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Little Bettine the Bernina 707 has had a very thorough clean and service and is working absolutely beautifully.

The motor on must’ve failed in the past because she has a new aftermarket motor which is not a Bernina and because of this they’ve had to modify the power lead Connector and remove the minimum maximum speed switch. It works absolutely fine though and I don’t mind this at all because the quality of her stitches is phenomenal.

The final part before finishing her up was to test the bobbin, but I suspected it wasn’t going to work because of the state of the, existing rubber wheel. As expected, it was so hard that no contact with the hand wheel teeth was possible and the bobbin didn’t turn.

It took me ages to remove the residue from the old rubber tyre. 

Now that the bobbin spindle is clean, I have two flat O-rings which I’m going to join together to create a similar shape to what it was before.

Using superglue and a glue activator I almost managed to get them exactly on top of each other; this slight overhang on the two o-rings won’t affect its use at all because over time the gears on the hand wheel will wear this down anyway.

Now ready to install and take for a test drive.

All parts present and accounted for!

Yippee. We’re up and running again.

I adore this little machine and if I don’t have another 707 in my collection, I’ll keep her until I find a more pristine version before I sell her to another lucky Bernina owner.

Another restored and revived Bernina which won’t be going anywhere near a junkyard!

Happy Sewing! 

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Just like in the song, it’s a Long and Winding Road – that hopefully will eventually lead to somewhere! There’s a lot of measuring, very accurately, …

3d printing is a process….

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I started to make socks a few years ago, and for various reasons gave up on it and only recently picked the projects up again.

In the last week, I’ve knitted two pairs of socks using a pattern from Craftsy.com and Schachenmayer 4ply sock yarn that I picked up in Germany on holiday a few years ago. You can tell how long ago it was because it was €5.95 when I bought it!

There are a few things about the Craftsy top down sock pattern I used that I wasn’t very happy with and I was very excited to find a gentleman on YouTube showing you how to make a toe up sock without having to join the toe with stitches. The reason I don’t like the stitches in the front of the toes is because of my nerve problems and this rubs on my skin. this is the pattern and YouTube channel that I have been following…Nimble Needles or online at http://www.nimble-needles.com. http://nimble-needles.com

For my third pair of socks this week. I am using a Kingcole Footsie 4 ply yarn in the colour Passionfruit shade 4900. I absolutely love the look and feel of this yarn while I’m knitting.

In addition to changing the yarn, the pattern and the process I’m also using a magic loop with my 3 mm nut Knitpro needles with a cable instead.

It’s so interesting to learn different techniques to get a similar result and I can’t wait to progress through this project and see the difference in the end product.

Happy knitting!

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I don’t think too many people darn socks nowadays.

Is it because they’re so badly made that they aren’t worth it?

Is it because they cost so little they have little worth?

If you’d spent time to knit them yourself they’d have greater value and you would spend the time darning them.

Or if you’d bought good quality socks that may make them worth mending. In my case they were good socks and hubby has had them for many years and I’d like to give them another few years before they are recycled.

My technique is a bit rusty because I don’t darn all that often, but I really love the satisfaction of extending the life of garments – even the smallest ones.

Strangely, the second sock in the pair is fine for a few more years. Oh well, it will probably appear on the mending pile sooner or later.

Let’s mend!

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