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Antiques - Blog Posts
Library - Craftsman Living Room
Ideas for a large, enclosed, craftsman-style living room and library renovation with green walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace, and a wall-mounted television
Sewing Machines & Planned Obsolescence
I've got these two sewing machines, made about 100 years apart. An old treadle machine from around 1920-1930, that I pulled out of the trash on a rainy day, and a new Brother sewing machine from around 2020.
I've always known planned obsolescence was a thing, but I never knew just how insidious it was till I started looking at these two side by side.
I wasn't feeling hopeful at first that I'd actually be able to fix the old one, I found it in the trash at 2 am in a thunderstorm. It was rusty, dusty, soggy, squeaky, missing parts, and 100 years old.
How do you even find specialized parts 100 years later? Well, easily, it turns out. The manufacturers at the time didn't just make parts backwards compatible to be consistent across the years, but also interchangeable across brands! Imagine that today, being able to grab a part from an old iPhone to fix your Android.
Anyway, 6 months into having them both, I can confidently say that my busted up trash machine is far better than my new one, or any consumer-grade sewing machine on the market.
Old Machine Guts
The old machine? Can sew through a pile of leather thicker than my fingers like it's nothing. (it's actually terrifying and I treat it like a power tool - I'll never sew drunk on that thing because I'm genuinely afraid it'd sew through a finger!) At high speeds, it's well balanced and doesn't shake. The parts are all metal, attached by standard flathead screws, designed to be simple and strong, and easily reachable behind large access doors. The tools I need to work on it? A screwdriver and oil. Lost my screwdriver? That's OK, a knife works too.
New Machine Guts
The new machine's skipping stitches now that the plastic parts are starting to wear out. It's always throwing software errors, and it damn near shakes itself apart at top speed. Look at it's innards - I could barely fit a boriscope camera that's about as thick as spaghetti in there let alone my fingers. Very little is attached with standard screws.
And it's infuriating. I'm an engineer - there's no damn reason to make high-wear parts out of plastic. Or put them in places they can't be reached to replace. There's no reason to make your mechanism so unbalanced it's reaching the point of failure before reaching it's own design speed. (Oh yeah there is, it's corporate greed)
100 years, and your standard home sewing machine has gone from a beast of a machine that can be pulled out of the literal waterlogged trash and repaired - to a machine that eats itself if you sew anything but delicate fast-fashion fabrics that are also designed to fall apart in a few years.
Looking for something modern built to the standard that was set 100 years ago? I'd be looking at industrial machines that are going for thousands of dollars... Used on craigslist. I don't even want to know what they'd cost new.
We have the technology and knowledge to manufacture "old" sewing machines still. Hell, even better, sewing machines with the mechanical design quality of the old ones, but with more modern features. It would be so easy - at a technical level to start building things well again. Hell, it's easier to fabricate something sturdy than engineer something to fail at just the right time. (I have half a mind to see if any of my meche friends with machine shops want to help me fabricate an actually good modern machine lol)
We need to push for right-to-repair laws, and legislation against planned obsolescence. Because it's honestly shocking how corporate greed has downright sabotaged good design. They're selling us utter shit, and expecting us to come back for more every financial quarter? I'm over it.
"winx girls inspired by antiques" by tasia.ms
Traditional Porch in Raleigh Traditional side porch design with a large roof extension
Cool.
Carnelian stamp seal featuring a kitty, Minoan, 1900-1600 BC
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Friend browses the paintings.
Traditional Dining Room Jacksonville Example of a large classic carpeted enclosed dining room design with brown walls
Modern Bedroom - Bedroom Mid-sized modern guest bedroom idea with brown floors and dark wood floors, white walls, and no fireplace
Traditional Family Room - Enclosed Family room - mid-sized traditional enclosed room idea with blue walls, no fireplace, and a media wall. The floor is light wood.
Chicago Front Yard
Small mountain style front porch photo
Master - Bedroom An illustration of a large master bedroom with a dark wood floor and white walls in the beach style.
Library in New York
Large eclectic enclosed family room library idea with beige walls, a stone fireplace, a standard fireplace, and a wall-mounted tv
A cannon shot by canon @Daulatabad devgiri fort #artillery #rusted #cannon #ball #oldendays #war #head #gunpowder #manual #guns #antiques #mughal #mughalempire #mughalarchitecture #forts #india #tughlaq #explore #daulatabad #maharastra (at Daulatabad, Maharashtra, India)
Portland Bathroom 3/4 Bath
Bathroom - mid-sized eclectic 3/4 white tile and ceramic tile marble floor and white floor bathroom idea with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, a two-piece toilet, white walls and a pedestal sink
L-Shape - Traditional Home Bar Large traditional l-shaped open cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, gray backsplash, and black countertops make up this seated home bar. It also has an undermount sink.
Kids - Bathroom Example of a small classic kids' black and white tile and subway tile porcelain tile and black floor bathroom design with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, a two-piece toilet, white walls, an undermount sink, granite countertops and black countertops
Here's my #monthlyspread for February! I decided on a #coffee theme. I used @tombowusa #dualbrushpens for the artwork; the blue patterned paper is from @nekobox.japan ; the yellow gingham paper is from a Ms. Sparkle & Co. Woodland themed paper pack, the calendar is from a scrapbook calendar paper, both are from @joann_stores ; and the lined paper is from a vintage stenographer's notebook I found on my travels.😊 #craftymama #makerdreamerdoer #bulletjournal #bujo #travel #antiques #vintage #monthlylayout #collage #coffeeislife #coffeegoals #coffeelove https://www.instagram.com/marcellafox/p/Btls7TDn_QX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mj9t6rhntf65
I started unpacking and took a #sneakpeek picture of goodies I found on my travels 🦊❤🗺🚅🚌🛣🚤🛫 ° Leocadia and I arrived home yesterday evening after a few weeks visiting family in #newengland ! We had #fun and #adventure and went on a couple #expeditions to #museums and areas of interest. ° We spent lots of time with family, especially with my Gran 💖, went #swimming, and got to ride in some boats on #lakewinnipesaukee . After all the hustle and bustle, I am so happy to be back in #tennessee despite the humidity and heat that is typical of #southernsummer ♨️🌡😅! ° A huge THANK YOU!!! goes to @joshpneal for giving us a ride to and from the #nashvilleairport ! ° I'll post more pictures of my #goodies later, after I manage to check the farm and animals, run errands, and pick up mail in town... #priorities ° Right now I need #tylenol 💊for the muscles I pulled in my back yesterday 😖 and #coffee ☕to help get me moving! #craftymama #makerdreamerdoer #bulletjournal #bujo #travel #antiques #vintage #massachusetts #newhampshire #shoppingspree #goodies #coffeelove #coffeeislife #backpain
Traditional Bedroom
An illustration of a small, traditional guest bedroom with pink walls, a beige floor, and wallpaper
Guest - Traditional Bedroom Bedroom - large traditional guest bedroom idea with dark wood floors and beige walls
Living room: large, enclosed, traditional living room design with beige walls Living room - large traditional formal and enclosed living room idea with beige walls
Great Room Dining Room Jacksonville Large beach style dark wood floor great room photo with brown walls