Sewing Machines

Some people just don't understand.  Years ago, I fell in love with the look of the old treadle sewing machines. Yes, that's right, the old style black machines. So I decided I wanted a treadle machine. I already had a perfectly good Kenmore zigzag machine that I had bought new in the late 70s, but I wanted a nicer cabinet for it. When an estate auction put an old sewing machine in a nice wood cabinet up for sale, I bought it for $20. I was the only bidder, probably because it didn't have the electric cord or foot pedal. It turned out that my Kenmore machine wouldn't fit into the singer cabinet.

So, I took my "new" old black machine to a Singer repair center to see about getting the cord and foot pedal. This was a mistake. They charged me more than triple what I had paid for the machine. Then I discovered it wouldn't sew. Everything seemed to work, but it wouldn't make a stitch, so my auction bargain became extra space to hold my sewing things, and the machine never saw the light of day.

A few years later, I found a user's manual for the machine, which turned out to be a Singer 201, from 1939. After reading the manual, I discovered that I had been threading the needle in the wrong direction. Once I threaded the needle correctly, the machine began sewing beautiful straight stitches. In researching this machine, I learned that it was considered to be one of Singer's all time best machines! And to think it had been sitting unused for so long. Today, it is my favorite go-to machine for everyday stitching. These days it is mostly sewing together quilt tops.

Since discovering what a jewel I had, I was apparently bitten by the vintage sewing machine bug. I finally got not one, but two treadle sewing machines, both of which are in good working order. I still have my original Kenmore, although it has been promised to my son. My mother's White zigzag machine from the late 60s came home with me after her funeral, and it still works fine too. I have another White machine which was originally a treadle, but converted to electric, and is in the process of being cleaned and refurbished.

The other day, my sister sent me an email with a picture of a Singer featherweight she had just bought from Ebay.  Because she thought her Singer 185k was tiny, she couldn't believe that the featherweight was even smaller. To convince her of just how small the Featherweight is, I sent her a picture of 3 of my machines. The Featherweight is in the front, back left is a repainted Singer 99, and back right is my old faithful Singer 201. Something tells me that Sis has also been bitten by the vintage sewing machine bug. She has told me that her little green Singer 185k is her favorite.