Necchi Type 544

I confess: I'm a hoarder.  I recognize it as a problem though and so I'm on my way to recovery.  I now rarely buy machines unless the price is such that I just can't say no and the brand is one I like very much.

Finding a Wolf male dress form on the Spokane CL recently, I decided to do a quick drive and pick it up.  Dress forms aren't that common in the Seattle area despite our reputation as having attracted a large number of 'creative' types -- that is, if local CL and Offer Up listings are a gauge.  (Or perhaps we PNWers are so creative they're being used.)  A Wolf form for $100 in usable condition is a good deal here and finding a male form size 40 (I'm size 42-44) is perfect, as I can pad it out and make it mimic my own size.

The trip is about 4 - 4.5 hours depending upon traffic, 8 - 9 hours round trip.  Worth it, as the drive is pleasant.  My only regret is that I found the listing the night before I left and wrongly assumed my good friend Janet from Kalispell wouldn't be able to meet me there.  (Spokane is a kind of mid-point between us and we've met there twice before.)  It turns out she was in Spokane last weekend with one of her college-age daughters and we could have once again met in real life, real time.  This is important to me because we online friends don't often meet, she's a great person, and life is too short and fleeting NOT to get together.   I won't make that assumption again.

Anyway, I arrived early and stopped by the downtown Spokane Value Village and I spied an interesting looking sewing machine case sitting on one of the shelves:

It doesn't look like a Kenmore, Singer, etc. and sure enough, it houses a Necchi Type 544 -- essentially a Lydia, the model with the cam stack that's prone to cracking:

While in the store, I tried to turn the stitch selection knob.  It wouldn't turn.  Thus, I knew it too suffered from this well-known malady.  But the price was only $6.99 and I decided to go ahead, as this is a model I don't yet own (though it's similar to the Silvia I picked up not too long ago, a machine that happily doesn't have a cracked stack).  I may find use for the controller and the machine runs so well (very quiet and smooth, despite being filthy and full of lint -- now cleaned up about 80%, a project that will keep me busy for a little while) and I may just decide to either purchase a 3D printer and make my own stack or contact someone who has already done so.  Other than this one flaw, it's obviously a very good machine.

So I bought a dress form, an organ donor, a pair of Born shoes, 3 pieces of what Janet calls 'mystery fabric' (I love that) and a nice little day trip.  The weather has cooled and moistened nicely in the last few days, so I feel more myself and less irritable.  I'm getting ready for the fall season and that means cleaning and getting ready for the holidays.  Time to sell a few machines and other items and start making lists of projects.

I hope you're all well!