Wednesday, September 12, 2012

My new old Singer

 My herd has just increased by 50% !!! (The New Home and Brother have been most welcoming)

I'm not generally a flea market person (to put it mildly) but this past weekend when Kel came back with a selection of interesting things, a snazzy vintage Singer and news of another that was still for sale, I managed to get out of the house within about 10 minutes.






Rushing over, we found that the second machine was still there and started investigating.   No, they'd never tried running it.  No, they didn't know where the pedal was.   No, there wasn't anywhere to plug it in and test it....

So we dithered and played with it more and looked in the case.... and there was this wonky bit of metal.   Kel pulled it out, popped it in the slot and declared it a knee-lever.  (He does actually know a fair bit about antique sewing machines, so I went along with it.)









Not only was it in the original case, with what appeared to be the original plug and belts, but it came with a whole selection of feet.   We've identified the ruffler and the rolled-hem foot - but a few are still a mystery.






Anyhow, short story shorter, I bought it.   ($35, if you are interested)   Took it home, plugged it in, and it worked.  The knee lever is a little wonky to use, but also kind of fun.   Its old enough not to have a model number, but the serial number on the base places it as a 1930 model 99K.




Of course, within a few stitches, the belt broke (it didn't help that we were picking at it)  but as it appeared to be the original, I can't fault an 80 piece of rubber for falling to bits.   So -- I need to order a new one (and a new o-ring for another bit I don;t know the name of) and whamo-blamo, I will have a machine that can handle several layers of denim!   I see more jeans in my future.

(Check out the original case!  It has a spot for the lever and the box of feet)

5 comments:

  1. What an epic find!! And it works - how amazing is that! Can't wait to see what you make with it once you get the new belt installed ;) Fabulous!

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    Replies
    1. Just got two lengths of denim yesterday..... I'm being good and finishing a couple of current projects first, but we'll see how long my willpower holds out. That and how long I procrastinate on getting the new belt....

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  2. The O-ring is called a bobbin winder tire. You should be able to find those (along with belts) at Jenny's Sew-Classic online store:

    http://www.sew-classic.com/

    Great machine and nice price!

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  3. OH SO EXCITING!!! Love it! (Especially the accessories... my love for old accessory bundles may be excessive.) I think you have an adjustable hemmer in there that's in two pieces, a binder for sure, and maybe a tucker as well. And some other things I have no idea. :) Plus the thing you screw in place to measure the seam-allowance (jeez I need to brush up my terminology)

    That is so very, very cool, and so awesome that it works! :)

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