I know I’ve been a little absent around these parts lately, but never fear, I’m back now. I had grand plans for the month of June, including entering every competition for The Monthly Stitch Indie Pattern Month! Although I did get an entry in for the first one, I got buried in work shortly after and had to abandon all sewing for a few weeks.

However, thanks to you wonderful people who voted for me, I did win a prize for the one competition I entered!

I won the Mortmain Dress and the Tallis Collar, both from Gather. I’m dying to try them out, the Mortmain is just my style! Even though I couldn’t enter any further contests, I’ve had great fun looking at what everyone else has entered, and voting every week. There have been some stunning makes!

And now, I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of my sewing family…

This is a vintage Pfaff 1199 Compact that I acquired yesterday from a truly spectacular secondhand shop. After climbing over ladders and tiptoeing over sodden rugs, I spied this little beauty in a corner of a shelf. The owner let me test it, and all seemed well, so I handed over $45 and it was mine!

I gave it a thorough wipe with a damp cloth, and then unscrewed the needle plate and went to town with a little brush. I got a heap of lint and dirt out, and I was going to oil it, but stopped when I read in the manual that apparently you shouldn’t oil it!

Then, the test…I got some scrap fabric, threaded the machine and bobbin, and tried her out.

That first row of stitching was what happened. And there are many more, similar lines of stitching that occurred afterwards. I changed the upper thread tension. I changed the bobbin tension. I’ve never touched a vintage machine in my life prior to this, nor have I ever touched a sewing machine tension control, so I was a bit out of my depth. My copy of the manual is so badly photocopied that the guide on how to thread the machine is basically useless. In the end, I threaded it for the millionth time, but sharply pulled the thread under the little disc on the side. And lo and behold…I got that second row of stitching. Hallelujah!

 

I also got all these feet with it! And some mouse droppings, but let’s not talk about that. Shudder. From left to right, we have:

1. Buttonhole foot
2. Clear view foot (if this has any other function, the internet doesn’t seem to know what it is)
3. Edge stitching foot
4. Rolled hem foot
5. Cording foot
6. Blind stitch food
7. I believe it’s a free motion quilting foot
8. Seam guide

Thanks to all the lovely folks on Twitter/IG who helped me try and identify the feet!

So now I have two working sewing machines, which is going to make switching between projects a lot easier! Now I just have to get an overlocker, and I’ll be set.