busy

I took a week off from work.  I finally made it to the NYC garment district, all by myself!

I didn't want to go with anyone who wasn't as interested as I in fabric, so I took a bus from Bergenfeld, NJ where my son lives.  The terminal is right there, no need to try out the subway.  I had a list organized by street, but it didn't take me long to abandon it.  There were just so many stores there beckoning to be concerned with a list.  I did make it to Mood and saw the dog.  I overheard 3 times while I was there salespeople telling customers to "check our website for that", so that was a little disappointing.  I do shop online from them. I ended up getting a nice linen spandex blend.  I don't know that I knew there was such a blend!

I traveled up by myself from Delaware this time, usually I go with my daughter and she drives.  She likes to make it in 3 hours.  I took 5 1/2.  Part of the reason was this beauty that I found on Craigslist and made a detour for 2 hours from my house:

Singer 503, the rocketeer

I know, I know, it's a sickness.  She was CLEAN though, with all of her cams, attachments, even the manual.  In a well preserved plastic case.  The motor sings.  The stitches are fine.  I considered leaving it with my son, but I just couldn't do it.  Pretty, pretty.

So, I got home (I stopped in the middle of that trip for a visit and a nap, it took even longer!) with piles of fabric and a new machine.  I had to start the bodice sloper,  And I DID.  I've measured for the thing twice previously, but last time was a year ago so I did that again.  Wrote them all down compared to the pattern's measurements.  This is butterick's sloper pattern and came with alternative darts for c and d cups.  I pin basted the paper and tried it on and although I am a solid c the b cup seemed to work fine, in paper anyway.  I did have to add extra at the front shoulder line.  I was surprised there too.  I would have expected needing adjustments to the back but for paper purposes it was definitely the front that needed the adaptation.

I also had to lift the armhole some.  I've got the darts marked and will sew the thing together probably tomorrow.  It has sleeves to be dealt with well.  I'll be interested to see how it comes out.  I was surprised when I did the pants sloper with the adjustments.  The parts of my body I think are out of proportion were not the parts that needed the changes.  With pants it was crotch depth. and it seems I may need to make that adjustment to every bottom I sew for the lower half of my body.  Too bad I didn't do slopers back in 1980.  I might have been much better dressed for a few decades.

It's been hard sticking to this sloper thing.  I've got piles of great fabric.  Also Melissa over at blank slate patterns released a free t shirt pattern in all sizes that takes about 1/2 hour to sew.  I keep seeing all kinds of people posting their versions and I have some cute knits.....

Today I set up the total gym and got on it.  Would be very cool if I could keep getting on it.

Working on the Singer 306k

That has been waiting for me since I bought it early last spring.  I oiled every thing up and plugged it in to see if it worked (the tag from the thrift store said it did not, but we know how that is).  It DID!  And pretty nicely too, except when I went to adjust stitch length with that pretty steel lever bottom right of the machine's neck, that lever snapped right off.  It was set in teeny tiny stitch mode.  It took a while to find another lever, until earlier this month as a matter of fact.  I've had it sitting on a book shelf on my stair landing all these moons. Most days as I walked by I twisted a knob or two, maybe took it for a few threadless stitches, to keep it all free moving and somewhere closer on my to-do list.

I downloaded a service adjuster's manual for a 306w because that's what I found.  Basically the same machine except I couldn't find any light/lamp on the W model.  These vintage manuals can have illustrations that are hard to see, not to mention at times hard to find at all for some of the more obscure machines.  So, I'm offering some illustrations of my repair of the stitch length regulator.  I'm not a pro, yaddi yaddi yaddi. And unplug your machine before starting to take it apart. 

























First I had to take off the little numbered plate in front. Actually I didn't have to. That step is to remove the lever that I had already snapped off.  I hoped I would be able to see if my assembly was repairable by looking in there before I took the machine further apart. I really could not.

Next part was down under.  I thought I had cleaned this machine, but I guess I stopped after oiling when that leaver broke.  It will get thoroughly cleaned before it gets put into use.  The eccentric stud (so named by the manual) that the screwdriver is pointing to needs to come out, after loosening the screw just to the left (ingloriously named "C-3").  I did not use the screwdriver seen.  It won't work.  Mr. Rain at the fabulous Vintage Singer Sewing Machine Blog can tell you all about the right screwdrivers and a wealth of other stuff.  I picked up some screwdrivers from Walmart that will work because they are open at 6am. I am sure they are not as nice as the ones he directed readers to.  They do fit the screw slots on the machine well, and  that's the important part. By the way, that stud only unscrews so much, then you have to pull it out. Don't drive yourself crazy.

