Vintage and Classic

I teased you a bit at the end of my last post with a side shot of this gorgeous vintage machine’s front plate.

I absolutely cannot stop staring at this beauty. I have to hide her away in her case just so I can get something done during the day, because I could look at her for hours.

Can you blame me with that shiny black enamel and the chrome scroll plates?! I can’t believe I finally own this machine.

Most mornings, I curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and either knitting or the iPad. I don’t check my email or do anything productive (I make no sense until about 9:00 AM). No, instead I peruse Craigslist and look for things that I could hoard. Who doesn’t want to spend their morning thinking of ways that they can hide a large amount of vintage sewing notions and machines from their husband?

I saw this machine online a few months ago, and debated whether or not I should contact the seller. I didn’t really need it. I have my Bernina, which I love, love, love, and I had a back-up machine (my first little Kenmore). A few weeks ago though, I gave my Kenmore to Jessica, who was sewing on a new Brother that was driving her crazy. I couldn’t let her risk being arrested for chucking her machine out the window, so I gave her my spare.

When this machine popped back up on Craigslist soon after, I knew I needed to have it to replace my back-up machine. It’s also just so damn pretty! Nevermind that it weighs as much as a 5th grader. I know she’ll chug right through thick denim and leather like it’s nothing.

For those of you who don’t have much experience with vintage sewing machines, this is a Singer 201-2, commonly known as a “Dressmaker”. I’m not going to post all the specifics of the machine here, as there is a great blog post on this machine at the Sew-Classic Blog you can read. From looking up the serial number on the Singer website, I found out she was made in 1941.

The woman I bought the machine from absolutely loved this machine, and she was really sad to see it go. I had to promise it was going to a good home, and that it would be well-loved and used. She had it completely tuned up and also rewired, which is wonderful. It’s been in storage for a while so it needs oiled again, and I’m going to have Tony the Tiger over at Modern Domestic give me a lesson on taking this machine apart and really cleaning it out.

I’ve got to find a good, prominent place to display her when I’m not using her too. I need to be able to see this machine at all times! I should probably name her too… something old-fashioned…. any ideas?