O-Matic is Always Better!

Whenever, I have the opportunity to go to an auction, especially if it's right in town, I have to go. Thursday night, there was one within about three blocks of my house. You can bet I hauled myself over there as soon as I got home from work!

I bought a few other things, but you are looking at my big score of the evening. It's a heavy-duty Singer Slant-O-Matic 401A sewing machine in its own cabinet! I had no idea what I was buying. I just knew it was a cool looking old machine, and I only paid $15. It took two men to load it upside down into my trunk, and I had to drive home with my trunk open, but once I got to looking at it, totally worth it!

This machine has more bells and whistles than you can shake a stick at! It came with about 5 extra feet, none of which I could recognize immediately. And there was the one that looked like some kind of torture device! Fortunately, I know people who are more sewing machine savvy than I! My friend Bren was able to identify the really scary one as a ruffler! The other one is for sewing on binding. There were also feet for hemming and sewing

on buttons. Only one remains unidentified.

It also has four cams that can be interchanged to create all sorts of decorative and special purpose stitches. You put in the cam and move the levers and dials to choose the appropriate stitch. It's absolutely fascinating! I need to sit down and read the manual to find out absolutely everything this old girl can do!

The biggest mystery about this machine was the foot pedal. Mr Kay and I could see the pedal fastened inside the cabinet, but could not figure out how to release it. After much peering and wondering and yanking, we finally realized it wasn't a foot pedal at all! It has a lever that you operate with your knee! That will certainly take some getting used to!

The good news is that I can find all sorts of attachments and gadgets for it over on Ebay, including a foot pedal if I don't get the hang of using my knee. Not only that, but I realized I got a heck of a deal. Slant-O-Matic 401As are listed on Ebay for hundreds of dollars! I saw an auction on one without a cabinet that was kind of dirty that was up to $93.

I do have to admit that I haven't plugged the machine in yet, but I'm very confident that it works. If it doesn't I may just take it down to my sewing machine repairman and see what he can do with her. For 15 bucks, I can afford to have some repairs done!