It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Yeah, and I mean quite literally. We've got some heavy thunderstorms rolling over Chicago this morning.

And I was planning on using a bit of my kid-free time this morning to take some photos of the finished Singer 66 paint job, too. That's a no-go with this dark rainy weather. But, I do have a snapshot I took on the fly with my phone over the weekend to share...

 

The "Red Eye" came with me to Local Goods Chicago on Saturday to help stitch up some recycled wallets - it was awesome, and the machine worked great. Unfortunately, I am having a few small but frustrating issues with this machine.

 

First, the paint job is just okay - not great. We didn't strip this machine down to bare metal, but rather just sanded it down a bit before painting. As a result, it's a bit bumpy in places. So, I am contemplating stripping it and repainting at a later time (much later, like in a year or so - I want to sew with it for awhile first).

 

Second, I don't have a wooden base for the Red Eye. I "borrowed" the wooden base from one of my other machines for this event. There used to be someone hand making hardwood bases for hand crank vintage Singer machines, I bought one before. But I can't seem find them for sale anymore, not anywhere. And I need a good, solid base for this baby. If you have a line on reproduction hardwood bases, please let me know!

 

And last, I had to replace the sliding metal plate over the drop in bobbin, and I bought an aftermarket part online. Unfortunately, it does not sit flush with the bed of the machine, and sticks up about 1/16 of an inch - just enough to catch pins and projects on the plate while stitching and be a pain in the ass. I may research to see if there are better parts available that will be the correct thickness, or I may force my husband to help me grind it down - not sure yet.

 

Other than finishing up the Red Eye, I've been inspired by Jacquie Gering to try and sew a bit each day (although it's more like just a few days a week around here), and I've been working with some orphan blocks. It's been fun, and my first project is improving around an orphan block which is turning into a lap sized quilt. I'll post photos when the sun comes back around!

 

I've also been incredibly busy with work. It seems like working from home should be an easy gig, and managing Social Media for a sewing machine company sounds like an awesomely easy job, right? But in reality it's hard to fit 2 to 4 hours worth of sit-down-and-concentrate work around a 4 year old and her limited pre-school schedule, housewivery work, and running errands each day. Seriously. Some days the only thing I get to check off my to-do list is work!

 

And, with that off my chest, I've got to get back to work!

 

Happy stitching,

Erika