I have been sewing and quilting since the September retreat,  but many of those projects are still in progress!  (I haven’t been quite as frugal with my sewing time, and sleep has been precious! Are those good enough excuses…)

However,  I want to share this wonderful, just IN, case that my Father gifted me for Christmas!  Do you remember the Feathered Journey of the 1937 featherweight?

The case that arrived with it smelled, and looked like it was from 1937.  It has that distinct horse glue mixed with basement storage aroma and was only a little war-torn.   I wonder what its story was in the years of WWII?

I wasn’t feeling brave enough to tackle this one, but my dad thought he would like to have it.  I thought that he might fix it up for my mom’s featherweight.  However,  he surprised me this holiday when he asked me,  “how shall I stain it?”.

Look at the results!  How awesome is this to store and protect my green beauty?
Thank You, DAD!  You never cease to amaze me.

I am not sure of the entire process he followed to refurbish this case, but I talked to him about a few of the steps along the way.   This is how I understood the process;

1. Painstakingly remove all of the old covering from the box.  Do not remove the riveted clasps, just do your best to remove the covering around them.
2. Remove the old broken handle.
   It is actually stitched through the lid.   He found that the wood for the lid was not reinforced, which is why many of the old cases were probably cracked from carrying them by the handle.  (I wish I had a photo of it after removal!)
3. In this case, the handle was not in any condition to save, but it was noted that the handle itself did have a curved steel plate to make it sturdy.
4. He sanded the inside and outside of the case to remove as much of the old glue as possible.  This gets rid of most of the old smell.
5. In this case, he stained the box green.  Several coats were required as the old wood (with glue residue) did not soak up the stain like new wood.
6. He hand sewed a new handle to the box lid.  I think that he added some reinforcement, but I am not positive.  Take a look at that handle.  My dad is the master of upcycling.  So trendy and functional!  🙂
   

   

   

   My dad had an old, sturdy, red leather purse that had some awesome hardware.  He was able to use the leather, hardware, and straps to create a new handle and a strap for the case.   He used some nylon strapping to create a cradle for the box and attached the long handle to that.
   

   

   

   

   The inside was another story.

7. The machine was a glove fit to the box, so he covered the bottom, sides, and top with felt so that the machine doesn’t get scratched when lifting and lowering it from the box.
   
   

   Fit with machine

   

   Inside of box

The pedal is too large to fit on the left side of the machine, but I will be able to store the manual or some tools during storage and transport.

8.  Finally, he added a personal touch by hand painting Celtic scrolls to match the silver singer scrollwork on my machine!  Woo Hoo!  It is sew pretty.

Now, as if I wasn’t the luckiest girl in the world already, my mom iced the cake.  She gifted me a handmade “sew-together-bag” in Singer themed fabric to hold all of my tools and spare parts for the machine.  These babies take some patience.  It is beautiful!

I am so grateful to have such talented, loving parents.  These are such wonder.full gifts from the heart and make my machine even more special for my parent’s involvement in the project.  I will never forget.

SEW TOGETHER!