Locust Tree Blooms and a Solution to the Bobbin Winder Issue

We made kind of a mistake planting a locust tree in the yard many years ago..it has spread from the original tree (which died after about 15 years) to three clumps of shoots - it's a rather invasive tree..but..they provide some lovely blooms in the spring time...


My Tiger cat under the locust tree:


I got an email from one of the ladies on the TreadleOn list, Cindy, saying that if I took the top screw out of the bobbin winder it could move down into contact with the wheel..only downside is that one has to hold the bobbin winder down whilst winding..but not a big deal..may still look for something to make the bobbin tire and the wheel match up a bit better some day...but it's not a priority...Here is a shot of the bobbin winder without the top screw..Oh..and you can see the orange spool protector in this shot as well!!

Playing with Alis

I finally got to sewing with Alis, the Singer 99 that I converted to a hand crank back in February. I am really liking hand cranking!

 First, I made her a felt spool protector out of bright orange felt (you can't see it in the pic since there is a spool on it!) Then I oiled her up, cleaned out the hook area, threaded her up and started cranking...had to do a few tweaks to the presser foot pressure and the tension knob, but I have her sewing a pretty nice stitch - the stitch length knob is still frozen but that is not dreadfully necessary yet - I did oil it and hopefully it will loosen soon.

I took the knee-bar controller out..took me a few to figure out there were screws on the bottom of the case! And one screw needed some 'manly muscles' so I got DH to at least start that one...Machine is significantly lighter with both the motor and the controller removed.. I bagged the pieces..just not quite sure what to do with them!


I am noodling with whether I can move the hinges on the case..but not sure on that since there are two holes for the screws that come up from the underside that would need to be filled and re-drilled...it's just a wee bit off for leaving the hand crank in place and putting the dome case over it (maybe 1/4 inch!!)..I can SEE there should be room to move it..but just dunno about the mechanics of it..for now, I am just leaving the bolt tightener tool in the underside of the case...and taking the crank off to cover the machine...


Need to figure out how to get the bobbin winder to work with the spoked hand wheel..am thinking about adding something to where the bobbin tire should meet up with the wheel...thought maybe a piece of
treadle belt would work, but it's a wee bit too thin..need to go to the hardware store or the craft store to see if I can come up with something that might work..

Oh..guess who helped: