Anyone Here Restore or use Vintage Sewing Machines ?

[banjo48 928]

I have been a machine sewer for many many years, started when I was very young playing with mum's and her aunts old Jones and singer machines.

Mum was a sewing machinist from a young age too as she made most of her own clothes during and after the war.

She then did outwork at home, but also worked at many of the old manufacturing factories in Nottm like Raywarps etc.

I have had several machines from modern home models to industrial screamers that would bite if not handled correctly.

While traveling I do a bit of canvas and shade cloth work and have a portable Taiwanese walking foot machine.

Anyway the point of my post, I came across a lady that had just lost her mum and was clearing the old house.

Low and behold one of the items for sale was an immaculate one owner from new, made in Kilbowrie (sp) scotland, a Singer 201k model with knee control and portable box/cabinet.

Cost new 13 pounds, seven shillings and sixpence, a fair bit of money in those days.

I purchased this ancient machine for the princely sum of $40AU about 25 pounds ! It works perfectly and does an amazing quality stitch, the down side is it weighs a ton being cast iron but is built like a tank.

I have just spent several enjoyable days stripping bits down and cleaning things and when I checked the serial number (the internet is an amazing thing) found to my amazement it is just 3 months younger than me as it was made in Sept 1948 !

It appears I am not alone and there are heaps of enthusiasts out there and heaps of forums and info on old machines.

So back to my original question does anyone here enjoy playing with old sewing machines, or new one's for that matter ?

[MelissaJKelly 2,124]

My Mum has been a machinist for the majority of her life since she was around 18 I believe. She worked in Radford Cotton Mill on Ilkeston Rd for 20+ years and she is a brilliant machinist. She got made redundant but she'd love to go back to machining! She owns a modern overlock and lockstitch machine and works wonders on them

[mick2me 3,033]

I think Radford Mill became 'collins warehouse' Hollins Mill, I think?

[benjamin1945 16,177]

IVE got my mothers old "Singer machine" another item i can"t let go,its the "treddle type".she was an expert machinist/seamstress,and made most of my clothes when growing up.she worked at Pearsons on Southwark st for many years and Highbury vale hospital

[Fynger 841]

I use modern machines a lot....the old ones don't have enough stitches for what I need.

[plantfit 7,629]

I have a sewing machine that I aquired from a forum member, have great fun using it, taught myself the basics, had to use the internet to find out how to load the shuttle and thread the thing up going through all the wheels and wires getting the tensions right etc. printed off the pictures for reference and keep them in the little storage compartment under the machine, alter all my work trousers and repair some of the tears in them, really enjoy using it

Rog

[darkazana 1,736]

I have a new machine and also my grandma's old treddle Singer sewing machine which had been converted to electric, you use the treddle as the "throttle". I used it quite a bit before I got a modern one. Sadly the cable burnt out eventually, so it now sits in my bathroom as a washstand, but it still contains all my grandma's old shuttles, marking chalk needles threads and buttons in the little drawers underneath the main table. (my grandma was a seamstress)

Last year I visited a craft shop in Scotland where they hold sewing mornings. On this particular day they were demonstrating an all dancing all singing totally computerised machine which you could programme to embroider a piece of material then go away and do something else while it completed the task. Cost? £10,000!! Where is the craft in this? The only skill needed is an IT one! I suppose the owner goes off to play on their X Box or similar!

No thank you. I think I'll stick to my basic Brother machine, with which I can do free arm embroidery, but using my own skills.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

I own a 1961 Rover 100 that needs its interior re-upholstering, I haven't got round to it yet and that is another story anyway.

I bought a Brother industrial lockstitch to do it. Learnt to sew on it and then sold it because it was in the way and the fact you have to keep draining the oil out of it to move it far made it a nuisance. I replaced it with a Singer 201K This is one of the post 1954 facelifted ones in cast aluminium. Made in the same year as me - 1956. It had never been used and is in mint condition in all respects. I realised that there was a little money to be made in sewing machines so I now dabble with them along with pianos as my regular income. I now have another Singer 201 in a cabinet which is one of the original 2 ton cast iron ones made in 1953. I have sold a number of 201's and they can be quite profitable but they must be in exceptional condition. The only Singers I am interested in as regards business sense are 201's and 99's. Singer 201 will sew leather and vinyl no problem, the only limitation is the power of the little Singer motor on the back of the machine.

The whole episode just got me interested in sewing machines for what they are, also as I have an interest in the Rover Car Company and that is exactly how they started out life in the early days of sewing machine invention. They never made a 'modern' machine as they went on to bicycles at about the same time as Singer brought out his Model 12, which was the birth of the modern sewing machine and put and end to virtually all of the 'little' sewing machine makers.

That went on longer than intended - I shall now go and put the kettle on again.

[plantfit 7,629]

Interesting stuff, you just have to marvel at the mechanics of the things, how did someone come up with the idea in the first place?

