Mystery foot identified and my efforts with the narrow hem foot

Recently I posted about my new to me vintage Singer Rocketeer machine, and asked if anyone could identify this sewing machine foot which came with it.  A few people asked me to post a follow up if I found out what it was, and I am happy to report . . . 

Overcasting Foot

I sent an e-mail to Charlene Phillips of The Sew Box,  who replied with the identification as well as some instruction on how to use it.  She has written a very useful book about vintage sewing machine attachments and has a great website.  Here is my original post about the book and using the gathering foot.     

The answer is an Overcasting foot, and it creates a stitch along the edge of the fabric to finish the edge. In some respects it is the overlock stitch of a previous era.  The only problem with this is that my machine does not seem to have any stitch or cam that creates the overcast stitch.   So how to use it is still a mystery.  She sent me a photo and the stitch is creates looks a lot like a blanket stitch on the edge of the fabric.  I am sure those of you with those snazzy new electronic machines know all about this stitch - but we of the non-electronic era

must make do with our lovely steel attachments to get these fancy (useful) stitches.

Searching around the sewing blog world, I found this blog,  Brian Sews, which has tons of great info on vintage sewing machines and attachments.  I have been trying without any success to use the narrow hem foot. It could be incredibly useful for hemming silks, making dinner napkins and other items that have a very narrow hem however I could not get the hang of it.  Thankfully, Brian has a great post with video on his blog showing how to use it.  

http://www.briansews.com/2010/05/call-me-hem-master.html

So I have been practicing.  The key to consistent hemming is how you hold the fabric feeding into the foot.  

Here is the narrow hem foot in action.

Not yet ready for prime time,  if I actually used it on a garment, I would be doing a lot of picking out stitches and re-doing which does not seem like fun.   Example of my wobbly sttiching.

I see great potential for this foot - so useful, especially on children's clothes, sheer fabrics etc.

But not quite yet.  I am seriously thinking about ordering the next size up, which I think is 1/4" narrow hem.  Probably just as useful but not quite so tricky.  I will let you know.

And today's SunnyGal Garden photo -  my neighbor gave me this plant several years ago.  I just stuck it in the ground and now it is about 4 feet across.    Aloe, so I am told.

                                                                                                              

My New Old Rocketeer

My first post here was an admiration of my Singer Sewing Machine.  Now I have another addition.  Not quite an obsession, but the start of a collection.   My “new-old” sewing machine is a Singer Model 503 Slant-O-Matic.  

Referred to as a Singer Rocketeer.  Seeing as I have been making do with my original Singer Straight Stitch for as long as I have been sewing, the thought of zig-zag makes my head spin.  Not just zig-zag, this machine has a variety of stitches which are achieved by changing the cams on top of the machine.

And who can resist the look of this machine.  I am not sure where the Rocketeer name came from, possibly from the shape of the machine,  looking like a rocket  (seems a bit of a reach to me)

 I didn’t really need it, but my sister was given this machine, and said I could have it.  Just the small matter of shipping it back to CA.  I gladly paid $ 132 to ship it here but it sustained some serious damage.  Scratches all over the top, one of the side door hinges broken off, the top thread guide bent, and the plastic carrying case a total loss as the hinges were snapped off. Very sad but all in all still usable.  It had a bit of rust and  grime but not too bad considering it has been living in Hawaii for the past 50 years.

I took it apart, cleaned, and oiled the machine, lubricated the gears, and now it purrs like a kitten.   One great thing about having this machine is that all my accessories (various feet, buttonholers etc)  work on this machine as well as my original one.

Here is a look at the top.  I have not tried it yet, but you can see it has two thread holders and can do double topstitching.  Amazingly the workings inside the top cover were undamaged.  

These are the sewing machine feet and other items that came with it. Most of them I already had but the roller foot is new, as well as all the ones pertaining to the zig-zag.  

There are actually a couple of feet here

that I cannot identify.  If anyone has this 

machine or another old Singer and can tell me what

this one is for I would appreciate it.  In a previous post I 

referred to the Vintage Sewing Machine Attachment book

and website, however I don't find this one in there.

So still a mystery.

I wanted to try the decorative stitches so I made a cotton skirt and put some squiggles around the bottom edge with metallic thread.  (Chosen because I have these new shoes which are a copper color metallic)   The squiggles are
random, I didn’t mark anything as you can tell.



Not sure it is a success, but it is my first effort with the decorative stitches.   Actually I like the metallic stitching a lot more than the actual skirt style.  This is Simplicity 2451.

There is something about the pleats across the front that bug me, it is kind of puffy in a place where you don’t want puffy.  The skirt fits and if it was a flat front it would be fine.
So I am not sure about this skirt pattern.  I have made it before, using it as the skirt for a wool suit I made a few months ago. (Suit for a Japanese Wedding)   However for that skirt I took out the dip in the center front of the skirt and made the waistband piece a straight line instead of a curve and that seems to work better.  This pattern has another version with no pleats and a flared hem which I may try but it might just be a loser, at least for me.  

I do see possibilities for the decorative stitches and zig-zag.  After a lifetime of straight stitch I can’t really wrap my mind around it.  Yesterday I was doing something requiring a small piece of elastic, and after I finished creating a channel and inserting the elastic I thought hey - I could have sewin it on with the zig-zag in one minute. Oh well, another thing to practice.  Along with that 1/8 roll hemmer foot which I have yet to master.

Onward - working on my pink/green floral dress.  

And here is today’s SunnyGal garden photo which I took some weeks ago, when the Spanish lavender was in full bloom.