‘Lavender Lady’ Kenmore Model 52

Louie and I went junkin’ today. Yes, this is another lavender machine. It is a newer model than the last one. The last one was straight stitch only. This one uses pattern cams and is lavender and white!

It’s not my fault I brought it home, you know. It was at the thrift store last week, and it was there waiting for me today. What was I supposed to do? I already left it behind once. Was I supposed to do it again???

Well, I couldn’t. Last week, I left it, because it was in a cabinet, and someone had dropped the cabinet on it’s side, and the machine wouldn’t come up out of the cabinet without force, because the cabinet hinge pins were bent, and the edge of the machine was rubbing on the cabinet opening. I decided I could leave it. We didn’t have the tools, and we decided not to mess with it, (although I heard weeping and sniffling sounds as I walked away….)

Today, I had enablers. My brother and his wife were with us, and when we found out furniture (yes, sewing machines in cabinets are considered furniture) was 30% off if you paid and removed it from the store today, I had plenty of  help removing it from the cabinet. (My sweet brother and husband were cheering me on, and my brother was down on the floor with his pocket knife using it as a screwdriver!)We got it free from the cabinet, with the ‘jaws of life’ and they still gave us 30% off, even though we left the cabinet. I think the next step after furniture markdowns is a free trip to the dumpster. WHAT WAS I TO DO???? I HAD to save it!

This machine is a little newer than the first one I adopted. It has a pattern disc that came with the machine, which has two different pattern stitches, one on each side. Zigzag on one side and blindstitch pattern on the other side. Two patterns on one disc. As you can see by the sample stitches in the photo, it works very well. Update: I found a set of pattern discs on iOffer that fit this machine, so it is complete now. Woo hoo!

I think Kenmores are about the easiest machines to set the tension on.  We did have to take apart the mechanism that runs the feed dogs up and down, but my talented husband figured it out, and now it works wonderfully. The feed dog lever would not budge when we brought it home. Now, it runs smoothly, just like it is supposed to. It has a new rubber bobbin wheel, and is properly oiled and ready to go. Louie does have to put a different controller on it, though, because the one that came with it was for knee control for cabinets only, but thanks to our ‘sewing machine parts drawer’, we have a regular foot control to put on it. It also needs a longer cord for it to reach the floor.

What else did we do this weekend you ask? Well, I worked 6 hours on Friday, came home at noon, and when Louie went back to work at 1pm, I was going to sleep for one hour then get up and start laundry. I was still sleeping at 5pm. Whooped, I was!

Louie wanted to find some little tweeters for a stereo he was going to put in my van this weekend, so we ran all over Davenport Friday night looking, with NO LUCK. Seems if you want tweeters, you have to order online. Several hours later, we came home.

Saturday morning, I located some tweeters at an Advanced Auto Parts in Clinton, via Google search, (I LOVE GOOGLE!) so after my chiro appt in DeWitt, I ran to Clinton and picked them up. While I was gone, Louie started working on installing my new car stereo. He spent most of the day installing the stereo, and adding the tweeters, and he also fixed my left power mirror that wouldn’t work. Our local salvage yard had one for a very reasonable price. (It’s so good to have someone who can do things like that around!) While he worked on the radio, I worked on sewing some small projects, and also worked on laundry. Then last night, we cruised around for awhile and enjoyed my new stereo and all his hard work! Louie also filled the van up with gas, and realized when he went to pay that his billfold was on the seat of the motorcycle and not in his pocket, so Casey’s kidnapped him while I went to retrieve ‘said’ billfold. (They teased him while I was gone, about ‘who got the better deal’).

And today we went junkin’….but you knew that!

This is my last week of work before we go on vacation! My brother and his wife, and Louie and I are riding to Missouri on our Goldwings to go to the Gateway Arch, Anheuser –Busch Brewery, and who knows what else. It’s vacation time! Woo hoo!!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Be blessed!

Michelle