It's amazing how much is rising to the surface since we've begun clearing out in anticipation of moving the store this weekend. I'm finding old friends each time I open a box or look on a shelf. One great re-discovery was the first sewing machine I purchased with my own hard-earned cash!
I've been sewing since I was eight or nine ... using Mom's tan Singer machine and a treadle before that. Sewed constantly and a huge variety of things. So at 19, when I left home in a huff for my first apartment in St Paul, Mom's machine didn't come along with me. I was forced to buy my own. Can you guess what year this happened?
I purchased a Singer Genie for a variety of reasons. First ... it was cute ... and that's what it's all about! Second ... I could afford it if I saved enough from my job working in the kitchen at Ramsey Hospital. Third ... it was a Singer and I'm all about brand loyalty. And fourth ... it was portable because what no one knew is that I was talking to the Army recruiter and I knew I wasn't going to need a machine in a cabinet. I was going to see the world ... donchya know!
I loved that everything fit conveniently in the carrying case. And boy ... did I lug that machine around! It lived in several different states and any number of military barracks, on-base housing and off-base as well. I had lots of 'friends' because everyone seemed to need new rank stitched to their uniforms as we were promoted ... sometimes for $$$ ... sometimes for the price of a night out.
It really was pretty simple to use ... and the instructions had that delightful Mod Squad look just like the machine. When I moved back home to another apartment in St Paul, it helped me make curtains and pillows. I sewed a tree skirt for our first home together on it ... that great big wedge pattern with the wide eyelet trim all around the edge. The next year I made quilted stockings for the three of us because by then we were celebrating Rob's first Christmas. The following year I made one for Alex on the same machine. And then, a few years later when my nephews Larry and John were hospitalized for months following a snow mobile accident, I taught myself to make dolls on it so I could take them to the hospital to work on.
I had a repair man tell me once not to get rid of this machine because it's the last model Singer made that was all metal inside. The weight proves that! I cleaned my old friend up and packed everything up ... but not because I'm going to put it back on the shelf. I love this machine and it fits the look of the hideout perfectly! I'm off to find a good repair man who can tweak it and clean it. Anyone have a suggestion?
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Your little Genie definately looks like it will be right at home in the hideout! Good luck with the move this weekend - can't wait to see what you do with the new shop space!
Posted by: Melisa | 15 October 2009 at 09:26 PM
I have mine at Valley West in Bloomington. He is the only one who thought he could fix it and I couldn't let it go.
Posted by: Jane | 16 October 2009 at 10:41 AM
I have a Singer that is a true workhorse.....must be about 30 years old now.....and I won't get rid of that one, either. They don't make them as good any longer.....NO company makes them as good as those old machines were!
Posted by: Pat | 18 October 2009 at 05:35 PM
Oh, yes...meant to add that I have two other machines since then but the Singer will stay with me unless it totally dies. It is a great, reliable back-up machine when these new-fangled ones have some computer problem...which they seem prone to having!!!
Posted by: Pat | 18 October 2009 at 05:36 PM
Art's Sewing Machine Repair on Payne Avenue is a wonderful place for Singer repair. One of the only ones I know that works on Featherweights. Give him a try.
Posted by: Candy | 20 October 2009 at 09:53 PM
I got my Genie in 1974, I graduated HS in June and bought the machine with my money from my first real job that summer. My sister still has the machine, and it still works!
Posted by: Kathy | 29 October 2009 at 06:09 PM
I have a fantastic repair guy, but... he's in Dallas.
Posted by: Diane | 05 November 2009 at 07:29 AM
$ 125.00 of hard earned babysitting monies !! Purchased back in the early 70's and still runs like a dream.....
I was looking at your past dated posting and saw this...love it !!!
Posted by: Karen Barrie | 29 December 2009 at 10:13 PM