E38-200 Some sewing projects

My mom is a lifelong quilter. When I expressed interest in learning to sew for some projects on the sailboat she was quite pleased. She gifted me her first sewing machine, a 1949 Singer 221 "Featherweight". Contrary to it's name, this machine is solid metal and handles heavy fabric quite nicely. It sews strongly and smoothly and amazes me with it's 70 year-old craftsmanship and styling. They really just don't make things like they used to.



My first project was to replace all of the rapidly disintegrating original curtains on the boat. The plastic slides needed to be sewn on by hand, but we were able to re-use all of them and the tracks. This is before I figured out my seam allowances so the curtain is too long, but shows off the print of the synthetic outdoor canvas we settled on nicely.



Finished curtains with ties visible above this lee cloth that I sewed up.



I've also made hatch screens that velcro into place and an easy in/easy out and easy to store screen for the companionway that uses dowels and stiff webbing to stay in place.



Next up are sheet bags for the cockpit. I'm not sure how this machine will handle phifertex fabric yet. The 1/6" maximum stitch length may be too short, but my guess is it will handle it like a champ as it has everything else I've thrown through it so far.

Thanks to Tom and Christian for recent posts that inspired me to share these projects. And thanks to my Mom, Sailrite, and The Singer Featherweight Shop for instructions and supplies!