Thrift Score-tastic

Sometimes thrift shopping has no payoff. I have had weeks with no good scores. And then every once in a while you really strike gold.

Like this find. I saw the plastic suitcase-like case and thought, well, that can't be anything too interesting, and yet I stopped and spotted the name on the case. Bernina! At $9.99 I nearly ran out of the store with barely stopping to test it out. I mean, even if it's a total dud then the accessories are worth more than ten bucks.



I took this machine in to be serviced since it did have a powering-on issue but all it needed was a good cleaning and a bulb and now it runs like a charm! With the cost of the service it's still a deal, since these sell on eBay for something like $400-$700 or so, but wow, the Bernina maintenance is not cheap!

The 830 Record was made from something like 1972-1982 or thereabouts. It gets you that Bernina quality without the computerized bells and whistles, which is just fine with me! I haven't taken the time properly to sew with it yet. I need to download and print out the manual which is available online for free.



It comes with a nice box of extras, including a walking foot.



And there are more than twenty decorative stitches. It's really everything I need in a sewing machine, so total score!



Each time I bring home a new machine my husband asks, "Now can you hem my pants?" to which I always reply, "Nope, this isn't a freearm." So this time I did have to say, "Why yes I can!"

And by the way, I did get rid of three machines this week, so I am down to only four sewing machines in the house! And I even have plans to get rid of one more, so that will take me down to owning 3 machines: the Bernina 830, the black Singer Featherweight 221, and the black Singer 301A Longbed. If that isn't the perfect little collection of classic sewing machines I don't know what is!

And if that wasn't enough I hit the same store a few days later and scored this Enid Collins bag. I know, pretty flashy, but I love this, and I am actually surprised that this is the first one I've ever picked up at the thrift store. I may give it to my sister, with a nice pair of socks that I am working on tucked inside. I mean, I would be pretty thrilled with that gift combo!

How Many Machines Make a Collection?

I picked up another sewing machine at the thrift store. I saw it and didn't buy it. I pondered it for three days, and then I went back and bought it. It's a Singer 301. 301 A actually, though as far as I can tell the letter A just designates the factory that produced this machine, as there is no difference between this and regular 301 models.

This machine is circa 1951. It's a slant shank, meaning the presser foot is at an angle, which also means that the feet are not interchangeable with my other machines. It is referred to as the "big sister to the Featherweight" because it's lightweight (16 pounds) but full sized, it uses the same bobbins as the Featherweight, and it produces nice straight stitches and only straight stitches. Unlike the featherweight it has an enclosed motor and it's gear driven (no belt.) The folding extension comes in a short or a long length, and mine is a longbed model.

Considering I managed to take 3 machines out of action in the past month it was easy to justify a spare machine (or four!)







And actually, I got one machine working again the other night. I managed to disassemble the bobbin base on my Featherweight with a tiny screwdriver and dislodge a thread jam. For all the things that I have figured out on my own, I am surprisingly intimidated by taking things apart. In the end it was so easy that I kick myself for my reluctance.

And in other news, I was in California this past weekend so I took a little drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and went to the Heath Ceramics Factory Store to check out some of the discounted factory seconds. I picked up a few things that still set me back more than a few pennies. Aren't they pretty?