The Rural We: Eric Fabiaschi
If you've got an old sewing machine in your attic and you want to bring it back to life, Eric Fabiaschi's your man.
When Eric Fabiaschi was a kid, he took apart a toaster and put it back together, but there were a couple of parts left over. That's when his dad, a sewing machine mechanic, brought Eric into the family business, Thomas's Sewing Machines in New Hartford, Connecticut. Eric learned from his dad how to repair all makes and models of sewing machines for both industrial uses, but the shop's specialty is the repair of vintage machines. "If it's got a needle and thread, I've probably worked on it," he says.
After my dad got back from Vietnam, he was looking to get into an occupation. He answered an ad in the local paper and became a sewing machine mechanic. I came along in 1970 and Dad put me to work when I was a kid, so I grew up doing this.
We specialize in the vintage machines. I’ve worked on some from the 1800s. I like some of the newer stuff I’m seeing, but they don’t have the quality of the older machines. The Singers and Sears, etc. all the way back past the 1920s, they’re built like tanks, beautiful pieces of engineering.
There’s been a resurgence in the last five years of vintage machines coming into their own. The artisan movement is returning to sewing, and COVID really ramped it up. The lockdown has been one of the things that propelled the renaissance in sewing. We get everybody that sews — men, women, kids, all age groups share a passion for doing something with a sewing machine: quilting, scrapping, cosplay, crafting. This business has seasons, with people sewing gifts for Christmas, then the hardcore types get ready for springtime crafts, which they will start right after Christmas. I can sew, but I don’t have time for it. I’m always giving lessons or doing tech support for our customers. I get to meet so many great people, all throughout New England and beyond.
I’ve worked on industrial machines at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, machines that have done costumes for movies and top designers’ machines in the Litchfield Hills, even celebrities’ machines. I can tell you horror stories of weddings that ground to a half because their sewing machine died on a Saturday afternoon. I’m the go-to guy and can’t say no, so when I get an emergency call, I drop everything and run.
Sewing machines are not like any other appliance. They have a lot of memories for people. Every person I’ve met — everyone — always says, “I remember my grandmother or mother sewing on this machine.” It’s always an heirloom. The worst part of my job is when I have to tell someone I can’t resurrect their machine. The person always erupts in tears. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen too often.
Dad’s been doing this for 50 years. I’m only the lightweight at 30 years. I’m still learning. I just love my work, the art of sewing machine repair. It’s in my blood.
