The white elephant in the room.

The Kenmore 158:19141

The way I was told the story… was that this big Kenmore belonged to an elderly lady that had passed away.  Shortly before that happened, she’d given the machine to the lady next door. Months later, the inheritor finally got around to giving it a go - except that it wouldn’t.  She called in one of her friends and the two spent a week trying to get it to sew and they failed. Frustrated, they gave up for a little while, read, researched and then tried again. They checked the internet, asked friends, but it was to no avail. This machine would not sew – and that's when I was asked if I wanted it. The husband told me this tale standing in his driveway as he helped me lift the cabinet into the car and then he remembered something else.

“Gimmie a second,” he said and ran into the house only to return with a box of things that reportedly went with this machine.

After success with the 500, the Model 28, the National, Pfaff and Morse, I felt good about trying to pick up where the ladies had failed even though the story left me wondering.  On the work bench, I followed the lubrication guide and cleaned, and looked carefully for lint or thread bits in the bobbin carrier. I studied the manual, checked online, made drawings of the threading diagram and everything seemed to be right where it needed to be for the machine to work. The pedal worked, the motor turned, the needle bar went up and down, the mechanisms seemed good to go and the bobbin appeared to be clear, but after two days I found myself in the exact same place. This machine would not sew, but this machine taught me something new. Sometimes, it’s not what you know, or even suspect.

I watched my sister…  she changed the bobbin. Nope, didn’t sew. She changed the needle. Nope, didn’t sew. She re-threaded the machine, adjusted tensions, and nope. Finally, after looking at it for a few minutes, she grabbed the spool of red thread off the pin and pulled it all out.  Then she got up, crossed the room, opened a drawer and pulled out a new spool, sat back down and re-threaded the machine. She adjusted the scrap of cloth, dropped the pressure foot, stepped on the pedal… and away it sewed: simple as all that.

I know, right?

“Notice anything different about this?” She asked as she handed me the red thread that had been on the machine since I’d picked it up months ago. I turned the spool over several times in my hand, tugged a little at the loose end, and then suddenly, it occurred to me.

“It’s wooden.

“Yep, and when they did stop making wooden spools?”

“I dunno.”

“That spool is probably twice as old as this machine and sometimes old thread can gain elasticity, or it can get weak or fuzzy with odd imperfections as it ages. Sometimes, it’s perfectly fine, and other times it’s no good at all.” I looked at her, and then at the spool, and then to the machine.

“So, for the cost of a new spool?” I asked.

“Yes,” She nodded, “for the cost of a new spool of thread you hit the Kenmore jackpot. This is one of their last all-metal gear machines in the 158 line, and if that isn’t good enough… the box you brought back had the manual, the cam set, the buttonholer, monogrammer and every attachment.” She made a few adjustments and the machine showed off a perfect zig zag.

“It’s a shame really,” she said, “people get it in their heads that they want this machine or that one and these older Kenmore models get forgotten. They’re the unsung hero of vintage machines.  Often they are very well built, have high quality and great durability. The high shank models like this one are ideal for industrial feet and thick projects. These machines go on forever and yet they get ignored. I know people who have spent more time sewing on their ‘back-up’ Kenmore than they have on their new machine or fancy collectable - because those two were in the shop.”

With that said, and perhaps for emphasis, she stepped on the pedal again and ran a few quick circles and then adjusted more controls and gave the Kenmore a good workout.  I didn't know the lesson she was teaching me at the time, but it came in helpful.