Thrift store score sewing cabinet

I went thrifting yesterday, and bought myself a new sewing machine cabinet!  This is certainly a much nicer cabinet than the one Camster came in, so I am quite happy ...

My new sewing cabinet (thrift store find)

For those of y'all squinting at the pic and wondering ... yes, that is a foot pedal and power cord hooked up to a machine inside the cabinet!  This is what was tucked inside:

A Singer 620 Golden Touch & Sew

One Google search confirmed my suspicions ... this is one of the infamous Singer "Cuss & Throw" machines that a few people love and so many more hate.  I had to clip loose a decently-tangled thread nest to get the needle unstuck out of its throat plate.  I have no idea how the bobbin comes out of it, and the manual for it is missing.  However, the reason I fussed yesterday about taping the drawers shut at the store while the rain turned to hail is here:

Three boxes of accessories for the Singer 620 Golden

It has cams, a buttonholer, cleaning stuff ... also inside the drawers are old spools of thread (30 cents each!), safety pins, seam rippers, tracing wheels, a couple pin cushions, a sewing basket ... even a piece of blue poly-feeling fabric.

I'll probably put the machine and its attachments up for sale or trade.  I have no desire to rassle with a manual-less machine with such a reputation.  I am certain somewhere there is a Singer fan who wants it (or maybe needs parts?) but that sure isn't me.  Note: If you are interested in this Singer plus the three accessory boxes of stuff, leave me a comment or hit me up at Pattern Review.  I have every intention of putting my most-used computerized Brother up on the cabinet, because that is what I figure I bought.

I will say that clearing a space for the cabinet then getting home and in the house have wiped me out.  I even vacuumed the carpet this morning in anticipation of my new cabinet.  It looks nice and holds up the "leaning tower of bookcase" better than the box of cast iron.

Black & Decker F210 iron initial review

I just pulled out my new little Black & Decker F210 iron after my previous B&D iron (that I bought back when I was at Fort Gordon!) started acting goofy.  I had a few reservations after reading the reviews of this on Amazon, but was also confused as it didn't sound like most were reviewing the product described!  OK, so here is MY review of this.

Black & Decker F210 variable steam iron

(Yeah, yeah ... I need to wash my ironing board cover ...)  When I first pulled it out of its box, I did something strange and read the instructions that came with it (*gasp! shock!!  Teh HORRORZ!!11!*) to see if there was anything special for set-up.  Just the usual notes about not putting too many appliances on one circuit, standard polarized plug routine, and the note to use regular tap water without any in-home processing (water softeners?).  A couple good things about after you are done using: unplug and empty the water tank after it cools.


It has two dials - one for "fabric selection" a.k.a. temperature setting, and another for steam selection from dry up to full steam.  I likey!  There is also a little light that lets you know the iron is in the process of heating, and that kept popping on and off as I ironed a piece of linen.  When I set it on its heel to move the linen on the ironing board, I could hear it hiss a bit as some water was responding to gravity, but did not see any on the sole plate.

After ironing my linen fabric ... I went to the other extreme and started ironing pattern tissue!  The iron had the opportunity to cool completely which I went hunting for the right pattern envelopes, so it was starting back up from zero.  I set it to no steam and below the first "fabric" setting ... yes, you can do that with this one!  One of the big complaints over in the Amazon reviews was that this model leaks no matter what setting it's on ... mine doesn't.  The pattern tissue would have certainly showed even the tiniest leak.  None ... mine does not leak.

I do have one little quibble with this iron - it's extremely lightweight.  No more letting the weight of the iron do the fusible interfacing work for me, because there is barely any weight there.  Other than that, my first time using this baby has been positive.  If my opinion changes with more use, I'll be sure to post up about it.

RIP my Trusty iron

It's been a good run, but something is wrong with my trusty old Black & Decker Quick & Easy 300 iron that I bought in the spring of 1998 at the Fort Gordon, Georgia PX for only about $20.  It's not steaming right, and the water tank won't fill right ... it runs out the steam holes in the plate immediately.  I'd say I got my money's worth out of it!

Trusty B&D iron, 1998-2011

While at Lowes last night, I spotted another Black & Decker iron, and popped it into the cart.  This was after our excursion to Hobby Lobby and then Home Depot, where we walked most of the store trying to find stuff for nonsewing projects and left empty-handed.  So I was kind of tired by the time we got to the small home appliance aisle in Lowes ... and didn't notice this until this morning:

Eek!  Auto-shutoff on this iron!!

