A Vintage Sewing Machine
5 January 2008 8 Comments
After hearing an announcement on the local radio station, I attended an estate sale this weekend. I am still looking for things to furnish my apartment and I thought this might be a good opportunity to find some things to fill the vacant spots in my rooms.
I first scoped it out on Friday night after work. I wasn’t sure if there would be anything that I wanted so I went under the pretense of “just looking.” I wandered around the house (which I liked too by the way) with the plan of heading to the kitchen to see what kind of small appliances they had. I found some things I was interested in, but considering how cheap small kitchen appliances are anymore, I felt that most were overpriced.
As I wandered into the garage I found a dresser that I liked. It too was a bit overpriced, but I thought that I might be willing to pay the price anyway. I reminded myself to talk to the man that was in charge of the sale before I left concerning the dresser and continued to roam about.
After glancing through the rooms and taking a mental inventory of what was there, I spotted it: A vintage sewing machine complete with cabinet and stool.
I took a quick, but longing glance at it and continued on to the cash register with a few moderately priced but good quality kitchen things.
As my merchandise was being rung up, I asked about the dresser. I was told that starting Saturday morning at nine, all the remaining items would be half-price and at 2:00 on Saturday all that was left would be auctioned off. I decided at that moment I wanted the dresser, but not until the next morning.
As I made my plans to return to the sale bright and early this morning, my thoughts kept going back to the sewing machine I had seen. If it worked, it would be worth half-price. It looked like it was in good shape: It was clean and it seemed like all the parts moved.
I went to bed with my mind made-up: If they were still there when I arrived Saturday morning, I would definitely buy the dresser and if the sewing machine worked, I would buy it too.
When I got to the sale at 9:20 this morning, it was packed. Obviously everyone else had decided to wait until half-off Saturday too. I was worried that the things I wanted had been claimed by someone else, but I was lucky. The sewing machine was still in the bedroom and the dresser in the garage.
When the auctioneer saw me he greeted me with his Texas drawl and remarked how he wondered if he would be seeing me again. We talked briefly about the dresser and marked it as sold and then I asked him about the sewing machine. I wanted to know if I could try it before I bought it. He agreed that was a good idea so we set it up, tested it, and marked it as sold too.
Even though I wasn’t exactly looking for a sewing machine, I am so glad I found it. I have wanted to have my own sewing machine again ever since I came back to the States and while a new one would be nice, I love the vintage look and feel of this one and for what I want it for (i.e., crafts) I think it will do a wonderful job.
