Zippers and Drawstrings

I pulled some cotton pieces from my box of scraps and 

used them to make a few

zippered pouches and drawstring bags

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Mailbox v. Vandals

When we moved here in 1979, we took a look at the dented, lopsided, spray painted, uprooted mailboxes of our neighbors and decided to get a post office box in town instead of having a mailbox at the top of the driveway. This worked fine until the past couple of years when the MVA began addressing mail to our house instead of to our post office box. Because we didn’t have mail delivered at the house, the post office simply returned our mail to the MVA. Driver’s license renewals? Returned to the MVA. Registration renewals? Returned to the MVA. Ack! So, after 36 years, we bought a mailbox, painted our house number on it, set a post in the ground, mounted the box on an arm on the post and waited for the MVA to send us something.

The mailbox was up for not quite two months before the local vandals discovered it. Two weekends out of the last three, our mailbox was pulverized. The first time, it was dented and the little red flag was ripped off. We took the box down, pounded out the dents, riveted the flag back onto the box, and re-mounted it on the post. The second time, the little turds beat the living daylights out of it. In addition to being dented, the bottom of the box was torn from the top, the door wouldn’t close, the arm on the post was twisted and the post was leaning to one side. The photo above shows the mailbox after the second round of repairs. Believe me, it looked a heck of a lot worse before we worked on it.

We hated to remount the box, only to have it vandalized again. Internet research revealed all kinds of interesting ways to defeat mailbox vandals. Unfortunately, some of the ideas were super expensive. Others were a heck of a lot of work. Still others seemed likely to injure either the vandals or to pose a hazard if a motorist ran into the post. We eventually found one idea, though, which made a lot of sense and after the second time we beat our mailbox back into something resembling a mailbox, we put the idea into practice.

The underside of our box has two brackets on it. When we put the brackets back on the box after repairing it the second time, we added two long nails which poke down through the brackets. The distance between the nails is the same as two pre-drilled holes on the arm of the post.

We drilled two holes in a piece of wood and mounted it to the arm of the post so the holes line up with the two pre-drilled holes on the arm. We also mounted our newspaper box to this with cable ties.  

Then, we put a handle on top of the mail box. Now all we have to do is slip the two nails into the holes each morning to mount the box. Then each evening, we grab the box by the handle, pick it up, and bring it (and the mail) back to the house.

This is a tiny bit of extra work for us, but it’s no big deal. With any luck, the vandals will leave the post and the newspaper box alone. Fingers crossed.  

Singer 2404 reverse repair

Several years ago, I saw this machine listed for sale on eBay. When I asked the seller about packing it for shipment, she said all the right things, so I placed my bid. Unfortunately, my bid was the high bid. 

When the machine arrived, it was in a cardboard box without any packing material at all. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Not a wadded up newspaper. Not a single packing peanut. Nothing. The machine was in its original case (which was one of the reasons I wanted it), but the box was too small for the case, and during shipment the handle on top of the case was crunched down into the top of the case, which broke the handle and cracked the top of the case. Because there was no packing material whatsoever, the bottom of the case had broken into a dozen pieces. The foot controller had rattled around, broken into several chunks, and spewed graphite disks everywhere. The top of the machine (the part with the spool holder on it) was cracked and bent. Considering the complete lack of packing material, I was surprised the machine wasn't in worse shape. 

When I contacted the seller, she seemed genuinely surprised when I told her about the machine's condition. After we talked about it, we agreed I would keep the damaged machine and she would refund my shipping costs plus half of my purchase price. I hadn't paid much for the machine, so this was a fair deal for both of us, I think. 

I junked the many, many pieces of plastic and found replacements for the top of the machine and the foot controller. I've never found another original case (still hoping, though!), but I did find a new case which fits the machine the same way the old one did. I also picked up a Singer 1862 at a rummage sale because it came with a box of cams which will fit this machine. 

In the photo above, you can see a big pink button on the right front side of the machine. When you push it in and hold it in, the machine is supposed to reverse. The machine ran like a champ -- going forward and in reverse -- until recently when it decided it didn't want to stitch in reverse. E took a look at it today and the solution wasn't obvious, but it was simple. 

The arrows in the next photo point to two set screws on the bottom of the machine.

The one on the top was super loose. The one on the bottom was a little bit loose. These set screws hold the bearings for the rods which control the feed dogs and because the rods were loose, the feed dogs weren't willing to reverse. Once E pushed the bearings over to the left to take the play out of the rods and tightened the two screws, the problem was solved. Now the 2404 sews a nice stitch going forward and in reverse. Yay!