Monday, June 17, 2013

The Beauty of Children's Sewing Machines

Monday, June 17, 2013
            another rainy day!


Children's Sewing Machines

    It's another rainy day today, so I assume that's a good day for sewing. My mother had a "real" sewing machine, but never had the time to use it since she worked during the day and took care of us at night. The sewing machine was most likely sold or given away, but I never saw it again. A few years ago, I though of taking a sewing course, and then making my own Tommy Hilfiger style parkas since they cost close to $ 450.00 plus. The trouble was that the course was moderately expensive, and and a heavy-duty sewing machine would cost thousands - so much for that idea! My other reference to sewing would be when E-Bay unilaterally decided that any merchandise could be returned! I remember reading comments on E0-Bay from people who sold dress plans. THey complained that buyers would copy the plans (after opening the package), then return the merchandise. Of course, ay opened package of plans would immediately make the merchandise "used". I never followed up on that story, as I never sold that type of merchandise!

   I was browsing my favourite "haunt" - Liveauctioneers, when I saw a beautifully-decorated children's sewing machine. I then went to Dan Morphy's website, and found a baker's dozen (13) of nice-looking merchandise. Old and antique children's sewing machines are not high-priced, and it appears that most of them were hardly used considering how old they are. And they still work of course! I don't have much information on the descriptions, as there wasn't much to have been written to go with the photos.  If I Was an interior designer, a dozen of these machines would be fantastic to decorate a wall of a clothing manufacturer, even though we all know that hardly any clothing is made in North America anymore!



What caught my attention of the earlier children's sewing machines were 2 things. The simplicity of the design, which is very appealing to view as an "art form". I like the contrast of the straight and curved features of the machines. The second point is the beautiful designs painted on the surfaces. In some cases, there is even soem fictional characters on the machines such as  Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf. That one is the 9th pair of sewing machines down from here. 













There was no date to indicate when these machines were made. However, I would guess that they're from the 1950's based on the enamelled finish, and the box design.

These 2 toys are actually banks, and are non-operational.
At first, I was surprise, but then I realized that this wasn't so "extraordinary. If you have visited my blog, you'd have seen my several posts on "still" banks and"mechanical" banks.


So that's my post for today on another rainy day. The weather is finally supposed to clear,and we're to have 5 days of sunny and progressively warmer weather later this week.

Thanks for visiting myblog,

and as always,
have a great part of the day,
wherever you may be.

Stacey 


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