Low Shank Snap-On Feet

I had such good luck with the set of high shank accessories, I thought I should try out the low shank set.

  Since most of the feet are designed for a zig zag machine, I selected a Pfaff 130 as a test bed.  The snap-on ankle fit fine.

I snapped on the general purpose zig zag foot for the first test

The foot fit perfectly and the Pfaff's needle came down in the center of the needle hole.  Stitch quality is just as good as with the Pfaff foot although I am not getting a full width zig zag - apparently, my 130 needs a drink of oil.

Bouy'ed by the zig zag test, I swapped the zig zag foot out for the straight stitch foot to make sure the needle would line up with the hole in the foot.  It matched perfectly and the straight stitch was as good as ever.

But one test is not conclusive, so I moved the ankle and strraight stitch foot over to a Singer Featherweight.  As expected, the needle came down right in the center of the hole in the foot

and stitch quality was identical to the factory foot.

My only disappointment was that when the edge of the fabric is lined up with the edge of the straight stitch foot, the seam is a millimeter wider than 1/4".  I had hoped that I could provide a snap-on foot that easily sewed a perfect 1/4" seam for the quilters.

Singer 401

I don't have anything Earth-shattering to write about today, I just wanted to remind my loyal followers that I am still around.

On the way home from a week-long out-of-town meeting, I stopped in at a thrift shop about an hour's drive from home.  There on the shelf was a Singer 401 priced at $25.

All the functions seemed to work, the stitch selectors were not stuck, the balance wheel turned freely and there were no noticeable scuffs or paint chips.  It had the carrying case but was missing the foot control/power cord, instruction manual, and accessories.  I can replace all those missing items and was standing in the checkout line with the machine under my arm when I realized I already have three 401s and two 403s, I'm crazy to be picking up yet another 401.  I turned around, put the machine back on the shelf, and left.  No remorse yet, I need the storage space more than I need another 401.

On another subject, slightly off topic, I picked up this scratch remover to pretty up sewing machine beds that often have scratches.

  It does improve the looks but does not bring them back anywhere near new.  I tried some on some scratches on my wife's car and it completely covers light scratches but not those that are down below the clearcoat.

I have been losing weight and last weekend, rummaged through my dresser for a wristwatch with a tighter band.  I found a Pulsar that I picked up in an auction jewelry box purchase but it had lots of fine scratches on the crystal.  Since I had a scratched crystal and a bottle of scratch remover, I figured it couldn't hurt to try the scratch remover on the watch crystal.  It worked beautifully!  That old Pulsar looks almost like new!  Now, I'm looking for other scratched-up items around the house to try it on.