It's been a busy couple of days, but yesterday we pushed the magic button and published a brand new website for the Lizzie Lenard online shop.
The first pattern in the shop is for the appliqué rose that I drew specially for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Quilt, and I will post pictures of the rose tomorrow.
In the meantime, I thought you might like to see the banner that I stitched specially for the website header - the writing was done with the Singer 99K hand machine and the seams were done on the 15K treadle. The rick rack was sewn on by hand, and the flowers were the little snapped off stems from the lovely big bunch that my husband bought for Christmas.
Is there such a thing as vintage website design?
The snow didn't last long. It seems such a long time ago. Nostalgia has set in already.
This is one of the feet that came with the Serata treadle, a really nice braiding foot.
Feed the braid over the bar at the front and through the V-shape and it lines up perfectly with the needle.
When I bought my Serata treadle I found this in one of the drawers, a tiny little tin, two and a half by one and a half inches. It is the ideal size for keeping the bobbins in, and takes you straight back to the time when invalids were nursed back to health with beef tea.
Like all the best brands, it is by appointment... it reads "By Appointment, Purveyors to His Majesty the King." George V, probably. Edward VII at a pinch.
Definitely the 1980s Sloane Ranger look, complete with Burberry umbrella before Burberry had any hint of chav. All tweedy browns for the county look. Lean casually against a gate and take on the air of a cavalry officer at home on his estate.
Of course, it wouldn't work at all without the epaulettes.
There again, you could leave out the manly shoulder detail and make it in bri-nylon.
This is my Frister and Rossmann Transverse Shuttle machine set up to wind a bobbin. This type of bobbin winder is seen on many German machines. It winds a perfectly tight, even bobbin of thread, and works better than any Singer bobbin winder. It is a very simple mechanism. This is how it works:-
First, take the thread through the miniature tension discs on the front inspection plate.
Not every machine with this type of bobbin winder has these tension discs, in which case either take the thread through the hook at the top of the face plate (top left in this photo), which is the first hook for the top thread, or through whichever other hook is provided there.
Next, take the thread to the top of the upright bar of the bobbin winder and thread it from the back to the front.
Put the bobbin in, securing the thread by trapping it between the end of the bobbin and the winder.
To engage the bobbin winder against the balance wheel, this machine has a lever at the bottom which is pushed up.
What happens next is pure magic. As you wind the bobbin, the thread passes over the curved edge of the plate on the bobbin winder, moving steadily and evenly from side to side.
When the thread reaches the other side and makes contact with the little pin at the end of the curved plate, it is gently nudged back and travels back the way it came. Pure genius.
When the bobbin is full it presses against the base of the upright lever, activates a spring, and automatically disengages the bobbin winder from contact against the balance wheel.
If you want to take the bobbin out earlier, just press the upright bar back gently with your finger and the bobbin winder will disengage.
Nifty, or what?
More German bobbin winders coming soon...
This morning I nipped in to Cordial and Grace and oiled the shuttle race on Maria's Jones CS machine - the one thing I had forgotten when I cleaned it up. Too much tea and cake must have been distracting me.
To the left of the shuttle there is a little round well stuffed with old felt.
On some machines the felt has disappeared, on others it is so grimy and mucky it needs replacing, in which case you can stuff a tiny wad of cotton wool or fluffy cotton knitting yarn in there in its place. This picture shows one of my Singers where I have used cotton yarn.
At the base of the oil well is a tiny hole through which the oil gradually seeps, keeping the shuttle race lightly lubricated. This prevents friction and wear on the side of the shuttle and eases movement. On this photograph of Maria's machine I have used a long pin to show where the hole is.
The wad of felt needs to be kept soaked with oil. Just let a couple of drops fall onto it, wipe away the excess, and the job is done.
