I have a friend who once told me something after I told her how thrilled I was to have a new sewing machine. She said "If anyone gave me a sewing machine, I would not be happy." She did not use those words exactly, but I cannot print what she said . This is the machine that I picked up for $75.00 a couple of weeks ago. Never having worked a treadle machine before, I had to learn all about this and thankfully for the "WEB", that information is there for the taking. The first thing I did was try to clean all of the gunk from the top and 3-in-1 oil was recommended. So when the Mr. and I got the leather belt back on, I tried to lift it up to look at the "inards" and promptly broke the belt. (these are leather) We had to order a new one which took several days..more than a week. In the mean time, I proceeded to learn how to thread it and cleaned the bobbin case as it was rusty. When the belt arrived, it had to be cut to an approximate length,( not too tight???) and holes punched in each end for the staple to be slipped into and pressed shut. Not having any idea what "too tight" meant, we got lucky. But we did not have it installed correctly at first. Then the treadle kept locking up on us and we discovered that it was hitting the framework in the back. Something called "set screws" had to be loosened and tightened for it to clear the frame and the Mr. is soooo smart and handy to realize this. We also had to oil lots of moving parts below the cabinet and on the treadle. Then I could not get the one and only bobbin to wind as it kept slipping. I knew what was wrong, but didn't know how to fix it...simple..call the Mr. Just a small adjustment where a piece had gotten mashed down and I was in business again. Not being very mechanically inclined, I couldn't get the treadle to make the machine go forward and I couldn't keep it working smoothly. The Mr. patiently explained how the mechanism with the belt on it worked and I practiced without thread. (My grandmother would have just stood and shook her head at me I am sure!) But I decided that I was ready to see if it actually would sew after all the time and work. I carefully threaded it according to the directions, put the bobbin in and it sews like a dream. My NEW machine is 97 years OLD. The cabinet needs some work, but LATER.
I collect some, but not lots of sewing related items, which include my Mom's darning egg, an old needle case that belonged to my grandmother, and old pincushion that was my dear aunt's and some old patterns from the 40's. A friend gave me 2 wall candle holders made from old wooden bobbins, and a square yard stick and I just picked up an old wooden hem marker. The wooden spools in the larger jar were given to me by a friend of a sister of my other dear friend years ago and I have actually used up some of the thread as there was a huge box of it. I don't even know what thread costs for the most part as I order large spools on line now for quilting, but some of these are marked at 15 and 19 cents. Few people share my love of sewing, so if this bored you, too bad! I find it extremely relaxing and great therapy and with 6 machines in my sewing room, I have one for nearly every purpose. YOU CAN'T HAVE TOO MANY SEWING MACHINES.
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