It's...alive!! The Necchi, that is.

I got the Necchi working! All it needed was a little TLC. It has been cleaned, de-linted, and oiled in all possible locations. A little oil on the belt, of all places, and it was ready to rock.

I must say, this has taught me a lot about sewing machines. This is like my bike story. I have a beastly 100 lb vintage bike that I love, I love it so much I'm afraid to tinker with it for fear of ruining it. Then I got a less cool vintage bike at a garage sale for 10 bucks, and I learned how to clean up an old bike and tune it up and I sold it on Craigslist for 80 bucks. So then I could apply my knowledge to my better, beloved bike.

Now take that story and apply it to my beautiful, awesome Singer 15-90 and this weirdly green Necchi. Same thing. So while I got this guy working, I also de-fuzzed and oiled (for the first time, bad Molly!) my Singer. Can you believe I have had it since 2006 and never oiled it? And it runs like a dream...I love that thing.
Look at all the things that came with the Necchi. Three feed dog plates, several bobbin holders, the original manual (which you need because threading this thing is totally absurd), and bunch of feet, including one for sewing on buttons!!!!!! OMG, I wish the Singer did that. I hate sewing on buttons! This machine can zig-zag, so it can sew on buttons.

Now look below. What is that thing, you ask? It looks like an eye ball.
Why, that is the Wonder Wheel, of course. It does decorative stitches. Two bars ( I am missing the top one, which is longer) hook into holes on the levers that control the length of the zig zag and stuff, and then make fancy patterns, all by itself. I am tempted to buy some wire and wire cutters tomorrow and make one to try it out. I have pliers, I am crafty, I bet I could do it!!
Lastly, here are my stitch samples. So it works, doesn't jam and will be great for teaching kids to sew on. Even on "HI" speed, it goes a weak medium, so no one will puncture their fingers! hee hee.

Parting shot- we get to start decorating our rooms now, so I took some pictures. Since I had "The Cart" (say that in an evil voice) last year, and had to move through other people's classrooms all day long, I am psyched about having my OWN room!! AHHH. Now I can still be mildly jealous of the people who have enormous eight-window rooms upstairs, but I am still excited!!!

The back wall is inexplicably blue, and the front beige. Sorry about the lighting, it looks less prison-y in person!
Anyways, I'm excited about lots of things! Yay. I have been washing all of that free fabric and I must say, to each his own. I would not make a single thing out of any of this fabric, for my own garments. However, other people will like it, and it was free, and it will be great for the club!

and the Closer is on tonight! Yay!