Singer 306K No. 2

Pfaff 130 no. 2

I admit that I've overpaid for a few machines.  And I admit that I've underpaid for others -- many others.  Today, I was in a thrift store not looking for anything in particular and I just happened to walk by the furniture area where sewing tables can sometimes be found.  Look what I found:

The price?  $9.99.  This 130 looks like it's been used maybe 10 times.  The thing is absolutely beautiful and came with a metal Pfaff box full of feet and attachments, the original 1952 sales receipt, and a few other odds and ends.  The cabinet is probably going to have to be destroyed -- I think it's too far gone.  No power cord but the knee pedal and cord are very much intact.  It was even clean, requiring just the usual wiping down, a little vacuuming in the crevices, and buffing of the chrome.  I'm amazed no one else saw the value in this, as I was told it had been sitting there for a while.

To celebrate, I stopped by the Italian bakery nearby and bought biscotti, a Black Forest cake, lemon cream puffs, and sausage cannelloni with a house marinara sauce and a wedge of Reggiano for grating.  So much for being thrifty, right?

Gingher shears and scissors

Sewing is like most other skills: the better the tools, the better the results and the greater the enjoyment.  An excellent set of cutting tools are an investment, not an expenditure.  With gentle use, they'll last for many decades, will stay sharp far longer, will be able to slice a wide variety of fabrics, are more easily maintained, and are weighted for more precise and more comfortable handling.  They also look great.  Finally, they can be handed down to others or re-sold.

The scissors shown above are all made in Italy by Gingher, a well-known and respected manufacturer of fine cutting tools.  The blades are polished chrome over nickel, double-plated, and knife-edged (referring to the angle of the edge).  The four larger scissors are in a bent-handle design, allowing for easier flat cutting and they include two-finger loops for stability and better pressure.  Having large hands and fingers as well as doing a majority of flat cutting, I greatly prefer this design.  The scissors cut beautifully all the way to the tip, so I'm getting precision cuts for the entire blade length.

Many find that certain plastic-handled scissors do a fine job.  Once I started using these, I can't go back.  Knowing these will last for the rest of my life, I thankfully don't need to.  Thrifty! 

The sizes in the picture are:

10" dressmaking shears

8" spring-loaded dressmaking shears

7.5" pinking shears

6" shears

5" straight scissors

4" embroidery scissors

sharpening stone