Well…….my dh wanted to spend his Sunday going to a swap meet. Normally I will find something else which I just HAVE to do….HE may find bits of twisted metal and other car bits and pieces laying on the ground, interesting….BUT I can’t really say that I do! BUUUT….This time I decided to go along anyway. MUCH to my delight, the so called ‘automotive’ swap meet had a lot more than just ‘automotive’! PHEW! SOMETHING for me to look at afterall!
Anyway….I must say that there was a lot of….errr…well..ummm..JUNK! WOW it is AMAZING what some people will try and sell you…and at what PRICES! LOLLL Nevertheless I made my way around the rows and rows of…uhhmmm…..stuff…. and then all of a sudden out of the blue, there right before my very EYES…was a lonely little sewing machine! WOW….NOW things were really getting interesting!! LOL
Before I knew it, some gremlin had taken hold of me and my wallet…and I had BOUGHT the machine…not knowing a darn thing about it or even if it worked! But, hey…it was a Singer and it was only $20 so…what could I lose? Right? LOL
I had NO idea it would WEIGH so MUCH! Thank goodness dh was not far away…..I managed to con him into hauling it back to the car for me…..
Then…back to the Swap Meet we went…. I continued on my merry way, quite pleased with myself! Then, out of the sea of stuff, SOMETHING caught my eye! There, laying on the ground, among a whole pile of other things which I do not care to remember…a wonderful GREEN MACHINE was calling my name!! Low and behold…..THIS machine came with all the bits and pieces, book, feet, cams…EVERYTHING and best of all….it was only $10!
I know you can guess where it is now?? LOLLL Of course, it is taking pride of place in my sewing room too! AND it purrs like a kitten, I might add!!
Of course…..the next few days I was all but CONSUMED with cleaning and reading and finding out as much as I could about my ‘new’ old sewing machines! WOW…I must say it was FUN to discover that you can find out EXACTLY which model you have as well as where and even what DAY your machine was manufactured, just from it’s serial number! I found out that my ‘new’ old black beauty was a Singer (OK, that bit I knew already! LOL) Model 201K manufactured on May 3, 1950 in Clydebank, Scotland.
I found out that my mean green machine is a Singer (Yes, OK, I already knew that too!) Model 320K manufactured on January 16, 1961 in Clydebank, Scotland.
All you have to do to find out is go here: http://www.singerco.com/ and ‘contact’ them with your serial number and a day or two later you have your answer!
Thank goodness for the internet! You can even find free manuals to download if you haven’t got one! (I wanted one for the 201K as it didn’t come with one!)
I also found out a lot of other interesting things! The 320K is rare in the US because they didn’t distribute them there BUT here in Australia, they are not so rare and if you are lucky, like me, you can score yourself one! 🙂
I couldn’t figure out how to operate the 201K as it didn’t come with a foot controller and I wondered what on earth that funny metal bar was up inside the case…turns out it is knee controlled! The controller (Absent in the photo, because dh is rewiring it for me) lives in the box to the right of the machine and the funny bar which is the knee contoller, goes into the hole at the front! I can’t wait to test it out!!
As for the 320K….I soon discovered it uses a different size needle than regular machines so I had to track them down. It uses 206X13 size. It was easy of course, thanks again to the internet! Margaret from KentuckyArgie (Etsy shop) is my needle lady and sure enough, she can order them in for me! If you need needles or other sewing notions, she’s your lady!!….These needles only come in 3 sizes now and only Schmetz make them!
NEXT time dh decides to go to a swap meet…I shall be sure to tag along too….why not? One never knows what one might find! 🙂
Cheers,
