Root Beer Cream, vintage Kenmore 117.841

In the last year or so, I've re-introduced myself to my quilting hobby and found I have a great deal to catch up on!  I'm hoping to blog about some of my discoveries about threads, machine quilting, piecing, and generally, the hobby of patchwork. 

As my first topic, I'd like to introduce you to a sewing machine I've named "Root Beer Cream," or "Rootie" for short.  She is a Kenmore 117.841, and a new addition to our "quilty" household.  I'm not sure if we're supposed to keep her, but we definitely get to play with her for awhile.

Her name is Rootbeer Cream

A little history
In the late 50's, White Sewing Machines was under pressure to produce a zig-zag machine or risk losing their Sears contract -- which they later lost anyway.  Knowing nothing about how to develop this new-fangled type of machine, they enlisted the help of a Western German company, Gritzner-Kayser to produce the Kenmore 117.841.    (Source: Link).  The "Kenmore 84" was a top of the line machine in its day, costing about $239 new.  Since Gritzner-Kayser was soon acquired by Pfaff,  some consider it technically a Pfaff.

Rootie's history
Alan's (my SO's) mother Sarah acquired Rootie in 1957, as a birthday present from her parents.  At that time, Rootie was portable, but later Sarah acquired a pretty cabinet for her.

Rootie has "lived" in Annapolis, Maryland, Bellefontaine, Ohio and Newcastle, Washington.  She is more well-traveled than I am!  The little machine has sewn maternity clothes, baby clothes, and kids clothes as well as one embroidered "top" for sister Sue.   A couch reupholstering set our Rootie out of balance and I'm afraid she was mothballed in 1986 because of it.  Upon hearing that I had taken an interest in sewing machines, Sarah loaned Alan and me Rootie this year, calling it a birthday present.  She now lives in the little burg of Sammamish, WA.

I should mention that something in little Rootie's life must have been traumatic, because she still has the bandaid to prove it!    Would she fall apart if I remove it? ;-).

Rootie's war wound ;-).

A feature rich machine
This shiny, almost metallic root beer-colored gem is capable by default of zig-zagging and straight stitching.  The straight stitch is actually a zero width zig-zag, so it's sort of an almost straight stitch/zig-zag hybrid.  Rootie can also do the serpentine stitch, something that Pfaffs notoriously can't do.....She is definitely special.

Serpentine stitch-erooo.

Rootie is also expandable!  She comes with "cams," which are cartridges that allow her to sew at least 18 different decorative stitches (2 per side), and more than that if you creatively change the stitch length and width.

Cam insertion point

Extra cams, nine in all including the one in the machine, each is two-sided

 
Along with her decorative stitches, our little girl comes with built in memories.  When we first started her up, Alan said, "that's it!  That's the sound I remember from when I was a kid."  No doubt her smooth, quiet click will continue to conjure up good childhood memories along with the well-sewn, personable stitches.  She has helped mend many a knee-hole.

Rootie, showing off her pretty sound.

Rootie is sturdy and well made, and has contributed to inserting into our lexicon the notion of quality German engineering. She will be a pleasure to have and hopefully will at some point "know" the joys of quiltmaking ;-).  She likely has the markings for it (note the tape)!

 Update from Alan's sister Jane:  "And after reading your blog post, she has sewn a quilt. My grandmother made a doll sized four patch quilt kit for me and I pieced that quilt top on her!"  So little Rootie isn't a rookie to quilting either!

The used sewing machine world is a treasure trove, where the adage, "they don't make 'em like they used to!" is proven over and again.  Rootie is surely a case in that point.   We love having a respectable machine like her.

Looks more like a car emblem

 I hope you come back next "Threadsday" for more of my thread adventures.