Look what followed me home

A few scratches on the bed and handwheel.

 I really haven't been looking for new sewing machines for a while. No time, no space. But sometimes they find me anyway. A couple of months ago my sister was at an estate sale and found a Singer 403, in the bottom of a case – no top, unfortunately, and a box of cams and a buttonholer. The price was right, so I asked her to buy them for me – then forgot all about them.

So a few days ago when I mentioned we were coming to visit for the weekend she reminded me that I needed to get the machine. I couldn't even remember what machine she'd bought for me!

A box with a few attachments and eight cams, and a
buttonholer were found with the machine.

Eight cams, plus one in the machine.

My cat, Pepper, has to check it out.

The Singer 401 series and the 500 series that followed it were probably some of the best machines ever made by Singer, and they still stack up with the best machines around. The 401 came with built-in decorative stitches, and used the black "top hat" cams to make additional stitches. The 403 doesn't have built-in stitches, but uses the cams – there are 20 or more of them – for decorative stitches. And the 404 was straight stitch only.

I have a couple of 401s that need some work, and a 500 in a cabinet that I love, but I thought a portable 403 would be a nice addition to my herd.

It's perfect timing, too, as I'm in the middle of making a batch of fabric postcards, and I love using the decorative cams for stitching on the cards.

These pictures are as I brought it home. So now I'm off to dust, oil and try it out.

More later!