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Monday 29 November 2010

Serendipity

Yesterday on a whim, hubby and I attended a flea market here in Amherst. This is not something we normally do. We browsed through the selection of used furniture, appliances and dishes and were headed to the door when I spotted this. It looked suspiciously like a sewing cabinet. I asked hubby if he supposed there was anything interesting inside, so he lifted the lid and peeked in.
He looked at me with wide eyes and said..."oh, oh...there's a Bernina in there!" He's such a big tease. I approached the cabinet fully expecting to see a gaping hole...







Lol!!! It was too funny...and too good not to bring home. Oddly, on the front of the machine it says "Made in Italy" which I found rather intriguing as Berninas are made in Switzerland. It weighs a ton, but thankfully there was help offered to get it to the car. On the drive home I pondered the "Made in Italy" thing and my dear hubby asked if I had checked the spelling of the name closely, teasingly suggesting perhaps I had actually purchased a Berninina, or Berninio or some such thing!
Although a bit dinged with nicks and scrapes, the solid cherry wood cabinet has potential as a nice side table in my sewing room, if nothing else. The missing knobs can easily be replaced. The cabinet is surprisingly sturdy and the machine fits inside with perfect precision; it is very well crafted. The front door swings open for a little storage compartment. The bar you see hanging down under the machine is a knee lift. The machine only sews a straight stitch, which I am guessing is a clue to its vintage. Some web investigation is in order to find out the history of this model. It was a fun find.

5 comments:

  1. Wow! What a FIND!!! Aren't you lucky? The "made in Italy" baffles me too. I thought they had always been made in Switzerland, but those two countries do border each other and maybe way back, they started out in Italy...? It definitely is an older machine. I hope you can track the history and let me know what you find out....

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  2. Also what a find!!!!! Only in Amherst, on a Sunday. The better the day, the better the deed or find, comes to mind. Can't wait to hear more about the machine & where was the sale?
    Mary

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  3. Hi there
    Your Bernina looks like it could be an Industrial machine that's been put in a cabinet.

    Moollin

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