Unfortunately, as I age, I tend to forget that my possessions are also maturing. A case in point is my sewing machine. Not really a sewer, the contraption is reserved for making curtains, crafts, repairs, and other odds and ends. It’s always done the job.
My daughter requested another t-shirt quilt for Christmas, so again, I pressed it into service. This time, however, I struggled to remember how to run the thread through the darn thing. Down the front, around the tension dial, up to the thread take-up lever, and down to the needle. Whew.
Then, the next issue had to do with threading the needle. Because of eyesight issues, I’ve long since resorted to a cheater. In this case, a loop of thin wire that is stuck into the eye. Then you simply run the tiny string through the metal loop. The problem is, I have a depth perception issue, and it took me longer to thread the needle than it did to stick the metal thingy in the eye. But I can take pride in the fact that I nailed the bobbin after only two tries.
The project went less smoothly than I expected. Ripping and re-stitching. Ripping and re-stitching. Finally! While proceeding to sew the backing onto the top, the machine began to run piteously slow–a stitch a second. A tint of acrid odor lingered in the air. Alarmed, I started every check every possibility. Wiring intact. Plug; in and snug. Bobbin pulled and re-seated. Joints sprayed with WD-40. Nothing worked.
As I was cursing the apparatus, which appears to be brand new, it dawned on me that it’s fifty years old! Still stewing because too much of the project is left to consider completing it by hand, I reluctantly looked online to see what a new sewing machine entailed.
What I saw amazed me. A heavy-duty Singer with self-threader and drop-in bobbin for under one hundred fifty dollars. Not only that, but arrows and numbers make running the thread a piece of cake. So, I ordered a new one online.
Then, on a whim, I pulled out the bobbin casing to see if I could see any lint, just in case. I shot the inside with WD-40 and low and behold, the machine runs seamlessly. Just because my White Sewing Machine Company Domestic is old doesn’t mean she’s over the hill.
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