Friday, September 16, 2011

Antique Store Adventures

I’m sure my family and friends think that its nuts that a 28-year-old likes to go wander around antique shops and thrift shops.

Lately I have been sucked into the antique sewing machine phenomenon, but as antiquing isn’t very popular around here, I had pretty low expectations. Also, I have no room for one of those pretty cabinets, so I had all but given up on the idea.

I randomly decided about a month ago to go wander into our local antique mall. “Mall” is pretty generous actually – it used to house Phar-Mor (remember those?). But I was presently surprised, it was really fun! I went on the search for sewing items, and found a couple of pricey machines in pretty bad shape and lots of old quilts. Then, in a random booth full of books, there was a pretty small black Singer sitting in a small leather/basket weave base. But it was $100 and being new to the vintage machine world, I passed. Then yesterday on a whim I went back to the same store. Along with the usual host of randomness, my little black machine was still there – and marked down to $78. Still too pricey, considering I was afraid of electrocuting myself if I tried to plug it in. So, more wandering commenced. On my 4th or 5th round of the store, I noticed someone had just hung up a 25% off sign in its booth. It was meant to be! Here she is after nothing more than a quick wipe-down to get rid of that “attic-fresh” dust and grime. Please ignore the messy kitchen table, courtesy of my 2-year-old.


She’s (pretty machines have to be girls, right?) a Singer 99, electronic, made in 1956 (3 years before my Mom haha). The metal has no rust whatsoever, and all the parts look fine, though she still needs some elbow grease. I’m still scared to plug her in though, leaving that one to the husband! :)





2 comments:

  1. Wow! She's beautiful! I have my great-grandmother's singer and love it so much. The paint is much more faded on mine and the belts are completely dry-rotted. I want to refurbish it so bad.

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  2. Beautiful sewing machine! Go to the Singer site or blog or info on it and a manual. I love my 1951 15-91. You can see it on my blog by searching for Singer.

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