A New Vintage Sewing Machine . . . Housekeeper Deluxe

Today my neighbor let me know that her son didn't want the sewing machine that he had won at the auction. He thought he had been bidding on a treadle machine and it wasn't what he was looking for. So she asked me if I wanted the machine, if not they were trashing it.  I never turn down free sewing machines! Of course I said yes!

Here is a picture of it in its present condition . . .

Pretty dirty isn't it?

I noticed that the case, even though the top is broken, is made of wood.  That means that all that dirty, torn covering can be taken off and something new and pretty applied to the wood and the top glued back together. I am wondering what design should I put on the cover? Should I use fancy scrapbook paper or should I use really nicely designed fabric like a paisley.  I am looking for suggestions!

My neighbors son said that the machine works.  So that's a plus. He said the needle went up and down when he pressed on the peddle. But he never threaded it because he didn't know how. I needed to find a manual so that I could thread it and test it to see if it really works and has a good stitch.  So I went searching on the internet and found a company named "Sewing Manuals".

I was on their website for about an hour searching for this machine. The name on the machine is "Housekeeper Deluxe" Model 400.  I couldn't find a name for the manufacturer, just that it was made in Japan.

While I was searching the internet for manuals I read a lot of information about "badging" sewing machines. The machines were manufactured in one style over and over again, then sold to big retailer stores.  Several different names of stores or companies would be put on the machine.  Thus you could buy a "Housekeeper Deluxe" and it would be the same as a "White" sewing machine, but with a different name!

This machine is not a straight stitch, it has zig zag and cams for decorative stitching.  So with all this information in mind I went to Sewing Manuals online. As I stated before I spent a good hour trying to find the "Housekeeper Deluxe, Model 400".  No such thing!

 I remembered that they were essentially a "White" sewing machine and looked under "White".  They had dozens of machines!  Luckily, they put a picture of the sewing machine model next to the description.  That is what took so long. Looking at the different model pictures and comparing it to my sewing machine.

I finally found a picture that matched almost exactly.  The only difference was the upper arm thread guides in the picture were spring like curly cue type.  Mine were just straight flat pieces of metal with holes for the thread.  Everything else matched exactly. You can see the "flat upper arm thread guides" in the picture below. One is in back of the words "Push down to darn" and one in front. The dark square hole to the right of those words is where the cams are placed. The cover is laying to the right of the square hole.



I am so glad that I found this manual. Now I have the correct threading diagram, which is extremely important.  The machine came with one bobbin and no cams.  My next step is to find the correct bobbins for this machine. It does not say anything in the manual about size of bobbins. It only has the size of needles.



Here is a picture of the bobbin that came with the machine and the bobbin case. The bobbin case is inserted on the left side under the feed dogs in a sideways position. In the picture below you can see where you would insert the bobbin.



After I get the correct bobbins and clean the machine well, get the stitch correct and re-cover the carrying case, maybe I will look for the cams that go with the machine.

I will be posting more pictures of the progress that I make on getting this machine clean and nice looking.

If you need a manual for a sewing machine, I recommend that you go to this website.  They have hundreds of brands and models.

Bobbins, Bobbins, Bobbins!

One of the things I love most about my little hand cranked singer sewing machine is that I can always use it. . . Power or no power! It is so sweet and easy to crank. I love it! I love it!

When I received her, I noticed that she only had one bobbin. Anyone that sews knows that you need at least two bobbins. So I set about hunting down another, or more bobbins.

I went straight to the internet. Living in the mountains of New Mexico is wonderful but not when you are shopping. The internet is my" local" shopping mall.

I found a website that deals with supplies for vintage machines and ordered bobbins for a vibrating shuttle machine. They came in packs of 5. I ordered two packs. 10 bobbins!! I was so excited when I received my little package!

I started winding the bobbins immediately. I then noticed that the thread was winding itself beyond the area where the thread is supposed to be. At first I thought I had done it wrong. I wound another new bobbin. This time I made sure to follow the instruction manual step by step when winding the bobbin. It happened again! There was the thread beyond the flange at the edge of the bobbin!  You can just barely see in the picture below (slightly blurry) that the little arm has extended beyond the edge of the left side of the bobbin.

In the picture below you can see the thread that wound beyond the flange of the bobbinl.

Now what? I wound another bobbin. This time I went very slowly so I could watch the action.  I noticed that the thread continued it's journey to the left of the bobbin's left flange only after the bobbin winder went to the left. It did not go past the flange on the right side. I tried to figure out why it did this.  I finally came up with the idea that the new bobbins might be a little too short. I have laid out the new bobbins side by side with the bobbin that came with the machine. You can see in the pic below, the new bobbin IS shorter, slightly from the original which is in the middle.

Back to the internet! I ordered from a seller on eBay. They were supposed to be original bobbins, not reproductions. They were too long! In the picture above, the top bobbin is too long and the bottom bobbin is too short. The middle bobbin is the one that came with the machine and is "just right"!

Back to the internet! I thought to myself. . . Third time's the charm. I found another vendor that was selling 12 assorted sized bobbins there were not reproductions. When they came I noticed that some were even fatter than my original, some were smaller. But, I noticed that there were two that were" just right"!

I now have three good bobbins!! YAY!

Lesson learned. . . Measure your bobbins carefully before you buy and ask the vendor to tell you how long the" axle" is. The axle is where the thread will wind. Measure the diameter of the right and left flanges. As you can see in the picture below, the flange on the right most bobbin is too wide. It won't fit in the bobbin winder.

Apparantly not all" vibrating shuttle" bobbins are made equal. Something I took for granted and wished I hadn't because I ended up spending almost $50 with the shipping charges and ended up with only 3 useable bobbins. The bobbins that are "too short" are still useable in the shuttle but are a pain to wind because of the overlapping to the left. The bobbin that is too long will not fit in the shuttle and as such can not be used at all.

This is the correct bobbin and is winding correctly!