Janome Novum 591 Deluxe Mark X sewing machine

I bought this machine last year in a charity shop and have finally got round to looking it over.

Rather infuriatingly, it has been very hard to find out much about it. It's bit of a mystery machine. Google comes up with precisely two images, one of which is this machine itself! It was clearly advertised for sale before it was given to the charity shop. I know it's the same one as I can tell from the marks on the table. The other image is of the same model machine but as a table top. Interestingly, a fellow blogger told me that she had one of these machines perhaps 40 years ago. That certainly ties in with the original advert for the machine which said that it dated from the 1970s. Often there is a date in the manual which gives you some idea of when a machine was manufactured but the manual with this one has no date. Neither can I trace the serial number as there is no listing for machines this modern.


The feet and accessories -

The five feet on the bottom row are all shown in the manual, although strangely they do not all have quite the same attachment fitting, though they do all fit. The zip foot on the top row is a different one to the one pictured in the manual, although this one also fits. The cloth guide and the "blind stitch hem guide", a piece which attaches to the blind hem foot (third from the left, bottom row) are both missing.  The foot on the left of the top row is an invisible zip foot, which I will be hanging on to as I've never had one. You don't actually have to have one of these to insert invisible zips but I'd like to try one out. The foot on the far right, top row, is a buttonhole foot but not for this machine. The piece on the bottom right is for quilting parallel lines; it attached to the zip foot pictured in the manual, but doesn't attach to the zip foot with the machine. The straight stitch foot is currently on the machine hence not being in this photo. So, a bit of a mixture but all the essentials are there.

The machine was pretty clean so I didn't need to do an awful lot to it, although I like to do as good a job as I can so I did fuss around cleaning it wherever I could get to. Then I oiled it everywhere where oil should go. After that I tried out all the stitches, and everything works well.

All stitches work well

It runs extremely smoothly and quietly. (I have to admit to having a bit of a thing about the sounds of sewing machines - I enjoy listening to YouTube clips just to hear the sound they make!) The lever that you move to get the different stitch patterns takes a bit of getting used to because as you move it the red bits behind the display move with it but they don't always match up exactly to the stitch shown, but it's just a question of getting the hang of it.

The machine has a front loading oscillating hook.

The light - 

Unfortunately I cannot get the light to work even after trying a new bulb, and I'm not sure why. The wiring is in very good condition but maybe something is not connecting somewhere. According to the manual there should be a switch on the back of the machine, but there isn't, so I assume the light is supposed to come on automatically when the machine is turned on, but it doesn't, so that is another mystery. I have the same problem on my Bernina 801, the light on which was working when I bought it (after having been professionally serviced), then only worked if I pushed the bulb in and jiggled it slightly, and then stopped working altogether. I'm not skilled enough to find the answer although my curious brain is constantly mulling it over - rather unsatisfying to have to leave something not working!

Last year I bought a black Singer 201 in a table and realized how incredibly useful it is to have a machine in a table rather than on top of a table, giving you a nice big flat surface to work on. This table has four drawers in; my Singer Library table is very nice looking but has no drawers. But here's another mystery -

Here we have the machine folded down into the table 

And here it is with the top on -

(By the way I got that very nice Ikea leather chair on the left for a tenner from the same charity shop!)

I have only ever seen tables where the flap unfolds to the side, but this one slides down the back! The flap stops at the bottom of its runners but the plastic piece which once held it in place close to the back of the table has broken. It would be fairly easy to fix something else in place to hold it.

Flap at back of table

Perhaps this model of table was intended to be up against a wall, and the flap was not intended as extra workspace. However it could easily be converted to attaching at the side with hinges and giving that valuable extra workspace, in which case there would be no need to fix something in place of the broken plastic thing.

And one last photo, of the inside -

So, a very nice machine and now on the market for £50!



The next machine on my waiting list is this Jones..........

Happy sewing!

Lizzie

My best cycling trousers - from the one pound rail in a charity shop.

I have discovered I am not the only one scouring the internet for the ideal cycling trousers. If you are interested in reading what others have to say on the subject, then have a look at this article "What would your ideal cycle touring clothing collection look like?" on Tom Allen's website, Tom's Bike Trip.

I have looked at so many websites, both general outdoor ones and cycling specific ones, to see if someone makes what I'm looking for, but it seems they don't. I have several pairs of Craghoppers bought in sales, and one pair of zip-offs bought in a charity shop, and that is what I tend to wear on the bike once the weather gets warm, either rolled up or zipped off, but none of them are ideal.

I thought surely I could make some, but I haven't yet found the right pattern. I have a couple of trouser patterns, one of which I tried recently, but unfortunately I made alterations which didn't work, so I'm back to the drawing board.

