Ok so she’s not a beauty but my ‘Phyllis’ is beautiful on the inside.
Yes it would be nice to have a shiny black and gold stunner, but Phyllis does the job better than any other machine I have owned.
I’m all for a nice shiny Janome (My more modern favourite) but if your after a love affair of a machine that will very rarely misbehave then it’s vintage all the way.
When I first acquired Phyllis (named after my Grandma who was her original owner) she was a tired old girl who had been stored in my Mums loft for a good few years.
My Sewing Machine man Martin came to give her a house call and proclaimed that she was indeed a stunner, sturdy and built to last. After a good service and a replacement cog or two which had gone brittle over time,
she was as good as new. Maybe not to look at but certainly on the inside.
Martin is a wealth of knowledge on machines and is a huge fan of vintage. His words were “These machines were built to last Claire, no melted down car parts and old bits of cold pressed steel in these babies”
Give him a bank of old Berninas any day! His next job is to service Iris who is another singer I have acquired complete with sewing table. She was just £10 and works very well but her feed dogs are a bit poorly.
It’s true though. As much as I like my shiny white janome, it jams up a lot more than Phyllis. It cant cope with any kind of thickness without the help of different needles or special feet and there are far too many knobs and dials to fiddle with.
I can honestly say that a good vintage machine and a proper service is well worth the spend. I just wish I could make new customers who walk into my studio understand this, but alas, they are on the look out for the shiny white machines of the modern age.
Therefore Phyllis remains at home and allows me to enjoy some selfish sewing every now and again.
p.s. She is awfully good at inserting an invisible zip perfectly without a silly invisible zipper foot. Another perk of having a fully adjustable needle and a skinny zip foot. If your lucky I might film you a tutorial shortly.
