RIP bernina watch.

not totally, but the Berninas i want are going for upwards of $700 which is too much for me. even if i had that kind of money, i couldn't justify spending it on a used machine on ebay. i'd rather save my money for a new one. the mechanicals are running a little over a grand, so i'll continue to keep my eyes open for a good deal on a used machine, while i save for a new one.

in the meantime, dennis the menace & i pulled out Miss Burton's 1971 Domestic sewing machine. it took awhile to figure out how to thread it, particularly step #10 where i discovered that the eye of the needle is situated right to left, not front to back. my brain had a hard time accepting that this was as it should be for this machine:



we had a bit of a struggle getting it to run. we could hear the motor trying to go & the needle was moving verrrrryyyy slllooowwwlly. at first we thought it was the foot pedal, but then i had this theory that the grease on the gears was hardened with age & dust. so i operated the foot pedal while dennis turned the wheel & after a couple of fitful starts, the thing started running fast & solid like a champ.

this machine is heavy duty (it weighs a ton) & will do the basics: straight stitch, zigzag & there are modest overlock & darning features. i sent a picture of the machine to Sewing Machine Steve before I left for Vegas, & with his further instructions, Dennis & I packed the crap out of it yesterday so it can be shipped to Steve for refurbishment. Steve concurs that this machine is a tank & will sew well for a very long time.



on the sewing front, i gave some thought to my current zipper problems. i've decided to stop futzing with machine topstitching around the zipper & try my hand at a hand-picked zipper instead.