Wednesday, February 16, 2011

My Featherweight




It doesn’t take long to be in the quilting world until you start to hear about the legendary Singer Featherweight.  These little machines were manufactured from 1933 until 1961, at a rate of over 1.5 million per year.  They do one stitch, a straight stitch, but it was legendary in doing that one stitch well.  I became bitten by the bug, and decided to try to find one manufactured in 1954, the year I was born.  So I found one on EBay, and was the successful bidder!  You know, these little machines are just plain cute!  And I just love little things!
Speaking of little things, I decided to name my Featherweight Zola Mae.  My Aunt Zola was my favorite aunt, and was an excellent sewer and quilter.  And she was a tiny little woman.  So it is a perfect name!

Well, it doesn’t take long once the Featherweight bug hits that you start to accessorize.  So I decided to make case liner and cover.






















The pattern is by Jean Meier, Meier-izms of Seattle, WA.







I decided to make my own pattern for the case cover.  I wanted one to cover the case to protect from dings, and to take the stress off the carrying handle.  Even though these machines are lightweight (hence the name), they still are 11 pounds, and that is a bit of stess on cotton fabric.  I backed my outer fabric with DecoBond (a Pellon product) to give it some strength.  I also used a double layer of DecoBond in the straps, and ran them under the bottom.
I had to use my thinking cap on how to get the liner on, but it finally clicked !  Voila! 
If there is a next time, I will make the straps a bit longer.  And I sewed it entirely on Zola Mae!



12 comments:

  1. makes me sad...can't have one from my birth year...
    Teri

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  2. Aunt Zola was awesome! I have a quilt or two and an afghan that she made. I miss her being my pen pal and I teared up a little when I saw this.

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  3. That is fabulous Maggie! I hope you and Zola Mae have many happy hours sewing together.

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  4. Love Zola Mae! I have the bug, too, but I have so little room, I can't buy yet another machine. Love the case cover you made! Way to go on sewing it all on Zola Mae and on designing it yourself!

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  5. Lola Mae is adorable and so is your bag. I named mine Abigail.

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  6. Love Zola Mae! And her accessories...afterall a girl needs her stuff. :) My girl is named Trudie.

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  7. Maggie...You and Zola Mae just fuel my itch for a Featherweight....Her new "ride" is beautiful and looks like it will be very comfortable for her to get around in and for you to take her places! Enjoy....oh yes and I hope your new socks are comfy seeing as how they were a bit pricey! LOL Oh the things we do....but just think of how many more pairs you can knit up as the days go by.

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  8. Beautiful carrying case! I hope Zola Mae will enjoy her travels and all the sewing the two of you will do together. My "Inky", a 1947 model, does almost all my piecing. I love her!

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  9. You did good...real good. The carrying case is wonderful. I love your new sewing machine and you are right -- it is so darn cute.

    Love your new blog as well. JoJo

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  10. Zola Mae looks very cute in her new case. You are having way too much fun with her! Nice job. Carolyn in Kerrville, TX

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  11. Seems like I decided on a name for my newest addition... she is a 1936 version, but I don't recall what I had decided on. I do not typically name my machines, and I thought after you introduced Zola Mae that I should decide on a name for mine. Now at first I thought your cover was because you did not get a case with your machine, but I noticed in one of the pictures, it is a cover for the case... great idea, and yours looks really nice. I have a trolley cart for mine, so I probably won't make a cover like yours, but it is a really great idea.

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  12. This is a VERY late comment to your post, but I have been out trolling for some case tote patterns, having recently acquired two Featherweights, and I came across your tote. This is basically what I am after, just a sleeve with handles. If you still have extra strap fabric, you could mod the case to have longer straps by cutting the straps and adding D-rings near the bag top, then adding strap extensions to the D-rings. I've done that when I decided my straps were too short!

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