I DESPISE auto-shutoff on irons!!  And with only a 30-second window on the using angle ... oh **** no!  This is going back in a few minutes, unopened.  I'm just glad I noticed before opening the box, as I can see myself cussing and throwing a hairy cat fit every time it decides to shut itself off as I am interfacing a low-temp fabric like rayon or silk.

Since this one was the only Black & Decker model on the shelf last night, I went surfing online.  I guess we sewists are a tiny minority of iron buyers ... most of the B&D models have that extremely annoying feature.  However, I found the perfect model ... and am puzzled that it is also one of the lowest-priced ones.  Here is the Amazon link for it:
With that, I do need to mention I found a lower price from Black & Decker's website, especially after checking retailmenot's page.  So, I ordered two of these cute little very useful sounding irons.  I'm including all links here for anyone who may have Amazon gift certificates or special codes for that site.

This leaves me without the steam portion of my iron until FedEx brings me my two little irons.  I'm really excited about the temp light feature which will let me know when it has heated to the right setting.  And a dial-a-steam knob?  Sounds like exactly what I need!  If it works as I am hoping, I will be able to do high dry heat without needing to empty the tank first ... which may have contributed to the demise of "Trusty".

So ... am I the only one who thinks it beyond strange that the iron that has all the features I want - and definitely does NOT have the feature I hate - is also the lowest priced model on the manufacturer's site?  Maybe I am just weird (okay, we all know I am, but still!).  I am definitely not complaining about getting two of what I want for the price of the one I am returning (not counting shipping) ... but it does seem a bit odd to me.

Since I can't do wool, cotton, or linen without the steam settings, I guess this means I have no excuse for not playing with my rayon challis for about a week!

Back to the Vogue coat

I have cleaned the turquoise metallic fuzz out of my machine already this morning (something I can do before the 2nd cup of coffee!) and utilized yet another odd but necessary sewing notion: the lint roller.

Not only does it get the cat fur off my fabric (like when the furry monsters discover how warm the coat shell is!) but it was indispensable with that poly brocade that frayed/shed as much as an individual cat.  I used it on my ironing board cover as I worked on the brocade ... you can see a thread in the corner of the pic.

Since I am tired of shooing cats off the coat shell, I am going to sew it up today.  I need to dig up the fabric I'll be using for the lining some point very soon ...

Setting eyelets: Tools

Time to set my eyelets in the Kwik Sew 3850 bustier corset.  I've had several requests to show how I set eyelets after zipping through it in December with the McCall's waist corset, so here we go.

First up, the tools I use:

From top right: A screw punch, the baggie of eyelets, circled in red are the Dritz setting tools, the magic seam gauge, handy-dandy hammer, and - just for Gloria's amusement - my now-broken cutting board, all on my cutting mat.

• Screw punch: I use this to start the holes.  It's a now discontinued scrapbooking tool which punches a circle into whatever.  After 3 boned bodices, 2 versions of the Elizabethan, and two waist corsets it's still pretty sharp.  A whole lot of people say an awl should be used to avoid cutting the threads ... YMMV.
• The eyelets themselves, which come in two parts.  Dritz usually puts more "tops" than bottoms in their packs, so don't freak out if you have more of the inner rings (like I did the first couple times).  They also come in silvertone and antiqued brass, but I am partial to the shiny goldtone ones.
• The two Dritz setting tools.  Not much to look at: a plastic ring with an impression to hold the bottom ring and a metal spindle-like thing to fit over the top ring then smack with a hammer.  Some folks use the pliers tool, but I haven't tried that one myself.  I get much more satisfaction out of whacking it with a hammer (except when I miss the top of the spindle and hit my thumb ...)
• Magic seam gauge:  This is how I determine where to put the holes in with the screw punch.  I've heard about a tool that stretches or retracts to figure eyelet/grommet spacing, but haven't seen it yet.
• Handy dandy standard issue home hammer ... also useful when threatening fabric or machines that don't want to behave themselves!  LOL
• Two parts of one wooden cutting board, retired from food prep to crafting ... maybe hammering eyelets on it wasn't the smartest thing I've done, but if you squint at the pic you might see all the circles from using it with the screw punch.
• Cutting mat - hopefully this will absorb the shock of my hammering ...

Half a cup of coffee to finish, then the fun starts!

Not your ordinary sewing notions!

