Got my antique sewing machine!!!!

[freemotion]

My most recent sewing machine was a cheap Brother, about $150, purchase 6 or so years ago. Piece of junk. Skips stitches, tension is impossible to get right, makes nice knots underneath all the time, stitch length varies in a line of stitching.....ugh.

Got me a treadle base and an old Necchi for $125. The machine needs a cleaning, which I am doing today, and the holes to attach it to the base need to be drilled a little bigger so it will fit on the Singer treadle cabinet....dh had to run to the hardware store for snowblower parts, so he is getting the proper drill bit for me, too.

It needs two new belts, one for the motor....has one, but needs replacing, I have to hand-turn the wheel now and then to help it, but it works great! I need to order a treadle belt. Looks like it will be easy to switch back and forth between the motor and the treadle.

It looks something like this one: http://www.necchilady.com/treadled_bu_nova.html Scroll down a bit. My cabinet has a much nicer treadle in almost new condition, but the wood part is probably not the one that was with the base originally, as it is somewhat delaminated, but still looks good enough to live in my living room as a decorative piece. Mine has three drawers on each side instead of the two in the link above.

Woohoo! Can't wait to take it for a treadle spin...gotta practice patience.

 

[journey11]

Congrats! I was just thinking about the one my great-grandmother had and wondering what the heck my grandparents did with it... I'm sure they sold it and most everything else. I would have loved to had it, but I was lucky to get the wrought-iron bed I wanted so badly and her wedding ring.

I love how the old ones were built right into their own little table. How handy it would be to have all those little drawers to keep things in!

 

[Henrietta23]

Very nice!! James has a 40 year old Necchi electric machine that he used for the upholstery in his '57 Buick. Loves that thing! I'm scared of it so I have a crappy Kenmore. It does what I need it to do 90% of the time.

 

[ORChick]

You are going to have so much fun with that . I have virtually ignored my old Montgomery Ward electric machine since getting the Singer treadle last July.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Hurricane Andrew came in August of 1992. I had a very clean house, 2 small children and was a nursing student for only one week. When the storm came thru, we were out of school for a week and I started repairing all our clothes, because I didn't know what else to do. We had no power and I was all pumped up, due to being all prepared for school.
Eventually I came to the end of my repairs and said to myself that if I had power, I could make a dress and it was then and there that I decided I would buy an old push peddle.
Found one in 94 for 120.00 and have used it a few times. Since then I have been given my great-grandmother's machine and my great-greatgrandmother's also. So I have 3, plus my electrics. Too bad I have 4 daughters.

 

[freemotion]

Chances are all four of your daughters won't be interested....but just in case, keep an eye out for another one cheap!

I finished cleaning and oiling mine, and drilled the holes (nervously!) to fit it into my Singer base. Just need belts! I may try to make one first. I think I might be able to. I wish I'd looked more closely at the one she had...it was broken, but....I like to see how thick, how the edges were rounded, etc. I have parts of a couple or three sides of leather and the tool to cut a strip from it, and the tool to round the edges.....hmmmm.....

And I hope to get a new belt for the motor tomorrow after the faculty meeting, which is only a few miles up the road from a Joann's.

 

[mrs.puff]

I have a Ruby treadle, put out by the New Home company probably in the 1910s or 20s. I found it at a local thrift store for $40! Came on a very nice stand, all the funky attachments for hemming, ruffling, braiding etc included. AND it had the original instruction booklet for the machine and the attachments. PLUS it wasn't all grubby and worn out, and it WORKS! Patience is the main thing you have to have when using a treadle, because it's hard to adjust the tension properly. My machine only came with one needle, which dulled pretty quickly, and I was unable to find another one like it. So I improvised, and used a singer needle, set it lower in the machine (b/c the original needle was much longer) and it works perfectly. I love my treadle. It is my most prized possession.

 

[freemotion]

That is why I got a machine that is a bit more "modern" than the treadle base. I wanted to be able to buy modern needles, bobbins, etc. And I wanted zigzag capabilities, and reverse stitching.

My machine is a honey so far...I have it in the cabinet, but the set screws aren't tightened yet since I had some trouble getting it to sit just right on the posts. It sits a bit crooked. I wonder if I drilled one hole deeper than the other....I don't think so, because I put tape on the drill bit. Oh, well. It will take some fiddling with some help, so I will do it when I am home with dh when the daylight is streaming into the windows so we can see what we are doing.

Meanwhile, it is usable, I just can't fold it down and close the top until it is properly clamped in. I can sew with it with the old motor belt, but need a new one, as it is old and a bit loose. I played with it tonight, putting velcro on some of the baby goat coats I made earlier in the fall.

I didn't have what I thought I had to make a leather treadle belt. What did I do with those sides of bridle leather? Hmmph. I haven't made tack in several years, who knows what box it is stored in. I will have to find one online. I am itching to try it!

 

[abifae]

I'm envious. I want a treadle before TSHTF. LOL.

 

[Rhettsgreygal]

I have two treadle machines but I don't know how fill the bobbins with thread. Since I haven't looked at them in a while, I am not sure I know how to load them into the machine. They are torpedo shaped. I did it once by accident when I bought the first one about 20 years ago. Then Roy's grandmother showed me how sometime after that and I forgot

So how come I can vividly remember being a flower girl 43 years ago, but I can't remember what happened 15 years ago? I must be getting old.

Annette