I decided to start looking for Necchi machines in August. Wonder of wonders, there was a lovely Nora (which I'm sure you're tired of hearing about) in the next city over. It took two long weeks of coordinating schedules with the former owner, but Nora finally came home to live with me on my birthday.
In those ensuing few weeks, I found a Supernova on Craigslook. Craigslook.com searches all of craigslists in the USA instead of limiting the search to your geographical area only (which is what craigslist does). When I went to craigslook earlier this week, I found the site to be closed due to a dispute with craigslist. Here is the new address for craigslook.
The craigslook ad for the Necchi was misspelled as "Neechi." There was one photo. Of the cabinet. Closed. And posted sideways. All it said was "Neechi sewing machine." No indication of model. And without a contact phone number or email. I kept clicking on the "please contact owner to notify them to add contact information."
The interesting thing was that the listing was in my old hometown in upstate NY. I live 11 hours away, but....but....surely there had to be a way to get her if she was what I was looking for, right?
When I called the owner, she knew nothing about the machine. It had been her mother-in-law's machine. From evidence I've gathered looking at her things, I think the mother-in-law had been a seamstress. I had two questions about the machine - these two would tell me everything I needed to know: What kind? Where was it made? It took her 10 minutes to answer those questions. She had no idea where to look to answer them. I meant to ask both together, but once the first question was out of my mouth, she was gone to look. So she had to go twice. Poor dear.
I asked her to send additional photos but she said she'd have to pay someone to do that. So I imposed on my son's best friend and asked him to go take photos. He sent me photos of the label (Made in Italy) and machine (Supernova) and my heart was aflutter.
I asked the seller if I could pay her but pick up the machine sometime later. She said sure, she needed the money.
So I started scheming about how to get the machine. My son was going to NY for his best friend's wedding. But he would be busy doing best man things all weekend with nary a moment to himself to help his momma. Surely he'd be able to squeeze a bit of time? But that idea turned into a nightmare of logistics. Better not to stress the best man when his job is to de-stress the groom. Right?
So I had to cancel the idea. But the spark of hope never faded.
Finally, my son called me the Monday after the wedding [which was on 10/10/10 - cool date for a wedding], as he was driving out of town. He was post-wedding. Post-stress. I asked him to wait, pull over. Just wait. Please. Begging. I called the owner, no answer. Sigh. My son gets further down the road on his trip back here. Fifteen minutes later, the owner called me. Back to begging my son who had just reached the state line. It would only be 30 minutes of back-tracking. Begging. Look, Son, I gave you spending money. Surely you appreciate that....and haven't spent it all?!? [He did, he hadn't...we were in business...grumbly ...but in business.]
So that's the story. But while he was there, the owner spoke on the phone to a friend about a financial need. My son won't talk about it. He said it is too sad and he won't tell me anything.
When I started opening the bags and bags of tidbits and whatnot that came with the desk, I realized she had given me some things of monetary value, not directly related to the machine, but to sewing. It would be a huge blessing to sell a few of these things and send her the proceeds.
What do you think about wooden spools? If I counted correctly, there are 96(I found 3 additional spools after taking this photo).
These feet do not go with the Necchi. I am hoping someone knows what machine they go with. Perhaps they are rare and would be beneficial to someone with the machine type?
There's a collection of almost 100 buttons. I was going to keep them, but if they will raise a bit of money for her, I'm happy to part with them.
Misc collection of buttons.
New York and "FD" buttons. Could the FD buttons be Fire Department? The MIL lived outside NYC and could have altered shirts for firemen.
Cut out shapes with pattern. If you or someone you know likes to make dolls, perhaps this will speak to you. There is even additional uncut fabric. There are no doll heads.
Mystery Bobbins. Size unknown (narrower than the size 15 the Necchi uses.
Workbasket Magazine plus 3 smaller craft magazines
If you would like any of these items, please make an offer. I will take offers through Sunday, October 24, 5pm. If you have the best offer, I will notify you and we can work out a payment method. I'll have to see if I can find my paypal account (I haven't used it in about a year - but I think it is still available). Once I receive payment, I'll mail it to you asap. I hereby promise to send ALL proceeds to the dear lady in New York. Thank you. I hope I am able to send her a bit of money. It would also be a blessing to be able to tell my son we helped her out.
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