Yesterday afternoon my cutting was first interrupted by the arrival of a box (that will get a separate post *wink*) and then after putting up my new lovelies I decided to check the weather forecast.  After screeching "EEEEKKK!!!" upon seeing more evil white stuff forecast, I immediately grabbed a cable tie and headed for the hardware store to buy something to cut these heavy duty ties my scissors had all bounced off of without leaving a mark.

So ... did I get some heavy duty wire cutters, like I had thought?  Nope!  None of the wire cutters Lowe's had would cut through the tie.  They did have some that looked like mini bolt cutters, but I wasn't inclined to buy over a foot of leverage, so I asked if there was something in the tools department that could cut the cable tie.  And here it is:

The hang card calls them all purpose snips, but the pictures on it show them cutting sheet metal!  No joke, these are rated to cut up to 23 gauge cold rolled steel sheet metal, and were the first tool to cut the plastic cable tie clean through without needing to use my foot.  Trying to think ahead, I also asked about a small fine file to smooth the edges.

Tin snips and metal files aren't what most people think of as sewing notions ... but when I graduate to steel bones for my corsets these should still do the trick!  I still can't believe I had to find such heavy duty tools for *plastic* cable ties.

Meanwhile, I just finished cutting the lining fabric and will sew it up before that lovely linen/cotton blend I love so much even thinks about fraying (even with the cheap lightweight Pellon fusible blockfused to it).

KS 3850 bustier corset core boning

Just finished sewing the boning into the core of my Kwik Sew bustier done corset style.  I still haven't braved the streets to go pick up a heavy duty pair of wire cutters to clip the heavy duty cable ties that my scissors don't even dent ... I hadn't expected the buggers to be quite so sturdy, even though I did buy the heaviest heavy duty cable ties!  I figured that being plastic, at least one pair of scissors would work on them ... so much for that.  Even my nice kitchen scissors which cut through most bones couldn't leave a mark on them.

Back the core and the boning: here is the pic of where I am at right now:

And for those who are wondering just what kind of cable ties I bought that I need industrial-strength wire cutters just to clip through them:

Rated up to 175 lbs (79.38 kg) ... and they actually mean it!  They are probably also serious about the 185F (85C) temperature rating as well, which means these won't be distorted by mere body heat.  For those looking in the Lowes or Home Depot aisle to buy the same, the brand name is Gardner Bender.  Just be sure to buy heavy duty nippers at the same time ...

On to cutting and sewing the fashion fabrics - lining and outside!

Slow progress and a couple tricks

First of all, I have been in pain since Friday afternoon, and since I know this affects my mood I try not to post much when this happens (in pretty much any form).  Progress on the bustier-done-corset-style Kwik Sew 3850 is slow because of this.

I have figured out a couple little tricks to working with that poly boning stuff you can buy at Hancock or Wal-Mart.  First of all, you can iron the stuff flat!  Honestly, I don't know why I didn't realize this before.  I know it is heat-malleable because wearing it next to the body causes it to conform to the curve - as opposed to holding its shape which is what I originally wanted it to do.

Second, if I pull it out of its casing I can stitch it into place using my boxy-style zipper foot that came with each of my little cheap Brother machines.  The poly boning is either exactly or very close to the height of a standard zipper, so it fits perfectly and the foot keeps the needle out of the poly boning.  Gratuitous pic for Elaina, who requested "more pics" last night:

On a slight tangent, hubby tightened up the back lacing on my Elizabethan for me today, and says there is no room to tighten any further.  I'm pretty certain I haven't lost weight, so that leaves fabric stretching as the most likely reason.  I will definitely be making a new one for this year's Renn Faire.

KS 3850 corded

I finished up the second core layer this morning, and other than pressing all the seams in the opposite direction from the first layer it looked the same until I corded it this afternoon.

Last night after embroidery chat, I talked to Elaina about structure ideas for this project.  The pattern calls for only one piece of boning down the CF seam ... and I am doing much more structure with a zipper in front so I can dress myself.  Therefore, I am pretty much on my own for figuring out how to do this.  Since the cups are shaped well, I figure I just need enough to hold them in shape (something a little more than lightweight cheap Pellon) so I decided to use my hemp cord.  When I find where I put my poly boning, I'll use that on the seams under the cups and to reinforce each side of the zipper, then try out cable ties for the back and sides.

Putting in the hemp cord gave me a chance to try out a new toy - a piping foot that was on sale for one of the post-holiday clearances.  About all I can do is squeal like a delighted child!  This works like an extra set of fingers!  If you have any need to running cords, get one.

I'm sure it does a great job of actually making piping as well ...