That's Enough Glue

My previous entries covered the first impressions between the two machines. And with both of them I have a bit of exploration to go through before I can say definitively anything about the design. Helen (16010) & Jane (16011) One thing I can say for both of these machines, they are strong. You can feel the power when working with them. And neither of them are particularly loud for their strength. Working on these vintage machines, you feel like you are unstoppable in comparison to the computerized machines I have worked with (Bernina Bernette 25 is my go to dearest). They have the same feeling as I get with my mechanical near industrial serger (Juki MO-735). They go through the material like there is nothing there. This was even the case when on Helen, I hadn't quite corrected the bobbin issue and I was destroying my needle points. I also know that Jane is more than capable on hemming jeans. She's the machine that got me into this mess in the first place. I that serger ...

The next 1601 I tested, and the only other one in my possession is Jane. A 158.16011. Right off the bat, I know she's going to take a little bit of work before I can send her on her way one day. Her drop feed sticks. The feed dogs have no problem being up and working, and being down and staying there. But transitioning between the two can be a bit of a challenge. This, thankfully doesn't keep me from doing any testing with her, I just need to make sure I get that resolved between now and October (when I hope to post the machines up for sale) Boy oh boy does she sew. What's that Mazda slogan, "Zoom, Zoom"? She's got that in droves. In a way that I'm actually having the feeling I'm going to have to investigate. Because she flies a bit free after I lift my foot from the pedal. Inertia keeps her going for sometimes as much as TWO whole new stitches. She's a smooth operator/drag racer. A design change I can note between Helen and Jane is the reverse...

I'm working with the machines now, not in chronological order, but in complexity order. So the first machine I have worked with is Helen. This bird is a 158.16010. She has a slightly green, maybe mint, enamel casing. Quick things you'll note about her and what basically drew me to these generations of machines is the simplicity of the design. Proof Helen is indeed a machine Basic features that are identical across the 1601/1701/1802 line are the side opening door to get to the light bulb, the easy to remove top (it is just held on with a tension clip around), and the order of the knobs. From left to right up to down, Stitch Width, Reverse Stitch Modifier, Stitch length (with reverse button), and Stitch Selector.  Everything is upfront and easy to access. All the machines I will be testing are flat bed, so to get to the bobbin casing there is either lifting up the machine and tilting it back, or popping out the access plate and hoping your hands are small enough to re...

You can make your own set of  'jams... Or Pajamas, pyjamas, PJs. The point is one of the stereotypical items on a nice set of top and bottom pajamas is the buttons and button holes. (Can you really imagine the Bananas in Pajamas in a t-shirt and shorts? Exactly!) If I must be formal the title of this post is: "Buttonholers for the Kenmore family Sewing Machines from the 60's and 70's." Much like the Monogrammer post previously, there are a few different style of buttonholers that came out with these eras of machines. Infact, there is a near identical trend with these gadgets. A matter of difference is that these gadgets don't ever get to use a hoop like the monogrammers. In general there are two styles of buttonholers in this era: bed specific, and shank specific. (Sound familiar??) The shank specific buttonholers of this era harken back to the buttonholers of the early straight stitch 117s, and the zig-zag 158s. They attach to the pre...

With the prep for this project I took some old fabric and reinforced it with fusible interfacing and cut them into roughly business card sizes. These little things I have been using for stitch samples. They will not be 100% professional looking as they are partially about getting to know the machine's quirks for each stitch. Largely the machines have been stitched with a length of between 1 and 2, and a width of 4, except for the straight stitch, which by its own nature has no width. And these machines are not yet advanced enough to have straight stitching offsets. There have been some casualties as I have worked on making these little stitch cards. The biggest being just the cards themselves. I have a particular loathing for rotary cutting. It is extremely useful for a straight line, but cutting hundreds of rectangles is just something I don't much care for doing. I have made TWO whole quilts in my life, and I only had to cut pieces for one of them... never again if I can a...

We have a few things in play: Needle position, Feed length, feed direction, and feed direction modifier. Something that stays consistent no matter what is the needle piercing the fabric. The up/down motion is independent. The needle will go up and down, the thread will lock stitch, tough luck. The cams will advance in time with this up and down. If we think of the sewing as an inhale (needle in the fabric) and an exhale (needle outside of the fabric), for me at least, it helps see what is going on. Inhale: lockstitch process Exhale: adjust Stitch length is how far the feed dogs move the fabric on an exhale. Stitch width is the magnitude of needle position change while exhaling.  While the needle is in the lock stitch process the most that can be done is the drop of the feed dogs and their lower position slide to the proper length get them into the right position to move the fabric. It is really quite cool, and the timing is everything. The stitch cams cams take that...