Then, ta-da, your assy is off from the bottom. There is one more screw however.  The book names it "screw E", ominously warns you not to strip it (Yikes!), and then tells you vaguely that it's behind the motor,  no diagram.  So, you have to flip it around unless you already had it backside up.  And to answer your other question, yes you do have to take the motor off.  Don't worry, this is really really easy.

It's just that one big ole screw there, holding it on by the bracket.  This is where and how to get most external motors off machines and how you get a new belt on too.

 Motor off, and there's screw E. More dirt, dirt, dirt! And look, this Singer was made in Great Britain. For giggles, read up on ole Mr. Singer one day.  Not if you're a churchy lady though. He was a cad, especially for his time.  Was not received in nice homes. Drummed out of the country and off his company's board too. ANYWAY, I found screw E no trouble to remove at all.  It also has much length without threads, so as soon as I could use my fingers to unscrew I did. Then you can feel when to pull it out.

Now you can pull out the stitch regulator assembly, from the bottom. It really was wedged in nicely.  I'm just a little nervous about getting it back in just right in the dark.

But, dammit!!!  The first lever is snapped off too low to pull out and replace with the new one.  I'm going to ask the guys at my friendly auto repair shop if they can ream it out, but I'm thinking I'll have to order the rest of the assembly. At least I know who to order from.  I have an  Ebay dealer named r0npm who told me he has lots of vintage parts machines, and since he had the lever I'll bet he has the assembly it came out of.  He was quick to respond to my inquiry for a part he did not have listed, confirmed with photo that it was what I needed, even offered technical advice.  Shipped it fast and it was less than $10, shipping included.
For today I still have no control of stitch length or reverse either.  I did clean quite a bit of the external crud from the machine as I replaced all of the screws I took out.

This is the light that the 306W apparently doesn't have.  It's in the back of the machine and very sturdily made.  For some reason it reminds me of Army equipment, WWII to cold war post Vietnam era.  I can almost smell a RATT rig.  I had to tinker  a little to figure out how to get it open  to try a new bulb in it.

If you twist it, it will pop off.  Goes back on easy.  That rust looks fresh. Did I get it damp back there?  I'll clean that up too.  Another day. Had to clean up and come to my 6th nightshift in a row.  Next night I'll sleep, which is tonight because it's black as heck past 5am and I gotta go attend to things.

Mini periwinkle quilt misery

is what I was ending up with using this template and a kind of pseudo paper piecing technique with the tutorial.  I even went back and traced around the template on the back, then added correct seam allowances so I would have more accuracy.

                        
It just didn't add up to enough improvement to warrant the additional work.  There is a lovely tutorial by Red Pepper Quilts for the same quilt, using her foundation paper. Unfortunately, it is a slightly different size so I would have to print out and then CUT out all those patterns.  While I was looking at her tutorial again just now, I'm thinking if I followed along her directions to the letter I might get the results I am craving.  I do have about a gazillion of those MSQC triangle papers.  She puts down triangle, diamond, triangle and then presses all in one direction.  MSQC puts the diamond down first, assisted with a smear of glue stick, then left triangle and  right triangle.  Might be less bulk at the kissing diamond points the Red Pepper way.  I'll give it one more shot, darn it! 

*Update, Saturday night shift- Oh, dear.  I'm supposed to be sewing 4 of these pieced triangles together, not two.  Might make a BIG difference.  I'll definitely give it another shot!  I'm still going to incorporate Red Pepper's directions so I can twirl the center intersecting seams on the back.  I love doing that.  The thrill may wear off before these (half gazillion) triangles get made into a quilt. 

I got the 15-91 installed into the cabinet and oiled and the bobbin case arrived.  I tossed an orphan block into a small sandwich and tried out some free motion quilting.  I know every machine feels a little different but this did feel exceptionally "draggy".  The feed dogs do drop, but it felt like they were still influencing the flow.  I took a look at them in action- they appear possibly higher than they should be, and with the sandwich squished down they may be grabbed intermittently by feed dog movement.  I put stitch length at zero and that helped. I decided to give my supreme slider teflon sheet a shot.  This was the first machine of three that I really felt a benefit with it on, but alas!

