sewing machine meltdown

after i posted about joining wardrobe refashion, i decided to check out my sewing machine. sadly even though i've had the sewing machine for a few years, i think i've opened it up once prior and never sewn anything with it. my father surprised me with it a few years ago when he visited it to me. he received it from a coworker whose mother had owned it. since my mother has her own sewing machine which i had asked to borrow on several occasions, i think he figured i would put it to good use. this past christmas, he told me he had been thinking of either getting me a dslr camera or sewing machine. i immediately told him there was no need for a sewing machine since he told me he had checked the one he gave me and it was in perfect working order and i had yet to use it. i felt guilty about him spending so much money on me, but that camera is really being put to good use. but, now i want to use my sewing machine which until now has been extra desk space as seen cleared off here.

here's the desk opened up revealing the extra work space and how it holds the machine. and, look at the happy pic of me and my honey.

finally, here is the sewing machine revealed.

i started practicing stitches on an old work shirt that i use as a rag now. things were ok for a few minutes. then all of the sudden a part of my machine flew out of the side. and, it got some pretty good lift as it landed halfway across the room. here's a closeup of that part:

suddenly,my sewing machine no longer would stitch at all. i picked the peice up and inspected it. to the best of my estimation, it appeared to be a rubber belt that had simply dry rotted. unfortunately, i had no idea where i would get replacement parts for a singer sewing machine. growing up, there was a singer repair shop in my hometown.

since i am 2 hours away from my hometown and i had no idea where there is a sewing machine repair shop in town, i decided to search the net. i started by looking for stores and could not find any in my area. i figured there had to be a way to order them online. so, typed singer sewing machine replacement parts into google. the first site listed was the official singer webpage. i figured i was getting somewhere now. my experience on the singer website was less than pleasant though. amazingly, i have the manual. so, i know my model number, and the part number is on the part. if only i could just type that in and search by it. oh, no. if i search by the model number, it just gives me a very small list of about 20 parts. i had no idea what the name of my missing part was. the site gave me the option of looking through about 20 diagrams to try and figure out what my part was. i don't think i could be more confused looking at those diagrams. i may be a bit spacially challenged, but seriously only slightly. i was completely uanable to find a belt that matched the area my belt came from. and none of the belts listed in the diagrams were even on the list of parts i could order.

so, i went to my go to when i am confused. i looked for the contact us button, so i could speak with a customer service rep. of course, when i find the number, i am 38 minutes too late to contact them on saturday. my call would have to wait until monday when i got off work. i called 888-873-9822 and spoke with the absolute sweetest customer service rep, dennis. he told me that the new website is www.sewingshop.com. this website even has handy dandy pictures. and, i could either order the part over the phone or online with the model and part number for a mere $14.95 and plus $3 shipping. simple, and just what i wanted from the beginning. the part is ordered, and should ship by tomorrow. now, i am just waiting for it to arrive so i can get to refashioning. hopefully, figuring out how to put the part in will be less eventful.