that should anything happen to the computer board it may be getting to the age that parts are no longer available.

I had been keeping an eye out on ebay and other places for a spare when I saw an ad for a more recent model, the 7570 including the embroidery unit and digitizing software for what I considered a very reasonable price. The 7570 was the last German made Pfaff. Pfaff merged with Viking/Husqvana and the machines were made somewhere else in Europe after that. So I have spent the last few weeks trying to learn all the ins and outs of the 3D software. Its like trying to learn another language. I must admit I have never really desired to have an embroidery machine and I would have happily bought this machine even if it wasn't included but seeing I've got it I thought I'd better learn how it all works. Even without the frame embroidery stuff, the machine is fantastic. All the great stuff the 1473 does plus as well as 9mm wide pattern stitches it even does 60mm wide pattern stitches because the feed dogs don't just move backwards and forwards but sideways as well. Its the strangest thing to watch but you can tell it to stitch in 16 different directions. So if you want to stitch in the ditch with the foot on and you stitch down one side of the block you can just stop at the corner and tell it to stitch sideways instead of turning the quilt. This model has been superceded a few times since it was released and if I wanted to pay 6 or 7 times what this one cost I could have gone for the latest and greatest but I really don't think they're worth the cost.

.......more sewing machines

Seems like I spent a large chunk of yesterday fiddling with sewing machines. Gave a couple of them a thorough grease and oil change and set up the 2 Singer industrials specifically for machine quilting. The 12" throat straight sewer I set up for free-hand quilting - removed the feed dog and made a new cover plate with a single small hole for the needle. Industrials may not have a lot of the fancy bells and whistles but they are infinitely adjustable and totally unkillable. The 2 Singers normally take long shank feet but I can loosen a screw and drop the whole shaft down to take short shank or even up to take the longer pfaff feet. Also I can get the MR (multi-range) needles for them. These are the needles that the long arm quilting machines take. They are designed to avoid skipped stitches when stitching in any direction. (Normal needles are really only designed for stitching forward)
This machine actually cost me nothing. We were having the bi-annual neighbourhood hard rubbish collection and I was driving home this particular day just as a lady was dragging it out onto the foot path. Slammed on the brakes and backed up. 'You throwing it out? Can I have it?' 'Doesn't work' she said 'Don't care' I think to myself 'It can be fixed'. As it turned out it was only a short in the motor where some of the insulation had broken away. It ended up costing me $17 for a new pulley and belt to gear it down because it just went too fast even for me.
The other Singer machine (a 20u) does a 9mm wide zig-zag which is unusual for an industrial. I've set this up for machine quilting with the foot on. Adjusted the foot height and pressure so that I don't need a walking foot and tweeked a few other things. So now I all I need to do is quilt something on them. This one still has a bit to do in the border.

Sewing machines

Sewing machines. They just seem to accumulate around here. Turn around and ..... woops ..... there's another one. Well perhaps not quite that fast. It's just that I was trying to total them up recently and I think there's 18 at last count. Now, there's 4 vintage hand-crank ones and there are my 2 (yes 2) prized featherweights (a 221 & a 222). I have some industrial machines too. Two industrial zig-zags and two industrial straight sewers (+ another one in pieces) and an industrial 3 thread overlocker. Plus my domestic overlocker. Now there's a few modern domestic machines as well. My trusty Pfaff 1473, an Elna Lotus sp, another Elna that belonged to Mum and then there's a lovely old Bernina 720 that I couldn't help myself from buying at a garage sale down the street for $20 last year. How many's that....... 17........ I think I've forgotten one. Oh thats right, the other one is the Seiko compound feed (walking foot + needle feed) industrial. I's a really heavy duty sewing machine. It will sew through 16 layers of vinyl (and fingers) like a hot knife through butter and takes a size 24 needle! that looks like a 3 inch nail with an eye. I run a business from home so I use the industrial ones most days.

The two Featherweights