My Husband Won't Let Me Get a New Singer - Or, How to Clean Your Machine

This is one of my favorite things in my house:

My mom bought it for my a couple years ago for Christmas and I use it at least five days a week, making all this stuff. My husband, though I love him dearly, doesn't really understand the lure of fat quarters and JoAnn's Red Tag Sale. So when I told him I needed a new machine, he wanted to know why: The feed dogs aren't pulling through, the buttonholer doesn't buttonhole, the zig zag skips constantly, the tension is whacked, and it squeaks. Didn't matter. He was convinced I didn't need a new one. So, I decided to pull it apart and clean it, and if a few little parts happened to break, then I would definitely need a new one!

Turns out it's a good thing I did! And if you're husband is a big old meany-head as frugal as mine, here's how I did it.