Giveaways

I saw an ad on Gumtree a few weeks ago and responded immediately. Yes free machines. Six of them and no two the same.
Pinnock 101, Regal De-Luxe Zig-zag, Singer 306k, Pfaff 60, Bernina 530-2 record, Singer 287N
It's not as great a deal as it sounds. I promised to re-home as many as I could fix.  Easiest was the Singer 287N. Japanese machine, 1982. Very clean and well maintained. I just checked it thoroughly, oiled it and put it on Gumtree for $30. Naturally it was sold within 12 hours. The buyer couldn't come get it either so I had to home deliver.
The other Singer (306) is missing a few bits that would make it impossible to use as-is. The bobbin case (specific to 306 and 319s) was missing as was the chrome reflector for the light. Neither part is easily replaceable. It was also cosmetically in poor shape. Best part, though, was that it came with a complete set of pattern cams. The Pinnock 101 was a brilliant machine but somehow the hand wheel was badly bent! It absolutely must have been dropped on it. I straightened it out with the vice and some tools and spent many hours cleaning and oiling. Sold it yesterday for half the cost of a service. It was a beautiful baby blue and came with the darning foot. I tested this by doing a little embroidery. It was the perfect machine for this having a vertical bobbin. Lovely machine.
The Pfaff 60 appears to be worthless (they don't sell on eBay) and mine is missing its slide plate, so I guess it'll be staying with me a while.
The Regal de-luxe is a Japanese 1960s machine. It's beautiful and dripping with chrome. Loved it but it had to go. It went quickly too for less than half a service.
The Bernina I'm keeping. I've wanted one for ages but they seemed so expensive. Well, it seems that only applies to 1970s models. One like mine went last week on eBay for barely anything!

Pinnock 101

Regal Super Deluxe

Singer 287N Starlet

Pinnock Sewing machine user manual

I couldn't believe it when one kind lady scanned this and sent it to me.
I don't actually have a Pinnock 404, but I'm sure it will help someone out there.
Can't comment on copyright, but seeing as Pinnock stopped manufacturing in 1966 and there are a heap of people selling pdfs of Pinnock manuals I came to the conclusion that totally free distribution of this is reasonable.
I have several Pinnocks and they're all very similar up to the time Brother started using the name in the 1980s, so if you have a genuine Pinnock, this is likely to be helpful.
I disassembled the original pdf, cut it in size and re-saved it to reduce the file size. It is 1.67MB and available here.

Threading a Pinnock

It's easy to make it "Threading a Sewing Machine" but my daughter's Singer is not the same as any of my machines. Hers has a built in bobbin holder, where you just drop a bobbin in. Mine is different, and it's the only other one I've had experience on: It has a removable bobbin holder which is very common I've noticed. Also very expensive. A couple of months ago I went to a sewing shop in Thornbury and she charges $20 for a new one!! I didn't get it and a week or so later I'd bought another machine from the tip shop and it had some spares.
The bobbin tension is a real pain in the proverbial if you don't get it right, but it's really quite simple once you've seen it. There are a great many videos made that are on youtube and instructions just about everywhere, but rather than recommend one of these (you can Google for yourself I'm sure) here is my brief guide, using my partner's new (?) machine ($2 at a garage sale - yes really, but I had to clean it, oil it, grease it, give it a base and test it).
Before threading your new old machine, give it a really good clean. Thread carries and creates a lot of dust which gets stuck everywhere thread goes. The thread path plus the feed dogs and the bobbin case. All the Pinnocks I've had so far have an easily removable bobbin case, so remove it and remove all the dust and bits of thread.

1. Foot tension. I only mention this since it's a major cause of puckering. If you're getting puckering, release this a little. 2. Thread goes through this hole 3. Tensioner. Just wind it around 4. ... then back over the spring then down so it 5. ...goes around the arm.Thread through the take up arm at the top then down.	Thread through everything that looks like it will guide the thread, then through your needle. Thread goes through the needle from left to right or front to back, depending on your model.
same, but from the side	My rusty bobbin holder. The thread must do a U-turn to enter the bobbin holder's thread slot.
pull thread back toward the protruding arm. Note the tension screw in this photo	and through the hole.

And that's how to do it. Not hard but trial and error is a harsh teacher, so I hope I've saved someone some time.
EDIT (thanks Greg Livingston): Download the manual here

Project

Making a Dress

When it comes to making clothes, I can't see why men are different to women. Luckily I live with two of them, so here is the classic black dress I wanted to make:

simplicity 5707 (1966)

It's the one on the right.
Like I said, since the pattern is second hand, there's usually no need to cut out the pattern pieces. I'm making dress #2.

