Author: Caryn

Sewing machine update

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack, Tools

It is hard to be patient. I have read over and over on posted threads and in books to soak old seized machine parts in oil, let it sit, and eventually the part will unscrew. I have been doing that with sewing machine oil and PB Blaster, and each time I sit down with the machine something new comes loose, one or two on a lucky day. Don’t ever wish for patience.

I did discover that the balance wheel I was trying to unscrew was actually friction fit. Huh. Bob Fower has a video on taking apart a 127 Singer sewing machine where he uses a harmonic puller to remove the wheel. I picked one up at an auto store, but I didn’t notice that the kind I grabbed needed screw sockets on the wheel to be removed. Blast. So I jury rigged it by looping heavy duty cable ties to the holes of the puller. It worked. (Cable ties outrank duct tape in my book.)

Photo description: Side view of a model 27 Singer sewing machine with large black cable ties holding a piece of metal with four holes to the balance wheel. A long screw sticks out of the center of the piece of metal.

As I wait for the oil to do its magic. I’ve been picking off layers of ancient (literally) dried oil from the parts I can reach. Bamboo sticks are awesome for this. I did a short on YouTube showing what I’m doing. Pack your patience and enjoy 58 seconds of Vocal Spectrum’s “Go the Distance”. Oh the harmony!

Basket lining

On By CarynIn Cats, Craft

I’ve been slowly working away at my recycled yarn cat mats (which I first blogged about here), and decided to line the cats’ favorite basket. I started with a magic circle and used single crochet stitches. It starts as with any flat round crochet work, with increases spaced by single stitches that gradually increase in number, but as it climbed the walls of the round basket I found that I was still adding increases but not increasing the singles. That sounds more complicated than it was, huh. Here are some cat pictures.

Photo description: Gray tabby cat curled up in a round rattan basket.
Photo description: Round crocheted mat inside the same basket.
Photo description: Gray tabby cat on the mat in the basket, looking up.

I didn’t write things down as I went, I was crocheting by feel, but here is the approximate pattern, for those inquiring minds that want to know.

  • Single crochet (sc) 8 into Magic Loop
  • Increase (inc) in each stitch (st)
  • *Sc in st, inc in st* repeat (rp) 8 times (x)
  • *Sc in next 2 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • *Sc in next 3 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • *Sc in next 4 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • *Sc in next 5 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • *Sc in next 6 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • *Sc in next 7 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • *Sc in next 8 st, inc in st* rp 8x
  • Repeat last row to match the slope of the basket sides
  • Sc around for two or three rounds
  • Finish with a row of crab stitch (single crochet going right instead of left) to add structure to the edge.
  • Note: Increase means to make two sc in the same st.

Expanding my fiber book

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack

I’ve been quite frustrated with options for expanding my fiber book. The longest binding post screws I could find were not long enough, and the “extenders” had multiple reviews that that the threads didn’t fit, and I couldn’t find extenders that came with the caps. Bah. Time for a trip to the hardware store, specialty fasteners to the rescue. I found 5 inch threaded rods and some acorn nuts. They aren’t as fancy as a binding post, but they get the job done and I can probably fit another 10 pages in my book. I did have to adjust the cover to accommodate the acorn nuts, but it worked just fine to unfold the edge. A photo book this size would be very heavy and unwieldy, but my fiber pages are light and have thick spacers, so it works. I suppose I could separate up the pages into different books (shocking, right?), but right now I’d rather spend my money on fiber than book covers.

Photo description: Acorn nut on a threaded rod going through the edge of a photo book, sticking up about one inch over the cover, colored pages are spaced with white foam.

It is in my plan to eventually have an elegant external presentation, but I’m still cogitating on how I want that to look. This does the job for now.

Getting better

On By CarynIn Life Hack, Tools

Our back door deadbolt started to stick (most likely with how incredibly dry we are this summer). The bolt was rubbing on the top of the strike plate. I’ve dealt with this many times since owning a home, and it usually takes me half an hour of swearing and adjusting and fetching tools I forgot. This time I grabbed my 1/2” chisel, mallet, and the electric screw driver and had the plate off, a few millimeters chiseled out of the wood, and the plate back on in about five minutes. I’ll take it.

Photo description: Strike plate for a deadbolt moved up a fraction of an inch

The fix isn’t gorgeous, but it is functional. The deadbolt now slides smoothly into place.

Side gusset

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack

My youngest has a favorite shirt that was getting snug. To prolong the life of the shirt and make her happy, I added a gusset to the sides and up through the arm. First I picked out the side seams about to the elbow.

Photo description: Gray knit material with blue thread and a seam ripper, showing a partially picked seam.

I had her try on the shirt at this stage to see how wide the gusset needed to be cut. Then I cut long rectangles of a similar weight black knit fabric and tapered the end by the elbow.

Photo description: Gray t-shirt on a white table with a black rectangle of fabric laid on top. The top of the rectangle has been cut to a point.

I put the right sides together, and starting at the arm, sewed in the gusset with a stretch stitch on the machine. To finish the bottom edge, I folded up a hem to match the sides and stitched across with black thread.

Photo description: Gray Oklahoma Thunder shirt with sewn in black gusset, side view.
Photo description: same shirt but laid in the table flat showing the front view of the gusset up to the elbow.

I was quite pleased with how the modification came out. The shirt fits better and looks like it was originally designed that way. My youngest is happy because the shirt is now much more comfy.