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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 0:27:14 GMT
All I use is treadles! My favorite two are a White Family Rotary and a Davis NVF. I'm not sure I even remember how to use an electric lol.
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Post by Txsteader on Dec 1, 2015 13:59:38 GMT
When we moved here 35+ years ago, we didn't have electricity. I've sewn since I was in my teens and really missed not having a machine. One day, my beloved DH brought home a Singer featherweight (in pristine condition!) that he'd bought at a pawn shop in the town where he was working. ♥♥♥ Shortly after that, we were driving home from town when we spied a treadle stand sitting on the side of the road, for trash pickup. Owner said we could have it, so we took it home, DH made a top for it and I used it for years to sew clothes for DD, myself and denim shirts for DH.
We're on grid now and DH has picked up a few machines in recent years. Different brands, some better than others, some I've even had to research because they were discontinued & I'd never heard of them. I don't sew as much as I used to but would never consider getting rid of my treadle machine.....not only because of sentimental value but for it's practicality.
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Post by lindym on Feb 3, 2016 4:18:01 GMT
In getting ready to move to our off grid property I sold most of my 50 +/- sewing machines. All were vintage or antique and some were treadle, a few hand crank and the rest electric, pre 1960. I didn't mean to collect it just happened. I kept 6 or 7 (maybe 8 or 9, the house isn't done and most are in storage) one of which is a Singer 15-90 treadle in a ratty cabinet that IS in the house. I have an old Singer parlor cabinet that I want to change it to if the snow will ever go away.
In working on my kitchen I decided to make curtains for my counter, a table and a valance for the window. We don't really have enough solar power to run an electric machine so I figured I had better figure out the treadle. I got the belt put on and played around without needle or thread. It didn't take too long to get the hang of it and gave it a go. I got everything stitch up in about 5 hours and only had to re-thread it 6 or 7 times, lol.
I've been sewing for 52 years and can't imagine not having a machine.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 12:43:03 GMT
I don’t know if this happened to you, but one thing is for certain. Treadle machines have one trait that users of electric machines don’t have to worry about much. Even hand crank machines are less of a problem. And that’s a backlash from turning the sewing machine backwards for a stitch. The treadle foot peddle will turn the flywheel either direction with equal ease on most treadles, and some machine heads are very unforgiving when you do that to them. My Singer 319W treadle conversion is so unforgiving that it seems to be eager to snarl the thread in the hook if I so much as even act like I’m going to turn it the wrong way....
CD in Oklahoma
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Post by jd4020 on Feb 8, 2016 22:33:52 GMT
My most recent treadle has the reverse handle where the stitch length is. Just raise it to the top and it reverses without interrupting the treadling. Just a question olpoop, rather, CD in Oklahoma, did you teach yourself to repair sewing machines or did you have some trade schooling? I have asked the local fabric store if they would consider having a machine repair class or classes, but they haven't offered anything. And the thing is, at least for me, the gentlemen that do repairs are often in their 60, 70, & 80's. There have been a couple times the man died thus I had to find someone new, thus one of the reasons I want to learn to take care of my own. I have been attempting to learn machine repair. I've learned a lot by cleaning them, really deep cleaning down inside, and sewing to see what works & what doesn't. I finally learned how to get the timing set and am working now on some of the tensions. I don't like the newer machines with all their digital technology so I want to be able to repair the ones I have. It hasn't been easy because number one--it took me a long time to even find a repair manual. I was able to repair a couple of minor things but came to a stop when I couldn't figure the book out. I needed a person to tell me, "Oh, this is what you do next." But it got done. And Dh showed me how to replace the chewed up gears on the bottom after I finally located a source to buy the little gears. Youtube has been helpful, somewhat. I know a lot of the machines basically have the same gears & such, but it seems I have to find a youtube with my exact machine, or it doesn't make much sense to me. I've been fortunate that my one "go-to" machine has lasted so long. It was my high school graduation gift to me, used my detassling money to get it. That was in 1978. Another fortunate is that I have acquired several of the same machines to use as parts if needed. (although they work very well) Thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2016 15:11:00 GMT
....Just a question olpoop, rather, CD in Oklahoma, did you teach yourself to repair sewing machines or did you have some trade schooling? I have asked the local fabric store if they would consider having a machine repair class or classes, but they haven't offered anything.... I am just a self-taught sewing machine shade tree mechanic, and it’s not something that I had ever planned to be. I hadn’t worked on one, or even sewed on one much until 2006 when my wife and I bought an old fabric store. Me working on sewing machines kind of “came with the territory”. My wife has sewn a lot her entire life, but my only sewing was a trial or two as a grade school kid on my Mother’s Singer 301A back in the mid-60s. Once in the shop, I set about learning how to sew with my wife as my teacher on the days when I wasn’t working as a part-time farmhand for wages (using a couple of JD 4020 tractors, among others, BTW). I was making myself some canvas bags on my Grandma’s old Singer 404. My wife had a sewing machine and a serger at the shop to have something to do when there were no customers in the shop. People saw her machines and