Measure

Firstly, grab your tape and measure your subject's vital statistics. Obviously you should do this before choosing the pattern, but if the subject thinks she's a certain size just ignore this. Size 18 is huge these days, but this dress size was not the same in the 1960s. The most important part is the bust size, but there is more information on the back:

back of packet contains valuable information

Choose a fabric

Reading the back of the pattern envelope, look at the type and amount of fabric required. We're using polyester/linen, so for #2, look at the right: "nap is the raised (fuzzy) surface on certain kinds of cloth, such as velvet" (from wikipedia). The size on the left of the table refers to the fabric width. If you have, say, 42" fabric without nap, you'll need 2 7/8 yards. OK, a yard is 90cm, so 180 (2 yd) + 78.75 (7/8 yd) = 258.75cm. I'd just get 3m.

Check the contents, read instructions

Inside the envelope you find the instructions. Take these out (you should definitely check that this is there as well as all the pattern pieces before you buy second hand patterns). If anything is missing, you probably won't be able to make the garment.
Instructions tell you how to lay the pattern pieces on the fabric to minimise fabric waste. If there's one piece of advice to give other learners it's to read all of the instructions, and don't ignore something if you don't understand it.

The right side

The fabric must be folded right sides together. Right sides together is an expression you'll get to know well. The right side is the one that will be on the exterior of the garment, and the wrong side will be on the inside, possibly hidden by lining but not seen when the garment is worn. Right sides are always sewn together.

Cut it out!

Lay the paper pattern pieces on the fabric as per instructions and pin them on. Using loads of pins means you will get much better cut fabric. The pattern pieces will have lots of markings too. These must nearly all be marked onto the fabric before you start using that piece. My daughter's dress pattern (and this one) both suggested tailor's tacks for this. This means you have a long piece of contrasted cotton (e.g. you have black fabric, so use white cotton), double it over then poke the fold loop through a needle so you have four threads coming from the needle's eye. On simplicity patterns, the three big circles signify a side that is on the fold and the two big circles must be on connecting threads so you don't have to mark these. On all other circles, put the needle through like you're sewing a four hole button. Leave a large loop and cut about an inch above the pattern/fabric. When all of these are done on all the pieces (this takes a long time) move on to the cut out v shapes. Snip the fabric (it doesn't have to be a v - just a single snip is enough). If you think this is a massive pain, so did I. The Simplicity book gives you two alternatives, one of which being to mark these holes with tailor's chalk. To make sure the side that's on the table gets marked correctly, you should put a pin through the centre of each hole in turn, lift the fabric and mark the other side: I found it easiest to change the angle of the pin three times and mark each one (so there's chalk pointing to the centre).

pinned pieces. Marking is next

pin through to mark the other side

Read the instructions and test your machine

Now you can start reading the instructions again.
Before you start sewing, you must test what you're going to sew with a fabric off cut. Fold it in two and sew together. I find that I'll have to modify various settings before it sews nicely. Here's what to look for: puckering (foot pressure is too much or thread tension too high), missed stitches (bent needle or thread too loose), one side of the thread is straight and the other is OK (too much thread tension on the side with the straight thread) and thread looping (not enough thread tension on the loopy side). Fix the problems and you should have a nice even stitch.

Mark your seam

Old patterns usually have a 5/8" seam allowance (seam allowance is the overhanging bit after you stitch two pieces together), so it's really helpful to have 5/8" to the right of the needle marked somehow. Some machines have markings on the plate: Singers usually do, my Pinnock doesn't, so I have a small sewing magnet that will attach to the plate. This has a straight edge. Alternatively, you can keep measuring every time, but this is annoying and really unnecessary.
OK, follow the instructions one at a time. Don't skip any.

Start to sew

Patterns will usually ask you to sew the bodice first (it's the hardest part), starting with a row of "stay stitching" around the neck line and shoulders. This is to prevent the fabric from stretching or changing shape in any way. You do this on front and back sections, just inside the 5/8" seam allowance (you don't want it to show, or you'll have to un-pick it later) then usually sew the darts (bust and back) then sew the front to the back at the shoulders then the sides.

Why learn to sew?

Well, the answer is because you've been unemployed for a ridiculous amount of time, developed an obsession with vintage sewing machines that you require an excuse to keep collecting more of, and your grandmother was an amazing seamstress. The fact is, though, I'm a male and the whole thing seemed a bit stupid.
In Australia we pretty much don't manufacture anything, and in the 1980s when the tariffs were abolished (remember the buy Australian campaign?) we all said "bugger buy Australian: that Chinese garbage is really cheap!!" and the first of our industries to suffer was clothing manufacture.
This all fills me with sadness. The Chinese made garments we put up with today are every bit as crappy as 25 years ago, and we still buy them because they're that much cheaper than good clothes. Our clothing manufacturers are nearly all gone as are the machines to make them (most were bought by Chinese factories and are lost forever to us). I bought Australian and still do. Only way to now is to buy second hand. Op shops are full of cheap Aussie made shirts, suits, jackets, coats etc. and they sit on the same racks as the later Chinese stuff - handy for quality comparison. The local garments still look good up to 50 years later, whereas the Chinese made are faded, rough, out of shape and obviously not very well put together or finished.
Off the soap box now. I thought long and hard about reviving the industry in any way possible (including thinking about investing in a factory a while ago) but we just expect to get paid too much money, and the Chinese are practically slaves. There's just no competing with that.
I discovered a really good tip shop a few months ago, and they had a load of discarded sewing machines. I was looking for one for my daughter (9 YO) so she could learn to sew, and they had a 1968 Singer that looked very suitable. I couldn't believe I got the machine for the grand sum of $7. After cleaning it up, I had to test it. Well, how do you test a sewing machine when you have no idea of how they even work? You ask someone who knows. Luckily I have one of those. She didn't know about Singers, really (well, her mum had a '30s electric one) but she worked it out and showed me. Here is the model I got:

Singer Stylist 498

So, a few weeks later I went to the tip shop again and there was a very attractive old machine that had "craftamatic" branded. Hmm... $7 or so later and it was mine, and someone happened to have just returned one. The guy said it apparently didn't work so I could have both for $7. Yes, got them home, worked them out and fixed both. A month or so ago I bought another three, seeing as the first was $7.50 and he said he'd give me $1 off for each subsequent machine. So what do we have here? Six working vintage sewing machines. My shed is filling up quickly now.
Below are two of them. I don't have the Princess any longer: It was just too pretty for the shed so I passed it to a young lady who also loved vintage. The others were all either Craftamatic or Pinnock, both Australian brands. Pinnock was a great Australian brand who made machines for nearly all of the 20th century in Adelaide. Not all that much information is available on the Internet about them but when I bought the last tip shop machine, it was a Japanese Pinnock from the '70s. This was the nicest, smoothest machine I'd used yet. Last weekend there was a car swap meet on north of Melbourne (Whittlesea) and someone was selling an Aussie made Pinnock in almost mint condition for $30. Yes I bought it, so that makes seven and this one takes over the title of smoothest. It also came with all the original accessories, spare needles, bobbins etc.

The HG Palmer Princess

Craftamatic (Pinnock copy) with zig-zag

Latest Pinnock in remarkable condition

Over the months I learned how to oil (anything that moved except gears, only use sewing machine oil) and grease them (gears only, only use sewing machine grease), then started testing them so I knew they worked. I needed to know what the bits did and how it all worked. The best way to learn all this is to learn to sew. Daughter needed a dress for "Italian Day" so I made it (with a great deal of guidance from the resident seamstress, of course). The learning curve was very steep indeed and I figured it'd all be worth while when I got around to re-upholstering the Valiant seats.

There had to be a reason for all of this, and I felt the urge to learn the art of sewing. It seems that mens wear is a different art form to women's, and my main problem is that I don't know anyone who can teach me. Also, there are much fewer publications on making shirts and suits than there are dresses. I started looking for patterns in op shops, and around 98% were for women. Nearly all women 50 years ago had a sewing machine and could use it. Men's wear was almost all made in factories.
After making the Italian dress, the bobbin gear broke. This meant the bobbin wouldn't move at all and I had to switch to a different machine (the Singer). Sewparts (Wm Jackson) in Vic Pde (East Melb) have been amazing  in supplying parts (cheaper than anything you'll find on the Internet - really!) but they didn't have spares for Pinnocks. So, I looked inside all the craftamatics and one of them had the same drive gears, only solid steel! Changed it over and the machine is as good (better, in fact) as before. After changing it over the bobbin timing had to be set. If I get around to taking pictures of this I will but it's very important, or the machine won't sew. Just one millimetre out is enough to prevent threading.
The whole sewing thing is quite a skill. In today's time poor world it's no wonder nobody learns it. I bought my niece a book on first principles cooking because she raved about how good my cooking was a few years ago, and she was less than impressed when she saw how 'complicated' it all was (more than moving a packet from the freezer to the microwave). I imagine said book is still in mint condition somewhere.
As the old saying goes aim for the top, but don't expect to fly there. You need to do what you probably couldn't when you were young: be persistent, be open to new concepts, don't take short cuts, read the instructions thoroughly. I'm a little embarrassed about nearly all my interests being traditionally female pursuits (cooking, sewing, car restoration - I did say nearly all) but learning constantly seems to be a great way to spend your down time.