Bernina bobbins branded and otherwise

I seem to have a new Bernina in my future, and it came without a bobbin case. So I went online on Amazon and Ebay to shop.

The same companies sell on both, the prices are the same.

The one on the left came with my original 140 Activa machine.

The one on the right was the unbranded online purchase.

Unbranded has a thinner arm for thread, and a tension screw of same metal as case (original has a darker metal screw)

There are more metal working marks, but that's immaterial.

 Hole is at about the same angle from the body.

The thread hole in the arm is a little bigger. Since many bobbin cases don't have that hole, that's fine.

This is where my issues come in. The side opening on the metal spring on the side (which is how you are adjusting the thread tension) is kinda outta whack.

This is the original. All lined up nice

And this is the online purchase. The opening between the prongs is smaller, the 'tension spring'  isn't lined up in the middle. 

I could test it, and I probably will, but I've got a stack of real sewing to do and not a lot of play time.

It was about ten dollars, but I could have spent between 5 and 20 for the same model from various sellers.

So I'm glad the repair shop talked me into buying a branded one. I mean, I'm cheap thrifty, but dang.

Vintage Sewing vs Vintage Sewing Machine, Part One

I was planning on entering the Pattern Review Vintage Sewing Contest. It is my favorite of them all.

This is Becky, the Kenmore 1040.

She is not a vintage dress pattern. She's a 1972 machine.

 

 Quite possibly the cleanest used machine I have ever bought. All the parts are in excellent shape. Timing is a little off - the needle is brushing something. This is the sort of machine you can do most of the work on yourself. A three quarter size, 1972, metal gear driven. Came with the plastic 'roses' case, all in perfect shape. She's been named Becky for the lovely woman who sold her to me. Yes, one honest sale on Ebay! We are out there! Found the manual online, found some pretty great webpages on the 1040, and am just having a wonderful time.

 Becky has a tools box and a flip out table at the end of the bed. The box covers the access to the bobbin. It rattles some; I may stuff it full of batting and put the tools elsewhere.  She came with a piping foot and a blind hem foot, but not a zipper foot; the easiest one to replace.

For every lousy sale on Ebay, there's one that makes you glad you live in such a nice world! This is that one.

little flip table and tool box  

My problem is this: the #15 bobbin of the Kenmore 1040 has a slightly larger hole (thinner material for the central tube) than the #15 bobbin of today. It's the same exterior size as the #15 and the Bernina bobbin shown on the right, but that tube is just too small for the bobbin winder pin.

So I have two bobbins I can load on this machine, and a pile from the B-word I can empty.

The BWord sucked a thread into the handwheel and I cannot safely open it to remove it. So it needs an expensive trip to the "Oh, we don't have the parts" store nearby, or a car trip vacation to the place where the guy can fix it, but not anytime soon. Becky is supposed to solve that problem. I just thought I had a little more time to get to that point.

I was planning on sewing for the Pattern Review Vintage Contest, and then taking the summer work break.

Now I may just be entering this machine in the contest. It is older than 1980.

Oh, there's more to this.  Much, much more.

Want more Kenmore?

Collette Snippets March 25th

Argggg. There are two things I hate about my Bernina sewing machine. One is the thread slot on the right side, where I unthread as I slide my fabric into place.

The other is thread nesting.  Beginning of seam is a mass of thread loops on the underside, and messed up tension through the seam. A tune up helps ($170 before tax without parts in Seattle), as does redoing the tension in the bobbin (free but hard to get right). 

I cannot hold the thread, the fabric, check the seam allowance AND slide the piece in at the same time.

One thing that does help me find the top thread, is clipping a wonderclip (the little Clover ones) onto the end of the top thread when I cut the threads from the previous seam. If this seems a little precious and overdone,

you have never heard me swear.

Today's Colettle Patterns Snippet isn't from me, but it sure tells my story.

I cannot link to this page properly. So here is the link to Colletterie weekly snippets sign up page. 

For one, it's not the bobbin thread nesting; it's the top thread. The top thread should not be dragged into the bobbin threads at the start of the seam. I am pretty sure it's the machine timing being out of whack, but it is quite the @#$### if you are working with chiffon.

That said, this is a good trick for getting sheers to track at the beginning of the seam; it's like steering from the direction you are going.

Which makes me wonder if I've screwed up the feed/bobbin tension BY doing this. A self fulfilling prophecy? The more I do it, the worse it gets?

Oy.

photo from Kenneth King's Jean-ius! Craftsy class

And here's Kenneth King pulling his damn threads back at the start of a seam.

Why, lord, why have you afflicted us so?