began asking if she would do mending and alterations for them. That has now grown into 8 dedicated machines that provide about 30% of our shop income. One day early on while I was in the shop, a customer brought in a finicky machine for my wife to try getting to sew. They couldn’t get it going, so in desperation, they let me have a shot at it. Once I gave up on it, I called a sewing machine mechanic in a nearby town to see if he could look at it. We had learned of him and had been sending customers to him for their repairs. He talked me through what I needed to do to make the machine sew. From then on, I called on him several times for help, learned that I had two retired industrial machine mechanics here in town of whom to ask questions, and joined every sewing machine online forum that I could find. There were 2 or 3 junk sewing machines in the shop when we got it, so I tore them apart to see how they worked. They never worked again, but I learned how they were put together. I bought nearly every junk sewing machine that I found at local yard sales, and bought several boxes of used sewing machine parts on the big auction site. I was hooked on vintage sewing machines. Ten years later, I prefer human-powered sewing machines, and have collected several of them. I don’t care to work on or use the newer plastic electric machines, and I’m not bashful about saying so. Actually, I’m sewing more now than working on machines, since taking over the jeans mending part of our alterations service a couple of years ago. I use a modified Singer 319W in a treadle cabinet for most of my jeans mending, and a variety of treadle and handcrank machines for other heavy duty mending like canvas, vinyl, and leather items. Don’t get me wrong, we have several electric machines that I use at times as well, but if something can be repaired on one of my treadle or handcrank machines, those are what I like to use. I don’t give classes on sewing machine repair. CD in Oklahoma
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Post by jd4020 on Feb 9, 2016 21:28:46 GMT
Thank you for your reply. One of our friends who was a repairman, learned how to repair the machines when he was in the navy. Ah!, that is what I've been doing, learning bits here & there. I have several machines I could take apart to further my knowledge. I don't think I want to make it a business, don't want to deal with the new machines, although it is something to think about. Our community college offers classes for a variety of subjects, separate from their regular courses, things like Beginning Sign language, How to make baskets, basic computer & camera etc. Some for a day, some for a course of weeks. I think I would sign up if they ever offered sewing machine repair. Til then I'll keep plugging away at what I've been doing & watching more youtubes. I rather do enjoy it. Again, thanks. I've learned so much just from what you have shared here.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Feb 11, 2016 0:54:18 GMT
@olpoop, can a motor driven Singer Featherweight be converted to a treadle machine? Just looking at it, it looks like changing the belt would do it, but my sister, who collects Featherweights insists it can't be done. I don't know that she is basing that on anything in particular, and I thought I'd ask for a second opinion here.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2016 16:33:43 GMT
...can a motor driven Singer Featherweight be converted to a treadle machine?.... I haven’t ever tried it, but it looks to me like the base of the machine may stick out far enough to interfere with the belt path, if not blocking it, at least causing the belt to rub. CD in Oklahoma
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Post by lindym on Feb 13, 2016 1:07:07 GMT
@olpoop , can a motor driven Singer Featherweight be converted to a treadle machine? Just looking at it, it looks like changing the belt would do it, but my sister, who collects Featherweights insists it can't be done. I don't know that she is basing that on anything in particular, and I thought I'd ask for a second opinion here. It can be done. There is at least one video/tutorial online showing how. IIRC there has to be a notch cut into the balance wheel. I loved my 221, Tiny Tim, even used it at work to do some repair on cloth machine belts. I sold most of my machines when we bought our land. I joined any machine forum repair group I could find so that I could do my own repairs. I have parts on order right now from EBAY to get my treadle going better, it works but has issues.
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Post by ann on Feb 19, 2016 19:23:41 GMT
I have a Franklin long shuttle treadle machine in a very nice cabinet. I was able to get it to work shortly after I got it, but my dh and ds decided to "help" me and moved it to another room. In the process the shuttle fell to the floor and was stepped on. I would dearly love to find a Singer round bobbin treadle to put in the cabinet. The Franklin could possibly be fixed, but I don't care for the long shuttle machines. Janome make a new treadle head that I have considered buying or at least it was still available a year or so ago which is when I last checked.
I learned to sew on my g-grandmother's Minnesota treadle which my mother still owns. She tried to give it to me a couple years ago so maybe I'll end up with it yet. As far as I know it has not been used since 1960's.
In high school home economics nine girls had to share 2 or 3 electric machines so it was very hard to get a project done in a timely fashion. I was the only one who knew how to use the treadle machine so I used it and finished ahead of everyone. Actually, freshman home economics was a joke as 4-H and our mothers had already taught what was in the curriculum.
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Post by lindym on Feb 19, 2016 20:14:43 GMT
DH moved my lovely Singer parlor cabinet, model 31, into the house for me. It can accommodate a #15 machine, but mine is a 1949 year and a bit too new. He had to make a couple of holes in the support area to allow for the "legs" of the machine but the holes don't show at all. There is a bit of veneer damage but none missing, so I will be working on that.
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