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I have two old sewing machines, I think one may have belonged to each grandmother. They are in the shed, doing nothing, and I have thought it might not be a good idea to get them overhauled and use them.
There is, I know, a woman in Norfolk who specializes in Singers but I don't really want to go up there again yet, so I had a look on-line.
I found a place in Pompey who say they will deal with any make so I rang them up this morning.
To my delight, the telephone was answered by a man who was broad Pompey, which pleased me immediately, and he will look them both over, free of charge.He loves old machines and says they were built to last a lifetime (these are on the third!). My mother, the female Ned Ludd, used to tinker with and swear about one of them but I doubt there is much wrong with it really.
Can't wait to get the old handrolic girls whirring again.
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My mum had an old singer machine that had the metal cradle at the bottom that you rocked back and forth to get the sewing rhythm. Think it was called a treadle machine
When our youngest sister married in the 1960's she had the bridesmaid dresses made by a local dressmaker
The morning of the wedding I went to mums house to find a panic . Our daughter was one of the bridesmaids and they had decided to iron press the dresses cos they had a few creases
The dresses were silk embroidered taffeta and they had the iron too hot and daughters dress has a big burnt iron burn shape on the front
Soo don't panic , I did do dressmaking in an amateur so I undid the front panel from the bodice and side seams and used it as a template to cut another section from the spare material
Sat at the singer and even though I hadn't used it before cos I had an electric portable I managed to save the day by sewIng a new front panel for daughters dress
I did say to my sister don't tell our daughter cos it would upset her
Was many years late we fessed up
When mum died we got rid of the machine but in hindsight I would love to still have it
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Brilliant, Sharron! :-D
I have two old sewing machines too. One was my gran's, the other my ex's aunts.
I believe they're both Singers (one is in the attic, the other on the sideboard) One works, the other could! :-\
I also have my great grandmother's sewing table/desk. I think it was made especially for her, it's 19" deep, and 37" wide.
It has a lift-up top, a narrow drawer at the front, and either side, a cotton reel sized drawer that goes the full depth of the desk.
Underneath the 'long drawers' are two narrow cupboards - also 19" deep, and at the back of the 'leg hole' - there is what looks like a music manuscript holder - ideal for patterns!!
My computer is on it.
I also have a fairly ancient 'Vigorelli' electric sewing machine, bought by my ex for me 44 years ago :-S It's a semi-industrial one, and still worked 2 years ago :-D
My eldest's partner (by trade, a tree surgeon/surveyor) bought an old Singer off the Internet - and is rather a 'whizz'.
Eldest's youngest (aged 7) was 'bothering' him during one sewing session, so he took the lad's waistcoat off him, put it on some spare material, drew around it, with chalk, and in 15 minutes had made him a new one - and it's lined!!
Me - envious? Yes! :-|
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OH's grandmother had an ancient Singer treadle, which she had converted to use electricity and then gave it to me, not long after we got married.
I had never done much sewing, but found that I quite enjoyed it and made lots of things, including all the curtains for every house we lived in!! It's still going strong, but sadly neither D-I-L is interested in having it. :-(
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I have only ever had, and used, my Great aunt's Singer hand machine, except for using the electric machines at school. She gave it to me when I was 12 (1959), she had brought it 'home' from London where she and her similarly single sister had been in service. She apparently was Sir Henry Wood's housekeeper. It has lots of attachments and an instruction book but I have never really used them. However I have used the machine, I made nearly all my own clothes when young, and I have made curtains, duvet covers, soft toys,and more ever since. It still works well,
Another aunt of mine passed on her Singer treadle to my Mum for me but I was annoyed when Mum gave it to my brother as a side table in his old rectory hall. He was short of furniture as it was such a big house (just him and his wife, in an 8 bed house!!)
I was really cross especially as it's not used as a machine! What a waste!
Lizxx
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one of my aunts was an "outdoor" worker
making mainly children's dresses and clothes...yards and yards of pieces went through that machine...amazingly they all came together as finished articles....
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