I'm not sure how this all started, but in the past couple months my parents have gone on this vintage Singer sewing machine kick. We now have four vintage machines with one on the way and one "modern" machine. The machines are all Singers ranging in manufacture years from 1926 thru early 2000s.
The modern machine is Singer 7426. It was bought around 2002 when I was learning how to sew. Unfortunately, we were sadly disappointed with this machine. The lighting on the machine is horrible and dim, stitches are uneven and seem to be dependent on the speed you are moving at. The specialty stitches are extremely difficult to use and you have to be very careful not to vary your speed at all. I would never recommend this machine to anyone!
The next oldest machine, which is the one I grew up watching my mom sew on and was the first machine I ever used. It is a Singer 328k given to my mom as a Christmas present from her parents in 1965. It was manufactured April 1, 1965 in Clydesdale, Scotland. I just bought a new belt for it and we are oiling it up for use again. The main reason we closeted the machine was it was running on two speeds -- stop and full speeds -- which for a twelve year old learning to sew does not make for a fun experience. This machine is made like a tank and I don't think it could ever break so long as it is kept oiled and the belt replaced every decade or so. It is a easy to use machine and will do pretty much anything home seamstress could want.
Then comes my mom's Singer 201-2. Made in Clydesdale, Scotland in 1948. Bought on ebay and given to my mom for this past Christmas. It was in great condition and works like a charm. On Christmas morning my brother-in-law, Mark (whose mother has a similar machine) oiled it up and gave the machine a great overall check. I haven't had the opportunity to use the machine yet, but I have played with it and it seems to be a great machine!
Then our Singer 66-16 which was also bought on ebay. Made in Elizabeth Port, New Jersey in 1948. It is missing the bobbin slide cover (but I recently purchased one from sew-classic.com) I still need to replace the belt and oil the machine but it should work well.
And finally my Singer 66 treadle which was purchased on ebay from a gentleman in Minnesota. It was made in Elizabeth Port, New Jersey in 1926. It came via FedEx and was just plastic wrapped with no box what-so-ever. I believe the cabinet suffered a couple minor dings during transport, but it is great condition. It was quite obvious the machine was kept in the cellar or garage for a very long time of disuse. I have already replaced the belt, oiled it up, and got it running pretty smoothly. Over the next few years I want to refurbish the cabinet and maybe figure out a way to redo the decals. But as long as the machine works, the cabinet and decals can wait. I can officially sew when the power goes out (so long as I have candlelight or daylight)!
We still have one more machine on the way, I believe it is a 66 or 201!
As a little girl, sitting on the kitchen counter "helping" my dad cook, he told me he was putting onions in the dish and I in my 3 year old wisdom answered, "But I don't like onions." It is something my parents love to remind me that I said. And to this day at the age of 22 I still don't really care for onions, something about the texture. But I do like the flavor that onions add to dishes and will eat them. Last weekend I was given a bunch of ginormous red onions. My dad was thrilled and we used a lot fresh in salsa, tacos, on burgers and sandwiches. We decided to do an experiment with four of the onions. In my dehydrator (which is literally falling apart), I dehydrated the onion and the greens. The first time around onions dehydrated filled one quart mason jars and the greens filled one quart mason jar. The second two onions I dehydrated just the onion because the greens were just looking very sad and not so green anymore. This one is actually still dehydrating (I just put them in this morning).
