Sewing machine cabinet quick restore

My Singer 319K came in a cute little 1960s cabinet. However, the cabinet had seen better days. It looked like this:

I decided during the holidays that this little cutie deserved a new lease on life.
Sanding it down seemed like a lot of work, and a scraper usually achieves the same result only much quicker. I used a scraper (I call it a wallpaper scraper), in fact this one:

You can clearly see the state of the cabinet lid. The top of the lid copped the worst of the sun, being on top of course. It was so bad that a lot of the varnish was gone completely, leaving large patches of exposed wood. The remaining varnish must have felt a bit lonely or even suicidal, since it barely held to the wood at all. I scraped it all onto the floor, vacuumed the floor, then unscrewed the lid to take it outside (it was obvious even to me that doing this inside was just unnecessarily messy).

Bare wood, before filling

A quick trip to the hardware shop and I came back with a brilliant Aussie varnish, Cabot's Cabothane Clear. Bit expensive as were all the urethane finishes. When the varnish was off, it was sanded using a machine, filled with liquid wood then manually sanded all over with some fine steel wool (00).

Steel wool, about to rub down the filler and bare wood

The urethane requires three coats, and here's how it goes:
First coat goes on the bare wood. You have to do this inside in a non-dusty environment, unfortunately (it smells pretty strong). If not you'll have dust, insects, pollen etc. under your beautiful polish. After six hours, rub it lightly with some 300 emery (dry), put the second coat on, wait another six hours, rub lightly, third coat, leave for 24 hours, rub lightly (I used steel wool grade 0000) and use car or furniture wax to leave a deep gloss.
Here is how it ended up:

Top of the lid is now as beautiful as the machine it contains

I put two coats on the underside of the lid, and three on the top of the cabinet:

Top of the cabinet

Only two coats for the lid's underside

Didn't really want that deep gloss for the underside. Seemed like a bit of a waste of effort and it didn't really get much sun exposure.
I still have to do the rest of it, but that was probably the larger amount of work. The legs are only just holding the varnish, too, so it shouldn't take much to get them looking like new (albeit somewhat rustic) again. It will possibly have to wait until the end of term 2.
Most of the time went into waiting for the stuff to dry, so this was what I'd class as an easy job, or "low hanging fruit".
The lid's underside took a lot more work to remove the original stuff that the top (it wasn't as damaged). Also, be careful with your scraper: It's not that difficult to scrape the wood off if it's soft.

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.

Sewing a holed button with your machine

I was told this can't be done, but according to the book that came with my 319K2 it's relatively easy. After a false start, I learned the art of putting on a button with a machine (I hate doing it manually).
The pre-requisite abilities of your machine are two:
1. Disengage the feed dogs. If they work as normal they'll move the button so the needle and button will both break. If you simply set the dogs to not feed (zero), they will still push the button up and will break the button. They must be disengaged and lowered. All of my machines have a height adjustment for the feed dogs and once lowered below the throat plate, your button will be safe.
2. Zig-zag stitching. Your machine must obviously be able to stitch from one side of the button to the other. If the button has four holes, a diagonal stitch is best, if your zig-zag will reach.

Here is the relevant page from the 319K manual:

319K Manual page 70

The instructions are the same for any machine, but disengaging the feed dogs is different for other machines. A friend of mine has a 1952 Phoenix 250 that has a very convenient lever on the front of the machine which lowers the dogs. I'm not sure if putting it to 0 stitch width is even necessary, but I did it anyway.

Slowly hand crank while adjusting the zig-zag width until you're certain the needle will go into both holes before engaging the motor. Note the instructions for adding a shank.

I'm confident, after 10 buttons or so. It saves me a load of time and produces a consistent result.

A few more links - vintage sewing machines

Here are some links I find very useful when dealing with old sewing machines:

Rudolf Couture
He is (also) an obsessive collector and has loads of manuals available as pdf for downloading.
The Quilting Board
A lot of members of this group have old machines
International Sewing Machine Collector Society A wealth of information from the collector society

Pattern for Smartness

All you vintage fans have to watch this film (made in 1948). Probably more cringeing than that time you went to see Jerry Lewis at Crown (for example - I only heard the reviews), but actually very useful and interesting, particularly for a beginner like me.

