Vintage Sewing Machines

[JoffreyBaratheon]

Just realised we're taking over the other thread with chat so anyone up for a separate thread dedicated to the beautiful vintage sewing machine, and all its glories?

Woukld love to see pics of and hear about everyone's vintage machines; where you got it, why you love your machine, and what you're making on it? Also tips for restoration/fettling/cleaning and oiling.... And anything else people who sew on vintage machines might like...

lavender that's a good price, too. Can't wait to see what you make of it. Have heard that FWs do the best buttonholes - dunno if that's true but it wouldn't surprise me!

So great we can all enable... I mean encourage eachother.

SoupDragon I have read the Frister & Rossmanns were really good quality machines. Be interested to hear what you make of it as I have seen them come up at our local car boot from time to time.

I just checked the serial number of my featherweight (can't believe I've never done that) and it was manufactured in the New Jersey plant in 1935. It's even older than I thought.

And they are great to sew with. Such a pleasure to use.

Great thread!

Seneca that must be quite an early one? I bet it has a lovely faceplate!

I read somewhere that a lot of them are being bought on eBay UK and exported - but that may well be the white ones, which I could be wrong) I think were only made in the UK..? And the beige ones were the UK and Canada.

My uncle has a Singer sewing machine. It has the wheel and is incorporated into a sewing cupboard. It had the large pedal wheel.

Yes, it has the scrolly faceplate.

Is it a good price Joffrey? After I had bought it I realised that I had got the photos mixed up with another one I had looked at ..... but my seller seemed a really nice man , and of course it was his Mum's, and he has got all of the receipts!!

I have this book; I haven't looked at it in a long time, but as I recall it has some very interesting and useful information.

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=featherweight%20the%20perfect%20portable

OMG more people with this obsession. I currently have two singers one much older bullet shuttle but both in restoration ... need to pay them some attention. That new featherweight is gorgeous - love it - will keep my eyes peeled now!!!!!!

Joffrey I didn't buy it as I have nowhere to put it. As it has a cabinet, it's too big. It has been in the sho for at least a month so far - I feel sorry for it! I bet it was someone's pride and joy.

If I thought it would see through two thick layers of felted wool I might be tempted though as my modern machine couldn't and I had to take a bag I'd made to the dry cleaners/repair and pay them to do it...

Of course it may not work at all. It is beautiful though.

RB I cleaned up an utterly neglected 1893 Singer 28K last weekend - it looked like it hadn't been touched for decades and have never found so much muck under/around feed dogs. It had an unopened pack of needles with the price "9p" so I am guessing the last time it was used, was probably around decimilisation, very early 1970s... That model is a bullet shuttle.

It had no major faults or problems and nothing major missing or dinked. Even so I was thinking I bet I spent all this time cleaning it and then the timing will be out and it won't work... So I had it cleaned, oiled, messed a bit with the tension and had it up and running in a couple of hours. It actually had the nicest straight stitch I have seen, including my own really nice Singers...

So well worth a good clean and oil, those long bullet shuttle ones.

SoupDragon the two layers of felted wool might be nothing, to it! I made a patchwork throw out of wool scraps - we do living history so have a lot of thick, wool fabric leftovers - and my machine of choice was a similar kind of machine; my husband's great grandma's Pfaff handcrank. I swear I could sew through almost anything on that machine. It's only a 3/4 size model as well. I'd guess a Singer 66 could manage that as well...

It wouldn't fit under the foot of my modern machine :)

I would love to rescue it but I honestly can't think where to put it.

I need to get my grandmother's old Singer long bobbin machine out of storage and take a look. It has a cabinet and some unusual features, as I recall, no foot pedal, but a lever thingy that you press your knee against for power.

Is the long bobbin the one where you can't wind as much thread as on the round bobbin Seneca?

I was hoping that something would arrive today ... no such luck.

Craft room , I have only got a cramped corner of my study, not sure where I am going to put the two new machines yet. I might have to convert the spare room to a sewing space if all else fails.

I don't know lavender. I have never used her machine. I have held on to it for sentimental reasons. I need to get it out of storage and have a look.

Wow, that is amazing Polter.

Yes, I think the spare room might be the way to go here. Have got the decorators booked for it and another two rooms, hopefully before December.

My corner is so cramped, good that I can leave everything out though but my bernina, overlocker and the 99 stay out and with a few unfinished projects on the go it looks like this ....

The room is 15 x 7 and I struggle to move my chair back because of the bookcases along the other wall. Piano and desk as well in there - it is so cramped. I end up moving piles of projects onto my desk to sew and then the same projects back onto the red table to work.

Wow great to stumble across this thread. I have my Gran's machine complete with instruction manual and tiny can of oil. It still works perfectly. Thanks to the link I now know it was made in 1939.

I have two spare rooms, but we live in Florida so we need the beds for all of our freeloading visiting friends and family.

I use my study (work mostly from home) as a sewing room when needed.

I lived in Florida for a year Seneca - I hated the massive prehistoric looking bugs . My MIL still has a house there.

Oh, yes. Palmetto bugs. They can be a bit scary if you've never encountered one.

There are lots of sewers, quilters, crafters, and fabric artists in Florida though. So we have good shops and other resources.

I just googled them I am sure that the ones I stumbled across were more than 1.6 inches - they were at least 5" .

Can I join in? As well as a modern computerised janome, I have
. C1895 Jones cs family
. 1922 singer 15k treadle
. 1951 singer 99k with knee control
. 1956 aluminium 201k
And a lotus pattern 66k that has been taken out of a treadle.
I would love a featherweight next but I've just recently got the 15k and spent over a year watching out on gumtree for the right one. So now I'm learning to treadle.