meet my (new) singer 15-91!

 

i'm the new owner of a fabulous old dame of a sewing machine, a 1930s singer 15-91! i purchased it last weekend from a dear new friend i met through the chicago modern quilt guild, erika of miss sews it all! she's a collector of old sewing machines and somehow i managed to get her to sell one of them to me. thanks again, a million times over, erika!

i sat down and spent some quality time with her tuesday and wednesday and got the hang of how to use her whilst making a simple peasant top from some navy wax printed voile i picked up at vogue fabrics here in chicago a couple weeks back. the pattern is from the 1970s, just your basic boxy long sleeved peasant style with voluminous long sleeves. see above, underneath the denim jumper. :)

after using it for a bit, i must say: i love the way old machines sew; their stitch quality is so amazing and regular. i love how simple vintage machines are in general; they have a singularity of purpose and if they are in good working order they do what they do very very well. and if something goes wrong it can be easier to fix them than modern machines, many of which are packed to the gills with computerized functions. don't get me wrong; i LOVE my newer machines, especially my dear bernina, but when they go to pot it's sometimes tough to service them yourself and repairs can be costly.

this isn't my first vintage machine, but it is the first one I've had that actually works, and works fairly well. couldn't be happier with my new sewing machine! this now brings my total of sewing machines up to 4, not including the serger. it's a sickness! oy.

anyone else get bitten by the (vintage) sewing machine bug? do you actually use yours (or just keep it around so you can admire its beauty)? :)

 

our living space

 

 

  More little bits of our current apartment falling into place.   Got a new gray couch from Bo Concept in January, a welcome replacement for the former couch.  Our old sectional had a giant, non removable cat pee stain locked into the fabric of the chaise portion.  No matter what I did, I couldn't cover that eyesore of a stain up!  Blankets, pillows and lambskin throws we're no match for its size and ugliness.  Sad face!  But now that we have the new couch, I've turned that frown upside down!  Woot!  It's wool and modern and it was reasonably affordable.  Good, good, and good.   We've also added some counter stools, yellow vinyl vintage chairs, a new pendant lamp over the dining table.  And come June, we shall have a new 54" circular Saarinen marble top dining table.  I've been pining after one for years, and finally, my dream is coming true.  Yay!  I plan to utilize the old dining table in my office once the..replacement arrives.  I am hoping it will give me more room to draw, sew and quilt and the like than my current sewing desk, especially the latter.  Making larger quilts on my current desk is a tight squeeze!   I also hopefully will find a rug for living room sometime this year...I'm thinking something warm and/or yellow.  Fingers crossed.  :)