Rog

[Cliff Ton 10,479]

Brought back a few memories for me because my mum had something very similar to this (this is just a library photo)

..which had been passed down from her mother. I remember being fascinated by the treadle (always referring to it as a pedal), and the drawers in the side for keeping the various spares and accessories. She was still using it well into the 1970s.

[banjo48 928]

Plaintiff/Pianoman

When I got this old machine and tipped it up to view the underside I was knocked back by the engineering of it too.

How these old timers designed it without CAD and modern day graphic design software, then put them into production in such numbers is amazing.

This 201k of mine is one of a 50,000 run in 1948 ! now that is a lot of machines being produced and sold. Other years appeared similar.

I'm completely hooked now and now know what my next hobby will be when I finally settle again and have another permanent base somewhere.

My next machine will be the 201P alloy model and a black one if I can find one at the right price. I have found a beige one but due to room limitations gave it a miss.

[Bilboro-lad 294]

My dad used to get loads of these through his shop when he did a house clearance. Sadly, he couldn't sell them so they all went for scrap.

How many times my mum got a needle through her finger. She was better at knitting than machining. Today he could sell them all to Pakistan which is where the whole trade went.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

201 is well know to be Singers best lockstitch machine. Others will say that it is the best straight lockstitch machine that has ever been made by anyone.. I did have a facelifted black ally 201K, last year - it made £130 on Ebay. I was well pleased.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

Meant to say in the last post on machine numbers. The most numerous Singer was the Model 15 which was introduced in 1883 and ran til the mid 60's. 18 million were made at Kilbowie alone, then the American, Canadian and Aussie machines. Pfaff 130 was the same machine (Pfaff being Singer anyway) and all the clones that were made by other manufacturers with Singers blessing!

[Limey 242]

Not sure if it is still true but the old treadle machines were very popular with sail makers - modern electric machines don't have the power to drive the needle through sailcloth!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

You've got me thinking now, there's a couple of old sewing machines in my shop stored away which we aquired clearing houses out a few years back, I'll have to check them out now...

My wife bought a Bernina not long after we got married, one of her criterias was it must sew denim...The shop owner demonstrated it would, through four layers of thick denim, then two layers of leather, the machine never faltered once. It will do an amazing amount of different stitches, all done via gearing and cams, no electronics other than the speed contorl of the motor.

[banjo48 928]

I think the big problem with modern machines is the overuse of plastic parts in there manufacture. The plastic gearing etc. does its job but eventually fails !

I had a modern Janome about 5 years old, a few years ago, good little machine and had all the bells and whistles, but died prematurely IMO due to just this.

The old singers as told in above posts, are built like trucks with metal gearing and real bearings so, as proven, appear to last forever. The heavy castings being cast iron or heavy gauge aluminum are rigid with very minimal if any flex so just go on.

The biggest killer these old gems IMO is rust and lack of oil and occasionally mishandling.

Pianoman

Very interesting that the pfaff 130 was actually a Singer ! During my limited research I read that they were also a strong machine and ripe for refurbishing.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Bernina used all metal gears and cams, not sure if they still do, but it was pointed out to us when we bought the machine, plus the need for regular lubrication to prevent wear..

Back when it was bought, it was supposed to be the "Rolls Royce" of domestic sewing machines..Again, cannot comment on modern Bernina's quality..

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

My late Mum used to have an industrial Wilcox and Gibbs, she did work from home from womens underwear manufacturers to make a bob or two for many years. She preferred to work at home rather than in a factory as it was convenient for her..

She always said W&G's were the best machines...No idea if she was right or wrong, both the main industrial styles looked pretty robust to me.

[darkazana 1,736]

#10 Cliff Ton

that's exactly like my grandma's machine.

[katyjay 5,091]

Looking at the picture (#10) reminded me that my mam had one of these machines. She kept it in the scullery, so when the cover was over the gubbins, it made for an extra work surface. I'd forgotten all about that til I saw the pic.

[Cliff Ton 10,479]

She kept it in the scullery,

Scullery .......... now there's a word I haven't heard since I was at my grandma's when I were a lad.

[LizzieM 9,514]

Thousands of vintage sewing machines have been used for very unusual window displays by the All Saints clothing stores around the World. They have all been supplied by one person ...... but need to google who that is but I doubt he's from Nottingham!

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

Everyone's gran had a vintage Singer. If not it would be a Jones. When I delivered milk around the Arboretum area, I had maybe four large textiles factories on my round. I remember on Saturdays wandering around those lovely ancient machines looking for the woman who paid me. Also, I was a bus driver in Glasgow when Singer's closed at Clydebank. I knew it was a big place by the number of passengers who travelled to work there (as well as the thousands who were employed at John Browns Shipyard). But when the factory was demolished the sheer size of the area that lay derelict was overwhelming.

[LizzieM 9,514]

The supplier of machines to All Saints was Scott Reynolds of a company called Unique Finds Ltd in Maidstone.