mirith

My 201-2 currently lives in a sewing machine cabinet.  These cabinets were made to look like regular furniture, but actually house a full sewing machine. Just a regular desk and stool... Right?  

I am trying to cultivate a "buy-it-for-life" mindset.  When I was looking into sewing machines, I found plenty of machines that seemed to be in my price range ($100-150) with decent reviews.  I wasn't expecting a powerhouse of a machine, but if I was spending a hundred dollars on it, I wanted it to last a while.  But as I dug deeper into reviews, I kept seeing things like "this machine broke after x months of use, and it can't be repaired since it's completely plastic on the inside".  (Plastic consumption/its widespread use is a whole 'nother issue).  I couldn't justify spending over a hundred dollars on a chunk of plastic that would break and become unrepairable

Button holes can be done by hand.  But... you might make the button hole too small or too big, and there's probably lots of them to do!  If only there was a quick way to do button holes on a straight-stitch only machine... Well, there actually is! You'll need a very specific attachment though.  ( How I got mine ). The buttonholer is a marvelous thing.  It's very loud (clack-clack-clack) but produces amazingly consistent button holes.  And it manages to do it on a straight-stitch only machine!

How does one sew a zig-zag on a straight-stitch only machine (ex, my Singer 201-2 )? With a specially-made attachment!