Brown Betty: a/k/a my Kenmore 117.812

 This could also be called an "Ode to a Vintage Sewing Machine"

Brown Betty is what I call my Kenmore.  I have had her about 2 1/2 months.  I love her.  She does one thing and one thing only:  straight stitch.  She is my go-to machine for quilt piecing because she has a perfect 1/4" foot and pulls fabric through evenly.  

Did you know?  These straight stitch machines can be a wonderful addition to your sewing room.  Let me list the ways:

• sport a straight stitch plate:  no oversized opening to black hole your fabric;
• the cost of buying a straight stitch plate for your machine would fund part of your purchase of a vintage machine;
  
• make beautiful, even stitches; and
  
• serve as a backup machine when your newer machine needs to get serviced.
• require very little serve and are quite heavy duty
• have a presser foot pressure knob that allow you to make adjustments that I don't have on my Bernina 910.
  
• This machine is light weight enough to take to a class (I've never been to a class, and I doubt that I would) and costs a fraction of a Featherweight. 

Some cons:  

• not all vintage machines have a backstitch.
• many vintage machines do not allow you to lower the feed dogs.
  

I purchased Brown Betty locally, and even though she is 73 years young (1948), she will still be going strong long after I'm gone.

The beauty of these simplistic, highly utilitarian machines is that there is not much to go wrong.  It needs oiling much more often than regular machines, but everything is easily accessible.  The top has oil parts where "a little dab will do you".  Simply hinging the machine backwards exposes the under carriage. Any place that moves...oil.

My machine came to me already having been "serviced" by the dealer.  But, it froze up after 15 minutes of sewing.  A simple service of greasing a machine that has not been used in decades (if ever, it was in mint condition), was not enough.

I went through it with Kroil and then lubricated everything with sewing machine oil.  She purrs like a kitten.  Her motor is growly--not do to a service need as I could here same on a YouTube vid where this machine was serviced.