Within the Kenmore family of sewing machines you'll find a few different types of bobbins with their case and shuttle. I don't know much about the early ones with their sizes, but I will talk about the importance of clearance in the bobbin case. If you want to look up different bobbins this link is a google search for bobbin sizes. In general the sizes we see nowadays are A, L and M. A is also known as Class 15. This little guy is what has been on most of the machines I have owned for my life time. And it is the same size that is in the Kenmores I have been working on. Something that one may not know from their history with sewing machines is that the little slit in the side of the bobbin case is actually quite important when using a zig zag machine. The needle goes down into that slit when the lock stitch is in progress. In older straight stitch machines, this wasn't so much of a concern, and the needle could be set aside from the bobbin case. But in the vertical b...

Saline, Saline over the Seven C-Cams. Ahoy! These waters you tread are dangerous indeed. The sirens are a'calling, and you may find yourself lost before you see a shore again. We'll be a' talkin' about the Kenmore cams. /me clears throat For the Kenmore Experiment, I wanted to help set you all up with what you'll be seeing me work with that isn't really in many modern sewing machines. PATTERN CAMS! These little beauties are not really seen with modern machines any more for a number of reasons. One of which being that they just build them all in now for simple mechanical machines, or can program them into the onboard computer and never bother yourself with cams again. Pattern Cams are actually a fancy name for the mechanic that helps make your stitch shape. Sort of a mechanical instruction for your machine for where the needle is supposed to go, and how the machine should move the fabric. Mix of C-Cams and Monogram cams that I sold   To me...

In this adventure there are 9 machines that will be tested. An important thing to note about the models for Kenmores of this era is the context of the naming scheme. "XXX.MM(MM)Y" The XXX being the general design numbers such as 117, 158, or 148. These often correlate with the manufacturer of the machine and the region of sale. MM(MM) mean while is the model. I have seen model numbers that are from two digits to four digits. All the models I'll be writing on in this series are four digits. Model Number and Serial Plate The last number is the Y, and is always the Y no matter how many M's precede it. It is often casually implied as the manufacturing year, 0 being the first year of manufacture. From what I've actually seen, it's more like revision number just like in modern computing when they go from 2.0 to 2.1. A major revision has been made, but it isn't different enough to be a new machine. With this, sometimes multiple revisions can happen in ...

Craigslist is a dangerous place. Not because of the shady deals for electronics or the occasional stolen car, but because for collectors and hunters of the curious it is a place where much of our money meets its fate. The story here starts with a craigslist ad about a series of sewing machine accessories. I do a search for sewing supplies pretty regularly. I find that often enough if I'm in need of a small little bit of thread or a cool button craiglist can help me out. This eventually led me to these feet I had never seen before, and a plastic box of cams I'd never seen outside of a sewing machine. I purchased it. Reassembled version of what I bought, it was missing bobbins and booklet Then I started my research. What machine did they go to? What is this shank height? Why is it slanted (I thought only Singers had slants)?, what era?  I know it is Kenmore and Sears because both are listed on the top of the case, my great Grandmother had a Kenmore from the late 1950's...

Within the world of the 158 Kenmores, there is an array of monogrammers. We couldn't go as far as call it vast, but large enough to cause confusion and headache. Perhaps the most elusive of the monogrammers is the disk cam monogrammers of the 1802 variety. This monogrammer is shaped very similar to the metal buttonholer of the mid to late 60's. To use this monogrammer you need a machine with the 1 1/8" inch notch (which itself will be a flat bed), and a drop feed. Something pretty standard of the mid to top models of this era. What makes this one so frustrating, isn't the 1/2 inch height on the letters, it is  the lack of a full set of letters. Each letter had to be purchased separately, and most original owners did not purchase all 26 to 36 cams depending on year. 1802 Monogrammer with A cam The cams are green disks with a stylized letter or number on one side and a number from 901 to my guess is 940 on the other. This cam fits between two arms, one arm fitti...