Hello from Pinner, London!
It's so cool I've found this forum! (I've already had a quick sneaky look here and there before I have introduced myself).
When I was a kid my mom and dad teaches me a little bit of sewing and leather craft. Mostly hand made things but I have also had a spin on sewing machines few times. For last three years (ever since my daughter was born) I have been thinking about buying sewing machine - for fun of course but also to use and reuse creativity as well as old clothes. Unfortunately being indecisive I have always had other things to buy/pay for so sewing machine was always pushed somewhere down to the bottom of the list.
It has changed when few weeks ago I have found really heavy, canvas covered, blue box with sewing machine inside. It was casually standing in the full sun by one of the rubbish bins. I took it home with no hopes of it being still functional. Was I surprised! Motor needed brushes replacement and good clean but apart from that there was little more needed to start sewing on it. In the compartment under the machine were manuals, bobbins, four tubes of needles, adjustment tools, 6 different feets (still packed in the plastic bags with little description tags attached) and other bits and bobs.
I think this machine is a bit old (judging by its weight and build) but mechanism looks to be barely used. I really don't know why someone got rid of it instead of at least selling it (maybe because motor was smoking because of the dirt and old brushes) but thanks to this I finally do own the sewing machine. (It's Janome 574)
Phew. This was a long one!
Hello again! I'm going to start browsing the forum again!