Meet the Mechanic
“Machines have just got workins’ and they talk to me.” – Kaylee, Firefly
Hi! I’m Amanda, and I have liked fixing things for the majority of my life. I can’t say where it truly started – at some point in childhood in my father’s pole barn workshop – but there hasn’t been much in the way of mechanical items I haven’t been able to fix. I love collecting pre-’70s typewriters to repair and use for letter writing and novel drafting. I didn’t hesitate once to pick up a used KitchenAid mixer and completely gut it to make it Celiac safe. And when my sewing machine started to get the hiccups, my first instinct was to open it up instead of taking it to a shop. Admittedly that first foray into sewing machine repair didn’t quite work out in my favor, but I’ve since been educated on that subject! Now they’re happily maintained on a regular basis.
As a culture, it is too ingrained that we just throw something out that doesn’t work and replace it with something new. I’m devastated by the plastic taking over everything. I may not have been alive in the heyday of American production of household machinery that was built to last forever, but I feel it in my soul when I get a vintage sewing machine in front of me. I feel useful when I save something tired and neglected and make it purr like a kitten with a little attention. I’m thankful when I can save a gummed up sewing machine from hitting the landfill and adding more plastic to the ground or metal to a scrap heap.
I am here to help you do the same, if that’s your goal. Or maybe you inherited a relative’s sewing machine and you want to put that baby to use because it’s already in your hands. Or you got a free machine through your local Buy Nothing group that sadly doesn’t work, but hey, the cost of maintenance is better than buying new, and you’ll know it’s ready to go. Whatever your reason for sewing machine maintenance, repair, or restoration, I’m happy to help.
