Text 821, 236 rader
Skriven 2008-01-17 16:51:32 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
    Kommentar till text 802 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: BlueWave                                                 [1]
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Hi Ruth!

> Got the repairman to talk to the other place since he knew what he
> wanted.  He later told me he'd been looking for a place like this for a
> long time (www.vintagesingersewing.com).  The parts are ordered and I
> should have my Pfaff sometime next week.

That is so neat - what a happy ending.. :)  In Binghamton, the last small
sewing machine repair shop/fabric center closed up this summer.. I was so upset
but I guess the folks wanted to retire.  I think the fellow who was working
there has started working at a Jo-Ann's.. so all is not lost I guess.. I've
never liked Jo-Ann's fabrics though.

>> I always felt I had a good handle on my sewing machines.. I guess
>> because I learned to sew on one of those ancient Singer machines.. it
>> was a model that worked with a treadle.  My grandfather was a sewing
>> machine replairman/salesman and he'd put an electric moter on it for
>> my grandmother :) That machine never skipped a stitch but you had to

> Sounds like it was a challenge but you enjoyed it.

Yup, that's true :)

>My mom got a Singer
> in 1950, in the days when you didn't mess with the tension.  She messed
> with it early on, messing up the machine so she never really sewed.  So,

Yeah, that was so true of those early machines.  You had to know exactly what
kind of stitches you were looking for.

> for junior high home ec sewing, she got me this fabric thatfrayed if you
> looked at it cross eyed.

Heh.. I know the type I think :)  I first learned anything about sewing from my
grandmother and Zie Antoinette.. (Zie is Aunt in Italian) but I really didn't
start doing much until I took a home ec course.  I was desperate to learn as
much as I could by then... Nothing seemed fit me right when I was a teenager...
arms too long, and too long legged..I'm 5' 6" and about 120lbs now but even
skinnier then :)  you'd think I'd be able to buy stuff right off the racks but
back then pants were always too short, and so were shirt sleeves <g> maybe it
was the sizing or something.  Anyway, that's why I started sewing.. just to
have shirts and pants that fit right :)

> I never finished the project and passed the
> course based on higher marks in other units.

The cooking was getting your attention then, I'd bet :)

>> know how to use it, that's for sure... sadly my youngest idiot sister
>> took it when Mom broke up the house, and then dumped it :(  I could
>> have killed her :)

> When my mom gave me the Futura, she took my machine and gave it to my
> sister.  About 10 years ago, I asked my sister about it, thinking I
> could get it for a back up.  She told me she'd sold it off.

That's too bad... sounds like something my sister would do <laugh>

> I found the
> next higher model for sale at the repair place I took my Pfaff to (in
> AZ) and got it for about $50.  It came in handy when the mother board on
> the Pfaff died in the middle of a rush project.  Finished it by hauling
> out the old Singer, then Steve got me the XL 5000.  Bought the Brother a
> couple of years later as a lighter weight back up/take to class &
> elsewhere machine.

I picked up my brother on ebay when my Athena "died".. it's a good machine, and
I love the way it threads the needle.. something which I _wish_ Singer would
incorporate.. That and the thread cassette are so neat.. it's a CS-80. But I
guess they can't do that :)  The Singer CE-250 has what Singer calls  automatic
threading but it's such a waste of time, it's easier to do it manually <grin>.

> One summer (before Steve went into the Army) I made him a 3 piece suit.

That's neat :)

> At the time I had a 2 year old, an almost 4 year old and did a lot of
> freezing & canning of produce, besides making all our bread, etc.
> That's why it took so long to make the suit. (G)

I bet!  Still, it's a job making a suit.

>But, we ate well over
> the winter & Steve joined the Army the following spring.

Very cool.. I also made all of our bread as well .. anything to save some $$
then.. :) It was hard to eat "store" bread later.. it was just "air" <g>

>> Now quilting I only did very rarely.. otherwise, yes, once you can
>> sew, everybody in the family seems to have a request <smile>.. I never
>> minded.. It's funny too though that my daughter has no interest in
>> sewing to the degree that I do (and did..).. She does knit though :)

> Both of my daughters know the basics but have too many other
> distractions to be as active a sewer as I am.  One is an elementary
> teacher in a private, charter school and has a 4 year old boy; the other
> is active duty with the AZ NG.  Rachel (the one with the boy) has a

Maybe that's what it is - I mean being just too busy to get into it as much as
we did... I know she took home ec but maybe the empasis wasn't on the same
kinds of things when she took that class.

> machine identical to mine (We bought mine after giving hers a try after
> we bought it for her.) that she uses from time to time as she can.  When
> we moved here, we were in guest housing for 6 weeks; Steve bought me an
> inexpensive Janome so I could have something to do other than veg out in
> front of the television.  We sent it to Deborah when we moved into
> housing.