That gold speckle upper right is some of my antique finish.  It did this on the Singer 201-2 as well. I won't try it again on another black vintage singer. It may do better on the later model machines.  I don't foresee myself getting any of those.  I have a taupe Kenmore from the 60's that suffered no ill effects from the slider, but it was one of the machines that didn't really have an improvement either.  It already did sweet free motion.

The 15-91 is also NOISIER than the 201.  It has a smaller (though still large) harp space.  It does move to the right smoother in free motion than the 201, but I think I've already learned to compensate for this.  I still want to try out free motion embroidery, and specifically free motion embroidery without any foot.  I think this machine will do better at that job than any machine I've ever owned or played on. One day, I'd like to be, in my own style, as good as this guy.

It didn't follow me home

I emailed the seller over two nights about it and got up today after 4 hours of sleep to go get it.  I removed it from the cabinet for transport and didn't put it back in yet.  I know it's kind of nutty- this makes 4 machines in cabinets, total of 6 in my bedroom.  I have one more on the stair landing that is waiting for a 306k stitch regulator (if someone just happens by here and has a parts machine :)).   I spotted this while looking for a machine for someone else and they didn't want it. It kept calling me back to the page.

This is a  Singer 15-91, the "farmer's wife" and very similar to my 201-2 "dressmaker".  I have been loving that 201, the machine that started me on this SMAD thing, BUT!  Reading and reading and reading about these vintage machines had the opinions of several owners saying that the 91 does better free motion because of the oscillating bobbin.  The 201 is considered to be more "deluxe" and has a drop in.  I have free motioned very successfully and enjoyably on the 201, but I have not had good results trying free motion embroidery or thread painting on it.  While hand zigging a hoop under a needle without a foot, it consistently skips stitches as I zig to the left and does better when I zag to the right. Here's a video of some nice technique if you are unfamiliar with this particular skill.  Mostly, it just boils down to I wanted one of these.

So, I've been hankering for one of these for quite some time, and this one came along looking very shiny, in a nice cabinet with "attachments" and the original manual, for a fair price of $75.  It does have the bobbin cover slide plate, the bobbin case is sadly missing.  I've already ordered it and some extra bobbins.  I powered her up and she sounds powerful, clean, quiet and very well machined.  I saw no evidence of wiring decay and it looks like it was regularly serviced.  I got to meet the 96 year old original owner.  She told me she purchased it during WWII and had to pre-order and wait for it to become available, metal rationing.  Nice lady and nice family, and I think they were pleased that I seemed very competent with the machine and intended to use it.

I'm not buying ANYMORE unless it is cheaper than $15.00 or is an excellent treadle in an excellent base.  There is, after all, more fabric to acquire.

A singer 201-2

is a fine machine however, $25,000.00 is a steep price to pay.  Craigslist in Delaware, keeps my herd from growing too quickly.  I'm hoping this price is a typo, but most machines offered there are overpriced, some figure out of a non-sewing (or dusting, never mind tuning up) owner's head.

WELL.  Getting that photo to upload just took about 3 hours over 2 nights.  Until I finally thought to switch from edge to chrome.  Then, pow, thank you again Google!  The block itself, a free 12 inch finished twinkling star was warned to be "a bit challenging" and it was, but I was fairly pleased with the results.  I took my time, which ended up being about a week, and didn't feel bad at all about it.  It's not at all approaching perfection, but it's pleasing and finished. Win Win.

I pieced the block, and have done some mending on my own ''rare and one of a kind" 201.  Mine was supposed to be $20, but the owner ended up just giving it to me.  I had to rewire before it would run, scary but fun and addictive.

Of course it is not treadled, even though it's perched precariously on a treadle cabinet.  I just liked this gifted cabinet so much that I decided to put it to use.  I guess the machine could just fall through to the floor at anytime, it is not screwed in and the top has some splitting wood. I've been using it there for at least a year now and it hasn't even looked like it wants to fall.  I don't want to modify this cabinet in case the right machine comes along for it that CAN be treadled.  The insert area is actually for a 3/4 machine, and not a Singer brand.  I figure that smaller hole is the reason the 201 hasn't landed it's 40 or whatever pounds on my happily sewing feet. I've always liked to live a little dangerously, and now that I'm an old lady night shift worker I have to skirt danger where I can.  

