VINTAGE SEARS KENMORE SEWING MACHINE & ATTACHMENTS

For those who are new to vintage sewing machine collecting, refurbishing, & sewing, initially assume that their sewing machine only has 1 presser foot, or however many feet were with their sewing machine, when they purchased it, unless they bought it at a sewing machine dealership, or have family and friends, who either sew at home, or sew for a living.

I used to be one of those people who assumed that, because I grew up with Sears Kenmore, Japanese manufactured sewing machines, & I thought all of the feet & attachments available, were the ones that came with the Sears Kenmore 158.1560, the model shown here. It came with a multi purpose shank, to which you could attach a variety of sizes of rolled hemmers, an edgestitcher, based upon the old Singer model, & a multi sized binder, the cardboard box they came in, included a large & small flat head screwdriver, a ruffler, a narrow rolled hemmer foot, a sliding buttonhole foot, to be used with the built in 4 step buttonhole stitch, as well as a adjustable zipper foot/cording foot, & a seam guide & a thumbscrew, which could be attached to the bed of the machine, to help you sew straight seams, & last, a button sewing foot. I never knew how to use most of them, even though we had the manual, I tried the button sewing foot, but didn't figure out how to properly lock the stitch, so they always pulled apart easily, so I went back to hand sewing buttons. (You just take 2 or 3 stitches in the same place, with the feed dogs down, in one side of the buttonhole, then zigzag stitch in place, when you have enough stitches, repeat the 2 to 3 stitches in the same place, & it locks the stitches in place, like tying a knot.

Sears Kenmore model 148.1560 built in stitch cams, including some stretch stitches, a 4 step buttonhole program, feed dog control for darning & freehand embroidery, reverse, auto shut off bobbin winder, free arm, with extension bed, with easy flip up door access to the bobbin. Class 15 vertical front loading bobbin system, with quick release, for easy jam removal, if necessary. Light must be turned on, for machine to sew, lightweight, portable, but sturdy cast aluminum body, motor & belt are built into the machine, so no safety worries about fingers, hair, or anything else getting caught in them, while sewing. Cost 178.99 in 1978, at Sears. My sister, Michelle, & I went together to buy it new, using money from raising a calf & pig.

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