Garage Sale Finds

Do you ever take a look at a garage sale from the car window and judge whether or not to even bother getting out and inspect the merchandise closer? Unless you are in a hurry, why not get out and see what they have as you never know what you will find.

While driving around to check out a few garage and estate sales on Friday before we went to The Lion King, our first yard sale we pulled up to I said, “It’s all fishing stuff,” and sure enough it was. But as my partner was looking for a new tackle box we checked it out anyway. His mom said she’d like to get one for the boy who couldn’t come because his parents honestly believe that they would all go to hell if the kids saw The Lion King as he likes to fish too. The prices seemed a little high, until the seller informed them to open the boxes which were all loaded with brand new tackle. He said when G.I. Joe’s went out of business he snatched up a great deal on fishing gear. Suddenly the $25 and $15 prices for the tackle boxes they were looking at didn’t seem so bad considering they had a couple hundred dollars worth of new tackle in them so they paid for their stuff and we continued down the road to the next one.

We drove a bit and followed some signs to the next garage sale, which when we pulled up had a makeshift banner proclaiming ANTIQUES. Walking up the driveway into the garage we came upon a beauty of an old sewing machine that looked a lot like the one my grandfather used to use. But since none of us needed a sewing machine I just admired it and we moved on to look at some of the other stuff the lady was selling. My partner’s mom of course found stuff she had to have and my partner was back looking at the sewing machine again. It’s beautiful vintage black gold styling, the solid maple table it was attached to, the fact that it was plugged in and a piece of fabric in it to test it out, the $35 price tag. After his mother paid for her stuff, we all were talking about the machine and the lady said she’d take $30 for it or for $35 she’d throw in the bench, which she quickly went into the house to get. I still said I want it, but I don’t need it, and then the lady took the seat off the bench to reveal a dozen different feet, at least twenty bobbins and tons of other sewing stuffs. My partner’s mother handed her $35 and said, “We’ll take it.”

Well, my partner’s mother drives a Jaguar and there was no way the machine was going to fit in the trunk, so I gave the lady my name and phone number and said I’d be back in a couple hours to pick it up. We did, however, put the bench in the trunk and continued our garage sale adventures. I offered to get cash to pay her back but she insisted on not accepting any money, touting that it was too good of a deal to pass up. Well, after picking up the machine I decided to research a little more on this particular model and dated the machine to be built in 1948 in Elizabeth, New Jersey and also found that in top-notch condition these machines sell for between $50 and $100. The tables sell for about $10, maybe $15 if you have the coordinating bench. Okay, so this wasn’t that good of a deal, but the machine is still in perfect working condition.

So then I had to test it out. I plugged it in, turned on the light and pressed the knee pedal to start sewing, fiddling with the various stitch lengths and it seemed to sew perfectly on both the front and the back. Then I figured it was like my 1963 Singer Touch & Sew in that moving the stitch length lever all the way up made it stitch really close and wanted to see exactly how that was possible as the 30 stitches per inch length was closer than I’d ever use and it started sewing backwards! I know this seems a geeky thing to get excited about, but I’ve never used a sewing machine that actually sewed backwards and forwards and now I can’t wait to get it cleaned, possibly serviced and start using it, mostly to see if this beast can handle quilting. It only does straight stitches, but if this really is like the one my grandfather used for his upholstery work, I’ve got a feeling it’ll take it like a champ.