Go Betty! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E1j9DxEEUw&feature=youtu.be

Dress and Blouse for the Little Woman

Robert Fritzlaff is a shining inspiration to me. He is a male designer of women's clothing in the 1950s and '60s (apparently a bit in the '70s too). He is also heterosexual. Yes, I know it shouldn't matter but it does. Sewing dresses for GF and daughter shouldn't be this enjoyable for a hetero male, but thanks to RF there is a precedent. Actually it's possibly not that uncommon. RFs taste in clothing is brilliant, too, as is his view of high fashion today ("garbage").
OK, off the soap box. I started making a dress yesterday:
Butterick 4061 (1965), Size 16T, Bust 36 "proportioned for teens" for my girlfriend, who left her teens even before I did, but we'll see how it fits when I'm finished. She gave me two more hurdles, being I must use an invisible zipper, and I must re-use a skirt section of an old dress she bought at a garage sale (sigh).
I forgot to scan or photograph the pattern cover but it looks like this:

I've been given the task of creating 'A'.
Cover tells me how much fabric I need (which I ignore, since I have to re-use old pieces). I also need interfacing for the facing.
One thing I found curious is that the pattern keeps mentioning the "Jumper". This is referring to the bodice. I kept looking for a jumper and for the bodice instructions, but they're one and the same!
So, cut out the fabric. I did just the bodice first, rather than all of the cutting at the start (means I don't have to use a hundred pins all at once). The first thing to do is to attach the interfacing to the facing - fusing is the name for the modern version. It must be pressed on and heated (iron or press), and is to be applied to the inside of the facing.
I cut out parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 in linen and 3 and 4 again in interfacing (Tip: Lay the interfacing on the linen and pattern pieces on top - saves cutting twice). Then trimmed 3/8" from the bottom of the interfacing and fused it to the wrong side of the linen.

Cutting the front and back. Notice dot triangle at fold

Facings. Only #3 has the dot triangles

The dot triangles are Butterick for "place at fabric fold", because the piece has to be continuous and double the size of the pattern piece. Different pattern vendors have different codes for this. Also, the two big dots on #4 must line up with the grain of the fabric (the same thread must go through them both). Not doing so with affect how the garment will move or how it stretches, so it's quite important.
Butterick has "easy steps" in following their pattern. Unfortunately, some of these are very complex.
Step 1: To make dart in BODICE FRONT, bring small dots together. Stitch, tapering to single dot, press down.
Seems straightforward, make the bust darts in the front piece (big piece with the dot triangle), then press down. But wait, there's more!
Trim 3/8" from lower edge of front interfacing. Baste to inside of bodice front as shown. Here we must depart from the instructions. In the '60s the interfacing had to be stitched. Now it doesn't. Since you have pressed it on, you need to ignore any mention of stitching it on without the facing. It is attached to the facing, and they should be treated as a single unit.
Sorry, I was not going to publish this in parts, but now will since I'm taking so damn long to hem the thing. Invisible hemming is the last step, and I badly misinterpreted the instructions in the Singer manual. Now I'm off work for a while so will post again shortly.

Wasn't my fault this time!

Well, it wasn't. Her indoors wanted to go outdoors during this rainy, cold day. Back to Tyabb no less. After being nonchalant at the packing house, we went to the nearby Antique Shed. At this place I remembered seeing a lovely Singer 201K last week for only $45. In the first minute I saw a wooden cover that looked suspiciously like a sewing machine cover. The note said Singer something, something, lid, something $25. Looked at the lid and it seemed a bit heavy. The lid seems to have a sewing machine under it. It looked rather good too. Of course at this price who could resist.

Singer 201P

Kept asking myself why it's $25. Reading the other lid label it has been professionally restored. $25? $25? Kept asking why in the queue and when I put it in the car. Got it home, oiled it thoroughly (it was almost completely seized) and plugged it in. About 20 seconds after putting my foot down, it went from a groan to a gallop! Sews beautifully too. Why on Earth was it $25??? It's almost like new. The P model is identical to the K model (made in Scotland) except it's two tone brown and was made in NSW. It's very quiet and was made in 1957. Obviously it hadn't been used for ages but it's probably worth $200, considering the condition. The solid wooden case is like new as well.
Didn't want to boast. These machines are fantastic bargains. Go get one :-)