What I Did

Last Friday, Ellie’s little school had a 50s day. So I made this:

kitty skirt

A kitty skirt. That’s better than a poodle skirt because of the kitty.

That skirt part was easy because of this tutorial. The hard part was that my sewing machine is at the beach with Mom. So I had to use this one:

folded up

Wait for it…

I mean this one:

tadah!

Ta-Dah!

That’s my Granny Nix’s Kenmore from 1968. It weighs at least one thousand pounds. It was only manufactured for two years. I have no manual. It took Google and me three hours to figure out how to oil the thing, thread the machine, wind the bobbin*, get the bobbin back where it goes and put a new needle in the right way**.

It’s not like I brokered world peace, taught Congress some ethics or revolutionized health care in America, but I’m still pretty proud of myself. More skirt pictures on the Flickr.

*Tip 1: This model has a plate on the end of the wheel that advances the needle. That plate comes loose to disengage the machine so you can wind the bobbin.
**Tip 2: There is a groove along one side of a sewing machine needle. The grove should face the bobbin. You may have to thread the needle from left to right instead of front to back depending on where the bobbin is on your machine.

7 thoughts on “What I Did

  1. Nicole

    ROTFL. I guess you could consider yourself lucky you found -any- instructions at all. but omg… did it make sense at the time ?

    Good for you, EMily, now you have an emergency sewing machine… well… not if the power goes out. (snicker)

    oh and pink ? i wonder who chose the color ? ha ha ha. love the white cat – it really looks great !

  2. Anita

    I love those old machines! And what a awesome mom you are for sewing such a fun skirt. The twirling part is the best! I once asked my mom to make me a green pleated skirt so that I would get the appropriate floating swirl when standing up on the swing at school. 🙂

  3. Dorothy

    I totally have one of those in my basement!

    I have never used it, but my mom has used it at my house before I bought myself a machine.

  4. Margaret Williams

    I use my grandmothers machine from the 40’s. It has 1 stitch option and sews like a champ. And I have to use my thigh to sew because there is no presser foot…there is a lever you use and your leg makes it go. And she has one dedicated mom to go through all that for her! And she looks adorable!!

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