UPDATE 10/25/15  That 201 above is marked down!  To $40.00!  Quite a reduction, I must say.  If it were closer to me.....

Check spring replacement for Kenmore 158.900

I couldn't find a tutorial to replace the check spring on my good ole Kenmore model 90.  I have the owner's manual but not a service manual.  I just parked the machine in the cabinet for about a year while I debated whether to buy the entire upper tension assembly or get the spring and try to fix that.  Neither choice is very expensive, so I finally got the spring shipped from an eBay seller for less than $6.00 and experimented successfully.

I took what for me was "lots of pictures' to help if  I needed a memory nudge or even to look for something I hadn't registered at all when I was in the reassembly phase.  I was more interested in getting the job done than photographing so this probably doesn't qualify as a real tutorial.  It could help nudge someone in the right direction though, and might give you an idea whether this is something you would want to attempt on your own (Hint: if you totally screw up, you can eBay purchase the entire assembly for about $15.00. Cheaper than a Craftsy class. Go for it).

Elizabeth at My Sewing Machine Obsession had a lovely tutorial on newer model 158's, which at least clued me in to find the hidden set screw that held the assembly on. On the model 90, I had to open the door, to find it here:

As you might guess, it's in the middle hole, about even with the tension assy, not the holes top or bottom that line up with thread guides.  Once you get that set screw loosened enough (and follow Elizabeth's advice, loosen don't remove to prevent loosing the bitty thing) the assembly just pulls/wiggles out.

Here's the whole assembly out.  I confess I had to take it at least this far before I could  buy a new one because the eBay guys had 2 types that looked similar except for the back posts.  This one, I see now, is a short post.  This is the point where you take note where things line up.  I could see the broke end of the spring poking out with a straight line from top set screw hole through the spring exit point to the arrow that indicates the tension setting in front. I could also see that to get to that spring I had to make that bottom part come off.

 Here it is at the next step.  I didn't take notes, but I believe this happened just with pulling apart. You  can see the slightly dusty tension discs that hold your thread there, good time to give them a thorough cleaning.  I can't get to the spring yet, more disassembly required.  This time, more tiny easily striped screws are involved.

In photo above I'm holding the back section that still holds the spring. One of the two screws is visible next to the diagonal mark on the cutting board.  The two sections were held by those screws via holes indicated by vertical arrows.

If the spring doesn't pull out fairly easy, you may have to loosen the screws still in your last remaining piece.  I believe there were two of the large size indicated in pic above, and three more that are really really small. Something like 3 threads wrap around those almost flat babies.  Oh, and they are kind of soft and look like the little slot would love to rip up so it can't be used anymore.  Careful not to over tighten when putting back in, and it is nice if you have a screwdriver that actually fits them. Once the spring was out I simply did everything in reverse until it was reassembled.  I did wonder where to set the numbers in relation to the arrow for pushing back into the machine heat and at first had my lowest tension reading as kind of negative 5.  I took it back out and set the arrow on 0 for a happy ending.  Then I just checked tension by stitching and adjusted the bottom slightly.

A little cleaning and oiling for the heck of it.  I stopped to admire the features on this machine.

The machine is from the very early 60's and is all metal.  I don't really love the colors but I do dig the lines of it.  The bobbin winder is ole-timey but neatly tucked under the door by the hand wheel and works very nicely, thank you.

My granddaughter asked me if that widow was the miles counter.  It delighted me because this era did make machines that resembled cars.  It's actually to set zig zag width. She does take cams (which I don't have) for decorative stitches, but does a basic zig zag without having to open and install.  The round knob to the side of the zig zag width widow will decenter the needle to the left or right.  Yup, that feature is nothing new, something I took for granted with any zig zag, though I believe it's a feature 'basic' machines might not have now.

The feed dog up/down selector is very accessible, and the machine does beautiful free motion embroidery and quilting.  I admit I wouldn't want to wrestle with a large quilt in that small throat space, but it did some beautiful small pieces for me.  It has a remarkably un-fussy tension.  Matter of fact, it took light to mid-weight fabrics without issue even with the broken spring. I just thought the time would come when I'd need the check spring to do it's intended job with some slippery or speciao fabric or thread. The machine also has a presser foot pressure adjustment dial and I don't know what all other features that may impress, it was just a good solid machine.