I've heard good things about Janome machines, but never used one.

>> She knitted the most outrageously beautiful blanket for me for
>> Christmas this year :)  But she asked me to make the baby's cloth

> Sounds nice.  My mom used to knit until she broke both shoulders.  Both
> sisters crochet and I've got small afghans made by each of them.

That's really nice.


>> diapers for her.. and his clothes this past year.. so that was really
>> neat to do for them. I'm working on some overalls and warm pj's for
>> him now (the baby is about 20 months old :) )

> Fun age!

Oh yeah it is!

>  Be sure you get the flame retardant flannel for pjs.

Yep, it is.  Another set I'm making for him is going to be made of fleece.. not
real heavy, but a decent weight for pj's.

>> > A lot of fun things but more expensive if something goes wrong as
>> > it's still a fairly new machine.

>> Yes, I expect it should be running well for quite a while though.

> We never expected the mother board on the Pfaff to die but figured it
> had to do with the flakey power in HI.  First thing we bought after
> getting the new machine was an UPS; I run all my machines off it now,
> even the mechanical serger.

Brown-outs and such can have an effect on electronics, it's true.. I've got my
machines in a ups as well -  It seems over here, the sun can be shining, and no
bad weather in sight, and the power will go out :)

>> > Yes but now something needs tweaking on my system so I can "talk to"
>> > some web pages.  He will check it out for me.

>> That's good.  It's always neat to have someone who's used to working
>> on linux systems "around" <bg>... Over here, it's me.  Actually, my
>> son is the one who first convinced me to switch to linux.. after that,


> Steve is my "geek" or "guru", depending on what the issue is and how I'm
> dealing with life. He's never been a Windows person, ran New Deal Office
> as long as he could (it's on my set up).

Hehe.. I remember when the very first version of Windows came out.. we
installed it, and it tried to eat one of my drives .. literally..

> Steve has to work with Windows at work but would rather use his home set
> up. (G)

I bet :)

>> Makes sense..  I bought this pepper grinder in Louisville, KY when we
>> were living there.. it was purchased from a specialty cooking shop..
>> they must have loved it when they saw me coming, since I couldn't
>> resist buying so many of their wares :)  It was a great shop.. didn't

> There's a kitchen ware outlet store about 20 minutes from us; we've hit
> it up quite often since we've been here.  Visited the one in town
> (closer) but it's retail, high quality stuff--drool items right now. (G)

Oh I hate that hahaha.   My daughter and family live in Ithaca NY now, and they
have the most incredible "kitchen store".  So much great stuff, packed in this
little store, you can barely walk in it.. trouble there is it's very
overpriced.. everything in Ithaca costs a fortune it seems.  I don't think
there's one here in Binghamton.. Lately I've been buying more things online,
though.

> Sometimes we've found things in the outlet store not available in town
> and they're open to 9 vs 6 for the in town one. Yes, I always look for
> kitchen ware stores wherever we move to.

Same here :)

>> stay open that long though :(  I guess there weren't enough people
>> around like me that loved to cook with good equipment, etc.. I think I
>> read somewhere at the time that the bulk of the population in
>> Louisville liked eating "out" more than in any other cities <grin>

> Interesting.

It was, and I could never figure it out.. You'd go to eat out and the lines to
get into _any_ restaurant there were always so long. Very few of them took
reservations either <grin>.

> We found a restaurant supply place open to the public when
> we were in HI. Had a whole lot we could have gotten (G) but settled on
> some neccessary things.  I have (because of it, and Alton Brown)
> separate cutting boards for meat & fruit/veggies, both large and small
> size.  I also have a couple of wooden cutting boards for breads.

I'm more of a lazy cook I guess <grin>.  Well, I have butcher-block counters on
two parts of my center island so that's where I do most of the
chopping/cutting, etc. We're going to get the kitchen finished soon, we hope
and then we'll be replacing those butcher block counters with marble.. should
be nice.  I hope it's nice <laugh>.  We already bought the marble so that part
is a done deal <grin>.

>>> > helps control the yeast.
>>> Yep, know what you mean.. we're about the same here.

>> > Sounds like it--sister! (G)
>> Think so  :)

> Either that or very close cousins.  If we get up to the Catskills; maybe
> we can arrainge a get together.

That would be great :)

>>>> Here's my recipe for Marina, it's very similar to what you do :)
>>> > Enough to float a boat? I want a marinara, not a marina. (G)
>>> <Laugh>.. I always have sauce in my fridge.. of some type <grin>.  For

JUST caught that typo haha.. I must have been wearing my contacts too often
last week Lol.. when I wear them, I can't read for beans :)

Take care,
Janis

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