score!

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I am so excited and so thrilled that I had to share this with my MyLot friends. Some of you may find it boring or one of those "so what" type things, but for me it is very very exciting! I have been looking for a new old sewing machine to use for making the teddy bears. Nothing beats the old Singers for doing the heavy duty sewing. I was going to buy a 1940 - 50's Singer that was listed on Craig's list for $50. It is in excellent condition with all the decorative decals still in great condition, so I would be heartsick over using it as hard as I use a sewing machine. I have been looking for one that was well taken care of and used the way sewing machines are supposed to be used. I had one that an acquaintance spotted and told me that it was in excellent condition and that it was just what I was looking for. I bought it without looking at it, which was a bad mistake. It turned out to be horribly rusted, the case was broken down, the wiring was cracked and exposed. It would have cost me over $200 to get it into working condition. I ended up giving it to a sewing shop that repairs machines. Yesterday after dropping off my fair entries, we went to a trading day at the local park. Trading day is where people can bring their old stuff to sell or trade. I wandered through looking for stuff for my businesses. Old jewelry, fur coats, stuff that I could get at a price that I could put into the shop to resell. I wasn't having much luck. I found a jewelry aromoir that would have been great for all my jewelry...I had one but gave it to my frienemy. She had it for two weeks and ended up giving it to her cousin. She big dealed me like crazy for the thing, nagging nearly non stop about when I was ready to give it up she wanted it. Looking back, she only wanted it so she could give it to her cousin and make points there. The person who had the jewelry aromoir wanted too much money for it...so I passed it up. Onward I wandered. I stopped at one booth that had a case and an old 1950's toaster sitting off to one side. There was a "FREE" sign there and as I bent down to see what was in the case the woman who had the booth came up and told me that it was for free. I lifted off the top of the case and found a 1961 Singer sewing machine!!! For FREE!!!! I checked and it had a zig zag foot and one bobbin so I figured what the heck and I took it along with the toaster. I hauled them back to the car, amazed at how much the sewing machine weighed. I plopped both items in the back of the wagon and went back to find other treasures. There wasn't too much there, so Bill and I went on to other pursuits. We got home and I was anxious to check out the sewing machine. I took the cover off and was astounded to find a box with all the accessories for the machine! Score!!! I tentatively reached to the wall plug to plug the machine in. NO sparks, which was a good sign. I then pressed on the foot peddle and it worked!!! BIG SCORE!! I worked on the machine for about 45 minutes, lubricating all the moving parts. It was obvious that the machine hadn't been used for many many years. The more I lubricated the better it ran. I went online to find a manufacturing date, and scored the owners manual for free! Then I found out that the machine was manufactured in 1961, which was before the time that Singer had started using plastic parts in their machines. So, I now have the work machine I need for no cost to me! As for the Toastmaster toaster, it works too! I only need to open it up and do a thorough cleaning and it will be ready to go. I plan to put it into my booth space at the shop for retro addicts. To many people this is a very boring find. But with the savings in time, gas and money, this find is so very very exciting. Plus the machine not only straight stitches but it also zig zags and more. I am so excited about the machine and being able to do a better job on the teddy bears. Has anyone else scored big time (at least to them) recently????