Made in Japan. See the J-A4 stamped in there?  Japan rocked machine making for American names like Kenmore, Wards, etc for many years.

After cleaning, oiling, and fine tuning I did a quick little sewing project just to show her some love.

Grandbaby jammies, shocking choice I know.  I was very aware of how s-l-o-w this machine sews in comparison to my singer 201-2, and even the 401-A.  This was one of the reasons my (11 year old) granddaughter loved it though.  She feels more in control on it.  It's still strong as only machines from that era seem to be.  And the button- holer, sigh!  It makes the button holes of my dreams, really really nice and really easy.  It's almost worth keeping the machine on hand for those sweet buttonholes alone!  Though the one I have for the 201 is close competition.  

These beat out every other button hole system I ever had on (all newer, including top of the line computerized machine of the 90's) any other machine.  A joy for both ease and professional appearance.  I sewed my holes for more than 20 years without one of these, and can't stress how much I love these since discovery.  Why did manufacturers stop making these, when they work so darn well?????

All in all, a long post because I'm glad to have this one back in the herd!

sewing lots

Mostly quilting.  I started out with the idea of doing a video of quilting with rulers on a vintage machine.  I got lots of stuff to put a video together, but this new tablet/laptop with windows 8 has been very difficult to put together with learning a new editing program and I haven't yet got it put together.  I also made video of machine darning, the one mending chore I actually enjoy (because it's so like free motion embroidery or quilting).

This was a pretty huge hole that will never rip again.  No patch to peel off.  The heavy build up of thread is stiffer than the surrounding area but the recipient was willing to trade that for keeping her favorite jeans.  I've seen a business online that repairs holes on jeans with thread build up matching the warp/weft of the original fabric.  It would be fun to be that good at it. 

Playing with the quilting and darning reminded me that the 201's foot pedal sticks after extended use.  I intend to buy a new pedal one day but decided to just switch out the feet with a machine I'll probably never use.  It's an old vibrating shuttle that works ok but isn't much joy to use- it is a pretty cute 3/4  size to look at with it's old godzilla finish.  6 minutes of work and the pedals were switched.  No further issues with the 201 if I want to zone and free motion for hours.  It would race and have to be pumped to stop.  The 201 is one fast machine anyway and racing is a pretty furious pace.  I have been enjoying having speed control again.

A warning to anyone who uses vintage machines and free motion quilts:  you may not want to use a supreme slider on an antique finish.  The gold crackling above was the result of having the slider on for about 1/2 hour of quilting on a little orphan block.  I noticed the paint flecks on the back of the slider before I saw the deck and was very shocked.  This machine isn't  most prized for it's paint and so I wasn't devastated but I won't be using the slider again on it.  I have not had any problem using the slider with newer machines.  Truthfully, I have never felt that it made that great a difference in ease.  When I have quilt dragging I stop and redistribute the weight and I'm happy. Likewise I have found the quilting gloves unnecessary.  Sometimes if my hands are dry and the fingertips don't seem to have enough grip I use a little of that stuff office people use to moisten fingertips for handling paper- works great and doesn't affect the fabric.  God knows this technique might not be great for a quilt that will never be washed and is being entered into some world class shows and then museum bound.  But for my purposes, it works great.



 

The last thing I have to say is goodbye to one slightly brutal winter.  I've lived on the shore of Delaware for 25 years now and never seen ice on the beach before.  It was cool for the experience, now I'm more than ready to move on to blossoms and the beginnings of fresh local produce. Yay, spring!

sewing standstill

going on since I bought the lawn mower.  Go figure.  I've been puttering in the garden and trimming trees and bushes and mowing when I'm not asleep or taking care of grands and adult children.  I cast a doleful eye over to the sewing table from time to time, but I haven't managed to clean the entire room in a month, much less arrange my hair and put on lipstick to sew.  If you haven't read that advice from the 50's then you missed it, but I do need to feel like stuff is done before I enjoy sewing.

I DID, however. feed my sewing machine acquisition disorder with two new vintage machines this week.  Here they are in their dirt-encrusted non working glory:

 

This is a singer 306k, from the 50's.  So far I can barely get the wheel to turn with my hand and so can't see how it will stitch.  It takes special needles, and I broke the bobbin case.  The motor whines but doesn't move anything.  I'm thinking this was Singer's first zigzag.  I think it's kind of cute, but it's on the back burner after this one:

 

.