However, I recently found a pair of M and S cotton trousers on the £1 rail in a local charity shop. I tried them on and they fitted perfectly, so I paid my pound and then walked down to a neighbouring DIY shop (the wonderful sort that sells EVERYTHING!) and bought some olive green dye (the hand dyeing sort) as the trousers were lavender.......

The dyeing necessitated a lot of stirring in a bucket, but was very successful. I then went on to add a zip to one of the pockets for added security, and some tapes to keep the legs in place when rolled up.


Here they are - the lavender tape didn't dye so it must be made of a 100% synthetic fibre. Doesn't matter too much as it won't be seen anyway.

Here's the zip: I didn't have a matching colour amongst my stash of zips so went for a contrast. I'd seen this idea on Youtube and it was easy to do. I find it invaluable to have at least one secure pocket when cycling.

I happened to have some twill tape that I had dyed in the same colour. I stitched it to the inside of the trousers and then stitched some loops in the opposite place on the outside - that was quicker than bothering with buttons and buttonholes and does just as good a job, plus I wanted to wear these the next day!

I did have a look on the M and S website to see if they still do this style, but I couldn't see any trousers resembling them. It didn't matter that they were a short length as I will be "mostly wearing" (remember that chap in The Fast Show - "This month I will be mostly wearing - a thong"? ) them rolled up.

So what's so perfect about these trousers for summer cycling? 

1 They are REALLY comfortable to wear. The 100% cotton fabric is excellent - it's particularly smooth which makes it very cool and also I think means it moves on the legs easily when pedalling. It's a cooler fabric than the cotton mix of my Craghoppers.

2  The part elasticated/part tied waist is very comfortable, and also is not too low. I hate wearing trousers with very low waists and on a bike they're a definite no-no.

3 They are not too wide and not too narrow.

4 They look fine (in my opinion!) both on and off the bike.

I feel like writing to M and S and saying - please make these again! Or better still working with a cycle clothing manufacturer and getting them to produce a cyclists' version. All they really need is perhaps some extra strength in the seat area and the addition of a secure pocket! I don't think M and S would be that interested though..... and actually I rarely buy any new clothing these days. There is so much choice in the charity shops. (And that's a whole subject for debate - just why is there so much clothing being given to charity shops?)

Anyway, I thought I would keep a lookout for this particular style in the charity shops, or anything similar, and would you believe I have found a very similar 3/4 length BHS pair for the grand sum of 50p!! I bought some more dye this morning as these are a rather bright blue - I've bought "Jeans Blue".

I'm going to attempt to draw up a pattern from the M and S ones; I've seen it done on Youtube without taking them apart so will have a go. 

That's all for now.

Lizzie

Home made hanging sponge/wash bag

I can't believe I'm writing another blog post so soon! But there's a good reason.

When I was away on my bike trip, I realized that my home made sponge bag  could be improved upon. I needed one with a zip that opened up beyond the bag ends so that I could see what was in it better. I also had it on the floor, as there was no surface in the shower room to put it on. And then I cottoned on to why people use hanging sponge bags. You don't have to put them on the floor, as long as there's somewhere to hang them (which there probably is, usually) and as they have multiple pockets you can be more organised with the contents, and not have to ferret around for your lip salve or whatever.

I should say here that the stuff I take with me in my sponge bag is very minimal (for instance, you won't find anything remotely like make-up in it....) so I don't really need a lot of space or a lot of pockets. So this morning I did a quick google of what such things looked like in the flesh, and then did a sketch of what I would make. I don't think I've ever made anything so quickly that turned out to be just right, even if not very neat (don't zoom in....!).

I made it out of what I had in my stash, which happened to be some very nice cotton crossweave fabric from the Organic Textile Company. In between the two layers I used some curtain interlining, which I had recently obtained dirt cheap from a charity shop.

Here's the finished product -

If I make another one I'll cover up the metal end of the zip.

As you can see it has 4 flat pockets, and a zipped pocket, which has a pleat. I think I'd make this pocket a bit taller on another one.

Pleat under the zipped pocket. The row of stitching is just where I had to add a bit on to make the pocket taller to allow for a pleat.

I used the cream tape for the tie as the blue tape was quite bulky and might also have been inclined to slip when knotted. And it's on the back so you can't see it anyway. But - if I was making another one everything would be matching!

And this is it when it's folded up. 

 I'll definitely be making some more! And now I've GOT to go on another bike trip to try this one out.....

Lizzie

[Note added later: I don't really need a waterproof bag as I put anything that's likely to leak, or something wet like flannel or soap, in a separate plastic bag anyway.]