A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Hoverfly on a Dandelion

I love hoverflies.  Nice smart stripy little chaps.

Oiling the Singer 15K

Here is the view inside the back inspection plate.  This was before I got rid of all the nasty brown residue.

At the top of the shaft that goes down into the pillar there is a tuft of fluff sticking up.  At this stage it just looks like part of the general muckiness.

Now a view of the top of the machine.  Beside the spool pin there is an unusually large oil hole.

Turn the wheel so the the head of the shaft is directly beneath the hole.  Here I have put a cocktail stick into the hole to go down inside... 

... to the top of the shaft.  This is where the fluff was sticking up.  In fact it is another of those little felt oil wells, like the ones at the top of the presser bar and needlebar.  When oiling the machine the wheel has to be turned so that the oil well is directly beneath the hole.  This hole is big enough for you actually to see down inside so you can see when the top of the shaft is in the right position for oiling.

Although the last picture isn't fabulously clear, I'm sure you get the general idea, and you might even have noticed that the machine is considerably cleaner than in the first picture.  All that rubbish had to be cleaned off before the oil went on. 

1936 Singer 201K Treadle

Here is the latest machine, a beautiful Singer 201K treadle manufactured in 1936.

I had a devil of a job trying to get decent pictures today - poor light, reflections, etc. etc., but I'm sure you get the general idea...

The only job I have left to do is to get a new treadle belt.  The old belt on it is a bit stretched and keeps slipping.

The easiest way to spot a 201 is to look at the spool pin.  There should be a long, round-ended metal plate beneath the spool pin, which has holes in for oiling.

The needlebar comes down from inside a steel tube.

The needle has to be threaded from right to left, and the needle is set into the needle clamp with the flat side to the left.

And here is a nice loving arty shot of the needle reflected in the plate underneath.

It is time I concentrated on my sewing.

Mobile Phone Cosy in Black

I threw this together last night - not my neatest piece of work ever, but I needed to try out the latest acquisition, a 1936 Singer 201K treadle.  The treadle belt was a bit slack and slippery, but there's absolutely nothing to complain about with the stitch.  The machine is now cleaned up, oiled and gleaming.  When I get a new treadle belt on it it should run like a train.

This is the back of the mobile phone cosy.  Once the phone is inside you can pull the elastic over to the front to keep the flap down. 

We saw the machine out at the front of a second hand furniture shop on Saturday.  It was an instant purchase - a 201K treadle in good condition is not to be sniffed at.  The car was parked a few yards along the road and two young lads from the shop lugged the machine along the pavement and heaved it into the boot.  One of them was really interested in the machine and said he was sad to see it go.  I promised to make him something on it, so this mobile phone cosy is for him, complete with his initials.

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German Bobbin Winders - No. 2

This is a Frister and Rossmann Transverse Shuttle machine - a slightly different model to the one I photographed when showing the first in the series of German bobbin winders.  

This machine has a smaller balance wheel, a fancy spool pin and a different bobbin winder.  The top of the bar is bent in a backwards curve at the top.  The button for engaging the bobbin winder is at the bottom right.

Step 1 is the same.  The thread has to pass between the tiny tension discs on the front inspection plate.

Next, the thread is taken over to the upright bar of the bobbin winder and through the hole at the top, passing from the top and then down the back of the bar.

The thread is passed down behind the bar and then brought out underneath it, reaching the bobbin from the back.

The metal plate beneath the bobbin has to be brought up into position so it is almost touching the bobbin.  The plate is on a spring - press it down gently and it will spring itself up to the right position.

To engage the bobbin winder into position, so that the tyre touches the rim of the balance wheel, press this button...

... and push the bobbin winder back until the catch at the back holds the bobbin winder in place. This picture is taken from behind the machine looking down the back of the bobbin winder.  The catch is at the bottom centre of the picture.

While the bobbin is being filled the metal plate will be gradually pushed downwards.  If you want a full bobbin, wait until the plate automatically springs down away from the bobbin.  If you want to stop sooner, press down gently on the plate...

... and the plate will spring down out of the way so you can remove your bobbin.

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Dandelion Clock

Taken last autumn.  I am now busily digging these blighters up.

Rock Chick from the Land of the Tea Cosy

Must knit myself some of these.  I might need some woolly drawers for next winter.

But first, perhaps I should study the instructions and get some practice with elastic.  One dud stitch could spell disaster.