Sewing Machine Cabinet for my Singer 185J

In an earlier post I talked about getting nostalgic and purchasing a Singer 185J just like my very first sewing machine. I ended up buying 2 of them. A portable I got on eBay and another one in a cabinet from Craigslist. I decided to put the machine in a different cabinet and this required quite a bit of work.

The Singer 185J is a 3/4-sized machine so the opening in a standard sewing machine cabinet is too big.The hinges used to mount the previous machine will not work for my 'Lil Green. The old hinges are mounted on the underside of the cabinet. The spacing is wrong and the post used to attached the machine to the hinge are the wrong size. The hinges are what allow the machine to swing down into the cabinet when not in use.
On top are the square hinges I removed. On the bottom are the round hinges that fit 'Lil Green. These will get mounted on the cabinet top.
First I dismantled the cabinet.
I made a filler piece from birch plywood and cut the holes (at the right depth) for the hinges using a forstner bit. It took me hours to carefully cut the plywood so I could get an exact fit. I then glued and screwed a couple strips of hard maple to the underside of the cabinet to support the plywood since the Singer 185J is an extremely heavy sewing machine.
All finished. At some point I will apply stain/finish so the plywood will blend in with the original.
'Lil Green in her new cabinet.
Front view.
Rear view.

42nd Annual Spinning Seminar at The Mannings

We had the best time at The Mannings spinning seminar. They are located on the banks of the Conewago Creek halfway between York and Gettysburg, PA. The complex surrounds the 1874 farmhouse and barn. You didn't have to register and there was no admission charge. There were 14 demonstrators covering a variety of topics and you could come with your wheel and sit and spin if you wanted to.Jan Derry has been raising Bombyx mori silk worms for ~ 15 years. We got to see all the various stages from mating to laying eggs to spinning cocoons. For more details check out this blog.John Bostek demonstrated sheep shearing of Border Leicester and Cormo sheep.Cotton spinning with Sally Jenkins.A video clip I took of a friend giving cotton spinning a try.

Wool Wheel, Great Wheel, Walking Wheel or High Wheel. There are probably other names as well. Sharon Peffer is using her Norman Hall reproduction Great Wheel. She explained the difference between the Minors Head's and Bats Head's. If you wanted you could try your hand at drafting.This is just a sampling of what we saw.