 

 

 

This is a Singer 401A, and it does straight stitch with a sluggish motor action (shovel out a few decades of dirt and lubricate well and it should be much more lively).  This was another of Singer top of the line machines and I've been reading lots of good things about it.  I've been wiggling and coaxing the zig zag function but it still hasn't come quite to life yet.  It also has quite a few decorative stitches built in.  Dual needle capable, meaning you can buy a double needle or just insert 2 regular needles into the holder and sew.  I don't think it will steal my heart completely from my 201-2, but I'm excited to see the old timey decorative stitches. 

 

 

As I'm writing I'm believing I'm working my last night shift before 3 nights off.  I won't look at my schedule until Monday afternoon to keep living the dream anyway.  I'm hoping to at least clean the 401 thoroughly and figure out if that will bring back the zig-zag or find if I have a broken spring or something in the head.  I don't have a slant shank foot, so I'll still have to order one before I can really sew.  All these parts are amazingly cheap and easy to find online.  And not to difficult to repair yourself!  These two make numbers 5 and 6 of machines I have acquired that didn't work, and I have successfully restored 4 to good working order.



Creatively chugging

along..... Let's see.  I've made two pair of kid pants without a pattern.  It looks so easy, heck it kind of is easy, but I still managed to majorly screw up.  I don't know how I got the but/belly area so much smaller than needed, but I did.  Having made Rae's big butt baby pants in the past, I figured out a gusset for both the front and the back and saved the britches.  This would only work for a toddler who can't complain about the obvious weirdness, but who else would wear tinkerbell fabric in the daytime.  OK, probably there are grownups that would, probably not with the gusset.  Both cousins got a pair, one without the gusset after I paid more attention making the second pair.  Lined, trimmed in rick rack, and made on the 201 with the zigzag attachment to finish seams.

 

 

 

I also made a pair of chef pants for my adult son, and I whipped up two carry on bags for me and my friend. I learned fairly last minute that the airline had specifications for carry on that would cost me quite a bit to take the little wheeled case I already had.  So the day of departure I made two bags to exact specs they posted.  I don't have a picture of them, they aren't the prettiest, best made bags ever, but they did the job.  It whet my taste for bag making, and I've been musing about bags for some time now.  I'll have to try again soon.

 

The sewing that has been consistently engaging me is the sampler quilt I've been working on for maybe 3 months now.  It was a sew along a couple of years ago, I've been sewing it alone.  I'm surprised at how long its been taking me and that I've stuck with it.  I've only got 6 blocks done, if  you count the rejects I've done 9.  One was rejected because of obvious polyester that snuck in while the rest of the quilt is cotton.  One had funky points that will be square edged if it's ever sewed to anything else. I think the third came up just too small.  The rejects are in the top row.

 

The current block I'm working on is "Flying Geese, magic method".  I was kind of peeved with the magic method, which caused all my geese units to be a little bent or bowed.

 

It took me a couple units to figure out how to trim them correctly, so I don't know if this block will make the grade either.

 

Those diagonal markings are your friend.  I was trying to line up with the straight lines of length or width and that wasn't working.  The 45 degree angle made it right.

 

I found another vintage machine to work on.  This was in a local antique/pawn shop marked $50. and purchased for $20, with a box of attachments (alas for a slant needle, which this is not) thrown in.

 

 

 

Straight from the store it only hummed a little when plugged in, but the hand wheel turned freely and the needle went up and down.  Above it has had a minor cleaning and oiling and now runs pretty nicely.  I needed to screw the ancient light bulb back in and it's fine.  The bobbin is one of those freaky vibrating ones, looks like a screw and then gets dropped into a bullet looking thing.  My bullet thing is too rusty to try out yet and is sitting in a dish of PB Blast now.  Maybe I'll do a whole post on this machine later, maybe not.  Truth, I was thinking it might be a featherweight and I was getting a wonderful deal.  I don't know my vintage singers that well yet. This is a 3/4 size machine, but a whole different species of Singer.  I'm thinking puritans sewed with this moma.  This was manufactured in 1951 without a normal looking bobbin!!!!  There is no backstitch.  It clatters compared to my quiet 201.  I need to reserve final judgments until I see some stitches. 

Like the fish fabric in the background?  From the antique store a couple feet away.  I think my Momma had a church dress made out of this fabric in 1969.  Or maybe it was my dress.