Saturday, June 22, 2013

Anybody looking for one of these?

It's a Greist Circular Decorator attachment for a vintage zigzag machine.

It's not the Holy Grail of buttonhole attachments, but I'm sure it does something pretty snazzy.

I have the Holy Grail buttonhole attachment and rarely use it, so I'm not likely to use this either.  This is still in its original packaging, complete with instructions on the back of the package.

I've got it set as a classified on Patternreview; I was going to put it on Etsy but I thought that PR, Facebook and the blog were more likely to turn up someone who would want this vintage goody.  It's been in a box long enough; it's time for it to go out in the world and help someone make something.

Edited to Add:  I got a question from Miss Kate, "What exactly does it do?"  I guess that's a good question.  I slid it out of the packaging, looking for more answers (as the info on the back really only tells you how to use it, not what to use it for), and apparently the notes and drawings on the front are as clear as it gets.  It can make the scalloped decoration that you see going around the front of the packaging; it's also shown to do scalloped edging on tablecloths and napkins (which have then been cut along the scallops), pillowcases and bedspreads (done more as embroidery; no cutting), the hems of skirts, slips, etc.

The "helpful hints" on front say "Plan your pattern and mark out the centers of all your circles or parts of circles so that each  circle can be correctly centered over the center pin.  While stitching, keep the fabric in front of the needle smoothed.  Do not feed the fabric.  Your circular decorator will guide the fabric into the circle and your machine will feed the fabric.  However, when working on large pieces, guide the fabric under the machine arm when necessary, since the machine cannot be expected to pull a heavy piece of fabric around.  Large pieces should be rolled or folded to get them under the arm."

The instructions on the back are for mounting the attachment on the machine (similar to the buttonhole attachment) and setting the attachment to make the size circle or scallop to fit your design.

I hope this is a little more clear.  I think it's just one of those things that may need experimentation to figure out entirely.


2 comments:

miss kate said...

Hi Karen! I'm intrigued by this--what, exactly, does it do?

Karen M Brown said...

It is for stitching in a circle. One end goes under the needle/stitching plate and the fabric is put over the pin on the other end, at a distance equal to the radius of the circle you want. Imagine a doily or coaster for which you want to have a decorative stitch on the edge. This will allow the material to feed on the circle edge. Most in the market are vintage, but they are still available from machine manufacturers.