Well Hello, Petula!

If you caught yesterday’s post on my Salvation Army find….you’ll be amazed at how sweetly this machine cleaned up!

I stopped into Salvation Army mostly to check on irons.  I’ve had my eye out the past few weeks, not that I need one, but you know, one must always be looking for SOMETHING, and I thought if I kept my eye out for irons, that I wouldn’t be so distracted by machines!

It was the case that got me.  SO 1960s!  Being a 1962 baby myself, I was tickled at the possibilities with this case alone.  Many of the vintage machines have a standard bed size ---and they are in pressed wood bases and cases that are covered with icky glued on mildewed vinyl or Naugahyde.

 Storage of these cases and bases has not been kind on them over time, and the vinyl covering gets dirty and shredded and cleaning it really doesn’t do any good..you just can’t get rid of the horse glue that was used to apply the covering in the first place.

This case was molded plastic.  In a standard size – which means that I can put ANY of my full sized vintage machines in this base/case ((Except for the Necchis – they are long bodies!)) and have an easy way to transport them and gives me a base to use that looks better and doesn’t smell near as bad ;c)

It took some scrubbing to get this case clean though --- it was DIRTY –and that plastic is textured…all the grunge was deep down into those grooves and crevices.

Scrubbing Bubbles to the Rescue!

I thought if Scrubbing Bubbles can remove soap scum without a lot of work, that it might work on the grungy case.  I put it in my shower, sprayed it down inside and out and let it sit.  After a while I went back at it with a scrubber sponge and I can’t believe how CLEAN it came out!  It also got rid of the mildew smell.

And for those who thought the motor looked rusty and would have said “no thanks!”  Just look!  Clean and shiny as new!  It was mildew and grime, not rust that was on this machine. 

Such a 1960’s girl!

I was tickled to get the following email last night to help me date her better:

Swakins wrote:

My very first sewing machine was a Brother, purchased at K-mart layaway with my babysitting money when I was 12 years old. It had a case just like that, what a blast from the past...45 years ago. I made my wedding dress on that same machine 15 years later.

That would place the date of this machine around 1967!  And that is where the title of this post comes in.  I googled female artists for 1967 and look what came up on Youtube!

Now THIS song is going to be stuck in my head all day --- but I love it.  These are the songs of my childhood.  I was 5 years old in 1967.  Do you remember this song? Where were you and what were you doing?

Pardon my rough edges!  The homespuns are a bit wobbly ;c)

Last night on QuiltCam I finally set about to sew up some “Moth in a Window” blocks.  This block was featured in my Addicted to Scraps column in Quiltmaker Magazine a YEAR ago!  Nov/Dec 2011.  I kitted up a few blocks to sew during QuiltCam time ---and what fun, Andee from AZ was sewing them right along with me!

I’ll be sewing more of these at 2pm Eastern time this afternoon if you want to join in!

As for my new blue machine?  I’m naming it Petula, of course!  After all, I did find the machine DOWNTOWN ----High Point, NC!