Vintage Singer 66 Repaired with photos

Singer 66 has been fixed up thanks to Brother Vac and Sew (special thanks to Tracy for the helpful plug!). I ended up chatting with the owner for 30 minutes and he gave lots of helpful tips on how to sew heavier materials such as leather/denim and gave me a shim which helps adjust the pressure foot to step up or down while sewing. It's a family owned business and the tech who did the repairs was very helpful. If I keep the machine oiled, the owner said that the machine shouldn't need to be brought ever again since the machine is all metal. Below are pictures from this morning and the leather is 3 layers deep with some lighter fabric tossed in for good measure. It goes through leather REALLY well, and I'm super pleased with it.

This machine is one of the most common in its era and often you can find them in thrift stores for 20-30 bucks. If they're in good condition, getting them fixed up professionally means you have a machine that'll last you forever. Each one will have its serial number listed which you can google to see the date of manufacturing (this machine is from 1935 thereabout). It will only do straight stitches and cannot backtack but I only need it to do one thing and it does it extremely well. The wallet photos below is the first thing I sewed when it came home.

If you are in DC and need a sewing machine or vacuum repaired, please check out Brother Sew and Vac: http://www.brothersewvac.com/.

Leather Wallet

Wallet dyed royal blue is done.  Below are the pictures.

Reflections and critiques from finishing up the second wallet:

This year I am tackling leatherworking.  The main goal is to learn the fundamentals and make wallets, card holders and then maybe book coverings.

Below is the wallet 2.0 (1.0 is effectively a leather version of the vinyl wallet 7.0). It looks good and below are my comments and reflections:

Form factor is good, the pieces are easy to measure and cut, glue and assemble. Both panels are 3 6/8'' x 4 6/8'' in dimension.

From use, the inner leather needs to be thinner to cut down on the profile.

The leather I'm using is from a gift a professor I use to work for. It was massive so it'll give me good mileage.

Other notes: The corners need to be curved which will help with the profile as well (making it look smaller than it really is).

I'll cut out more of the pattern using 3-4oz leather and see how it feels as panel 1 and 2 and then make a hybrid of both.

Tentative future projects

I wouldn't mind doing these down the road:

Business card holder out of vinyl. Design incoming.

Leather wallet.  May use Wallet 7.0 as the template.

Updated To-Do List

I think I have 5 completed wallets 7.1 for the craft fair. I also created 5 boxes to sell them in.  This weekend I want to:

Create 3 or 4 more wallets

Construct 3 or 4 more paper boxes

Create a handout/blurb for the wallet design for the sale explaining how to use the wallet

Create a label for the QR code to direct people to my website

Add unsold wallets to Etsy for sale

Take better pictures of the wallets for Etsy

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As a side note, one of my colleagues who is beta testing wallet 7.1 REALLY loves the wallet.

Wallet Pieces 7.1

I'm working on my workflow and cut out a bunch of the wallet 7.1 body pieces which I'll assemble in various stages. I am using basting tape to press down some parts that need top stitching. I need to cut the cash straps and use different colors but I may opt to streamline the decorate stitch with red or black.  I can make it a thing!

Future of Wallet Designs (the honey-do list)

I'm really digging the wallet designs and like the direction it's going in.  That said, there are plenty of room for improvement which I will list below:

Workflow - I need to cut out a bunch of the templates so I can increase my work flow. I already do this for the money strap but the body of the wallet should also have this.

Hide exposed edges - The wallets will age (hopefully) gracefully but sewing in exposed edges will make the wallets look more professional. This does mean that I have to extend the length by 2/8'' and use basting tape to keep it from slipping, and then top-stitch 1/8''. This has to happen before the assembly of the body since the wallet mouth is too small to wrap around the pressure foot.

Create a box - This is the box the wallet would go in. I am tentatively planning on selling this at the IFAW craft fair so I think it would look snazzy as a stocking stuffer. Anyone have ideas for how much to charge for the wallet?

Buy more vinyl - This is for when I run out vinyl (which is happening soon!). I'll play around with color and texture.

Experiment with decorative stitches - Self explanatory. The money strap will need something other than a zigzag stitch.  Different color options is also a good idea.

Wallet 6.0 and 7.0 Designs

I like my designer friends. They give me ideas of how to tweak designs I have in my head to improve what's already there. With the vertical wallet, I was concerned about the money strap being too loose so one friend suggested that the strap be worked into the notch cut out.  Doing so created Wallet 6.0.

Wallet 6.0

 (Designed 10/15/17)

The money strap had to be sewn in reverse so there would be no exposed seams and adds to the tightness. I think it came out good.

But then when I was reviewing this, I looked at the side seams and realized how much stress those seams would experience and thought to myself that maybe the seams could be done away with by moving from 2 pieces to 1 and rotating the design to the back. Doing this was far more complicated than I wish as it wasn't as simple as shifting the design; I had to instead shorten areas that were designated for seam allowances, and length areas that needed lengthening.  In the end it was worth it and the design now looks like this:

Wallet 7.0

(Designed 10/15/17)

Here's what the wallets, side by side, looks like:

Designing Methodology

When I design I usually start super simple: What do I want to make. By this time, I basically know my aesthetic so I know how I want whatever I'm making will look but the various elements can be pretty complicated.

If I wanted to make a bag, I want to know what kind of bag it'll be, what kinds of enclosures I want, how the bag will be held or carried and pockets. Don't forget the pockets.  I'll usually have an idea about the dimensions and from there I break down each sewable element such as which step needs to follow the previous step, measuring panels with seam allowances, etc.  Often I'll look online for how construction works, the materials needed, and over the course of a few hours to a few weeks, I will spend designing how I want this bag to look and how I'd assemble it.

I have a fairly tame aesthetic and tend to want as simple a design as possible, since I don't work with a lot of exotic materials/tools.  Also I find that busy designs are needlessly complicated and there are often too many ways things could go to hell.  Remember KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Wallet Design

If you want to make one, these are super easy to measure, cut and sew.  This wallet will carry (comfortably) 8 cards, plus 5 bills.  This is made from black textured vinyl which is thin enough that I could run through the sewing machine.

Measure 4 6/8'' x 3 6/8''

At the 2 3/8'' cut a hole to your liking.  Mine was about the size of a nickel.

Measure 1'' x 3 6/8''  This will be your strap.  I measured 1/8'' and beveled the strip as a decorate measure.

Cut your wallet design in the fabric of your choice.  I would recommend using a wallet that has some stretch as your cards will need to fit inside it.  Fold your fabric right sides together and slip your strap inbetween the two layers at the midpoint.  Carefully sew along those edges at a 1/8'' seam allowance on both sides.  Invert everything so only the right sides are showing.  Use a pen to even out the corners. Wallet is done!

I measured the midpoint on the wrong side of the fabric and added a decorative stitch.