Last night I was pulling the beautiful old Morse out of my cabinet and getting ready to take it to put it in storage and Michael asked what I was doing. I told him that it's out of timing and I break needles constantly. Rather than get it serviced again, I was going to go pick up one of my good old Singers and get it serviced. Because I trust the old Singers and I know they'll sew like the wind when they're in good shape.
He wanted to know if there was such thing as a high-end sewing machine. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "high-end" home sewing machine anymore. The new ones are all plastic and I've just never been happy with them. And I have sewn on other brands besides Singer/Brother. Well, he just didn't believe me. He asked what they sew on for Project Runway, and what do professionals use. I told him about the industrial dressmaker machines. And he said well, why don't you have one of those? I explained that the closest I can get to one of those with my money, is the old all-metal machines. And he got curious. So we went on the Singer site and looked at all the industrial machines. We found that most machines were VERY specific. Some machines only do buttonholes, some only sew buttons on, and one does nothing but sew the binding on mattress edges! And then there was the Singer 20U...
It does exactly what I need a sewing machine to do; zigzag, straight stitch (which is a zero width zigzag) and back stitch. I never use all the pretty decorative stitches that most machines come with. And if I want a blind hem I'd much rather do it by hand. I'm really a nuts and bolts kind of sewist. I want buttons and levers, not a touch screen. The digital machines scare me like fire scares a cave woman.
The 20U is a perfect match for me. It's all cast iron and it can run for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. Singer has been making this machine for over 20 years and it's become an industry standard.
So, much to my surprise Michael jumped right on eBay and bought me a brand-spanking new Singer 20U-109, the latest and greatest model. And it comes with the Singer 300 stand with the big 3/4hp 550W servo moter, a goose neck lamp, and a thread stand! It's like the Hummer of sewing machines!
I couldn't believe he actually just bought me an industrial sewing machine right before my eyes! This man has already gotten me two beautiful vintage Singers and now he's just purches the Queen Mother of sewing machines? I was in total shock!
I'm completely obsessed with learning everything I can about this machine. And I've found that industrail machines are a whole different ball game. Instruction manuals, parts diagrams, and even service manuals are all available FOR FREE everywhere online. Regular consumer sewing machine manuals are at the cheapest a $10 digital pdf. So, of course, I already downloaded and printed the manual. I'll be reading every word of it this weekend.
I'm so completely estactic to be getting a brand new industrial sewing machine coming to my house for me to sew on! Michael Bacon is amazing!
