I have photos for you, reader. Photos that I took especially for you about three or four weeks ago. Here’s the first one:

Isn’t that grand, aren’t you happy I’ve finally put it up? It’s of one of my most miraculous Christmas presents ever, one made possible by my grandparents (thank you, thank you, thank you!). It’s a sewing machine. In a table. Straight from the mid-century.

Made by singer, it’s part of the Golden Touch ‘N Sew line, model number 620. Whoever had this previously {{1}} [[1]] yes, I bought it at good will – I’ve actually seen two more since then, but none of them in as good of shape[[1]] took their ownership seriously and not only greased the gears to within an inch of their life, but also carved their SSN into the machine’s bottom.

I’ll let you ponder that a moment.{{2}} [[2]] . . . If it helps any, they carved “US consulate” above it and “NPSmith” below. It still seems a little extreme.[[2]]

When I took these pictures I also took the time to oil all the moving parts because, let’s be honest, the moving parts are the best thing about this machine. The only place I couldn’t get into was the bottom. The plastic cover for it is badly buckled, and three of the four screws are completely stripped. That being said, the rest of the innards were amazing to behold. I love seeing the metal all shiny and purposeful!

So, how does this thing actually preform? It works real nicely for straight stitching. I got it to zig-zag for a bit too, but then I adjusted something and now I can’t figure out how to get it to zig-zag again. The lightbulb holder was a little black when I got it, and I managed to finish melting it out after my first test run with the machine. Hot bulbs in plastic casings seem like a easily foreseeable issue, but maybe age is more to blame than engineering.

The machine came with the original manual and almost all of the accessories, tucked tidily away in the bottom drawer of it’s table.  For this model that includes special fashion discs for making pretty stitches, however as of yet I haven’t been able to get these to work either. This is probably because I haven’t spent that much time trying, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something was a little out of place inside.

Anyway, isn’t she just brimming with potential? I foresee lot’s of adventures ahead, Lady-Kin – welcome to the family!