{"id":1134,"date":"2013-07-14T15:45:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-14T20:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/?p=1134"},"modified":"2013-11-02T23:45:57","modified_gmt":"2013-11-03T04:45:57","slug":"sewing-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/?p=1134","title":{"rendered":"Sewing Machines"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

I learned to sew at a very young age on a treadle machine.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a>

First love – Singer 185K<\/p><\/div>\n

I loved making clothes for myself (aprons and scarves) <\/span>and for my dolls.\u00a0 I was always allowed to use fabric from my mother’s scrap bag and was very much entertained while sitting at the machine.\u00a0 After witnessing my mother sew her finger, I was VERY careful… and still am!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 1958, my family purchased a green Singer 185K.\u00a0 At the ripe old age of seven, I fell deeply in love.\u00a0 The machine had a buttonhole attachment, a light and could sew in reverse!\u00a0 It makes my heart flutter to remember the excitement!\u00a0 That sweet green machine served my teen years well as I made many of my school\/work clothes.\u00a0 Since no one taught me about alterations, I was very fortunate that size 8\/10 patterns fit perfectly (though I hemmed them radically short!).\u00a0 I even picked up a little extra money by sewing zippers into my friends’ home economics projects… 50\u00a2 per zipper (big money for a kid doing easy work in the early-mid ’60’s).\u00a0 Sadly, when I left home, I had to say goodbye to my first love.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kenmorre<\/a>

Kenmore 158-12270<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In 1971, Sears sent me a credit card.\u00a0 I wanted to build my independent, single girl credit rating so I thought hard and finally decided to purchase a sewing machine…for $99 (or $9 per month on the revolving credit plan).\u00a0 It zigged and zagged!! That turned out to be the wisest purchase of my life.\u00a0 I used that machine to sew all my own and my family’s clothes, home decor, quilt tops and crafts for 40+ years!<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, I started noticing my cream-n-taupe, high-mileage beauty showing her age.\u00a0 Her hum was becoming a little tired and I began to worry she would not last until the end of my life.\u00a0 I mentioned my concerns to DH and he immediately suggested I purchase the machine of my dreams with all the bells and whistles I could ever want.\u00a0 As he was envisioning a slick, computerized machine, I had different ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

On eBay\u00ae, I found a very low mileage machine perfectly matching my trusted old Kenmore friend.\u00a0 You can imagine my husband’s shock when he learned my ‘new’ dream machine only cost $55 (including shipping)!\u00a0 I’m able to use my same attachments and feel like my original Kenmore and I have welcomed some fresh help into our sewing circle.\u00a0 We are comfortable together!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Singer<\/a>

Singer 301A – circa 1951<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

This year, as my birthday approached, my husband gave me cash to purchase ‘HIS’ dream of a dream machine (he doesn’t sew).\u00a0 This time, I found a Singer 301A born the same year as me.\u00a0 The price was right ($87 including shipping) and influenced by a well informed Net friend, I purchased it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

My stars!\u00a0 I’m in love again!\u00a0 By rumor, this is the fastest stitching non-commercial machine ever released to the public.\u00a0 I believe it!\u00a0 This baby FLIES!\u00a0 To celebrate my love for her, I bought a SewadjusTable\u00ae from www.sewingmates.com<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Yes, I’m squatting in high cotton now!\u00a0 I immediately cut lots of fabric and stitched my Split-16 quilt top… LICKETY FAST !\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I was stitching the quilt top, I began thinking about my grandmother’s treadle machine.\u00a0 It had been buried in her dirt-floor barn for several decades when she gave it to me.\u00a0 DH literally dug it up!\u00a0 There was only one drawer left from the otherwise completely rotted cabinet.\u00a0 I brought machine head, base and drawer home but it has lived in my barn for another 20 years… this time, high and dry.\u00a0 I recently convinced Bob to excavate it from the back corner of the barn.<\/span><\/p>\n

As close as I can tell, the machine was manufactured by the National Sewing Machine Company of Chicago around 1925 and though the decals are mostly gone, I think it was tagged “Elderidge”.\u00a0 It is rusty and although many of the attachments and attachment box still exist, some parts are missing, including the all-important tensioner.\u00a0 Unlike commonly sold Singer machines, this National is more rare so the parts are hard to find.\u00a0 Even with new parts, this machine head is full of sand and rust.\u00a0 After much time and effort, I gave up trying to make it work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Singer<\/a>

Singer 66 – circa 1925<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Fortunately, the wrought iron treadle base is complete and working smoothly.\u00a0 It needs refinishing to remove the rust but will be easy to bring back to almost new appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n

After much consideration and tons of measuring, I decided to purchase a Singer 66 machine manufactured in 1925 to fit into the base.\u00a0 I found one on eBay\u00ae in great condition for a reasonable price.\u00a0 It arrived Friday and is as beautiful as I’d hoped.\u00a0 I’ve cleaned and oiled it and it operates smoothly and quietly.\u00a0 The decals are pristine and the same design as my mother’s old Singer treadle on which I learned to sew.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve found cabinet parts and have purchased them from several eBay\u00ae vendors.\u00a0 Saturday, the first of them arrived.\u00a0 I now have a center bobbin drawer and am anxiously awaiting delivery early next week of the cabinet tabletop, 4 drawers w\/frames and the underbelly. I ordered a dozen bobbins too.\u00a0 I already have a leather belt for the treadle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though I face much refinishing and assembly work, I’m looking forward to owning and using a treadle machine as I honor my mother and grandmother who taught me the magic and love of sewing.<\/p>\n

Shirl<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I learned to sew at a very young age on a treadle machine. I loved making clothes for myself (aprons and scarves) and for my dolls.\u00a0 I was always allowed to use fabric from my mother’s scrap bag and was very much entertained while sitting at the machine.\u00a0 After witnessing my mother sew her (continue reading…) <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1134"}],"version-history":[{"count":68,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1792,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134\/revisions\/1792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}