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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VINTAGE SEWING MACHINE SITES, & sewing machine blogs I enjoy

SINGER 15-88 15-89 TREADLE SEWING MACHINE WITH ATTACHED MOTOR, I keep it in a treadle table, because I prefer treadling, to using the electric motors, though there are some times where the electric comesin handy, so I like to have both, lol!

Anyone just getting into fixing up, & using a new to them, but vintage sewing machine, will need to find good sources for free information on history of their machine, what feet & attachments are available, instruction manuals, & more.

SINGER 15-91 POTTED MOTOR OSCILLATING BOBBIN, ELECTRIC SEWING MACHINE

The first  links are to some of the most comprehensive sewing machine websits, with links to other pages, where you can find photos, informational history, as well as free manuals, & more, to help you with your new hobby! Here are a few of my favorites!

http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=Main_Page    (Sewing Machine Museum Archive)

http://ismacs.net/        (International Sewing MAchine Collectors Society)

http://www.victoriansweatshop.com/

Some of the old free Yahoo sites for individual sewing machine brands, or models, are also a great source of information, but many of them have switched almost completely to Facebook now, so also, try doing Facebook search for your model of sewing machine, & choose sites you enjoy.  For the Yahoo groups
you join the specific ones you want to, they have loads of photo files & other files, with free copies of sewing machine manuals & how to photos & instructions, to help group members, so join the groups that you have sewing machines of the brand or model type in the group name, or description- some have Facebook pages with the same group names, which are used more now, but there are loads of information files in the Yahoo groups, still.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Singer/conversations/messages
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vintagejapansewingmachines/conversations/messages
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Singer-Attachments/conversations/messages
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BerninaThirtySomethings/conversations/messages/47387

http://singer301.com/accessories/default.html
http://www.ashleyandthenoisemakers.com/blog/2015/2/5/singer-301a
http://www.ashleyandthenoisemakers.com/blog/2015/6/27/what-to-look-for-in-a-vintage-sewing-machine-part-3
           

To see my video about vintage Singer sewing machine attachments, click on this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJASHbVPhl0

SINGER FASHION AIDS VINTAGE SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENTS & ACCESSORIES

 If you are new to vintage sewing machines & their attachments, these advertisements, flyers, & Singer Fashion Aids & Singer Fashion Aids Case, may be new to you! Most of us didn't know that even our great great grandma's, had so many attachment, presser feet, & accessories, to make all kinds of crafts & clothing, as well as other textiles, for over 100 years! I will add more to this blog, over time, as I remember. I have brain tumors from NF2, so I do forget, but if I find my blog again, it reminds me, & if it can help educate other people, too, that is terrific! Besides the photos here, I am including a link to one of my sewing videos, showing a Singer Featherweight 221, along with presser feet & attachments, which also fit all of the other low shank straight stitch Singer sewing machines, as well as many other low shank sewing machines.

Did you know you can zigzag with a straight stitch only machine? There are zigzaggers of many types & some even have multiple cams, to make many stitch designs, there are at least 16 Singer zigzag cams, that take the aluminum stitch cams, I want to say 20, but I would have to look them up again, I don't have all of them!

Here is a link to my Youtube video showing many of the Singer attachments for the 66, 99, 101, 221, 222, 201, 301, 401, 500 & many more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJASHbVPhl0&t=2s

SINGER FASHION AIDS CASE WITH SINGER 15-88 /89  SEWING MACHINE

SINGER FASHION AIDS CASE WITH THE ORGANIZER INSERT INSTALLED

SINGER FASHION AIDS CASE WITH SINGER 15-88, 89 SEWING MACHINE, IN A TREADLER TABLE. The crocheted flower doilies, used as spool anti back spin features, instead of a felt circle, were crocheted by Marietta, a member of one of my favorite Facebook Vintage Sewing Machine groups

SINGER FASHION AIDS CASE REAR VIEW & HINGES

SINGER FASHION AIDS CASE PHOTO IN LID, SHOWS STITCH SAMPLES made by the various Singer Fashion Aids

SINGER FASHION AIDS ADVERTISEMENTS were often included in the Sewing Machine Manuals for sewing machines, but also in the book "Machine Sewing Singer", for Home Economics Teachers, as well as Student Manuals, or Singer Sewing Books, of various titles.

SINGER FEATHERWEIGHT 221 WITH ONE VERSION OF THE SINGER ZIGZAGGER ATTACHMENTS, WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO SEW STRETCH FABRICS, EASILY ATTACH LACE, DO FRENCH ANTIQUE SEWING, LACE JOINING, RIBBON OR ELASTIC PLACEMENT, CORDING, PINTUCKS, & MANY OTHER SPECIAL SEWING TECHNIQUES, EVEN WITH A STRAIGHT STITCH ONLY SEWING MACHINE. FITS ALL LOW SHANK STRAIGHT STITCH ONLY SINGER SEWING MACHINES, & OTHER CLASS 15 CLONE SEWING MACHINE, AS WELL.

SEWING A ZIGZAG PINTUCK, WITH THE SINGER FEATHERWEIGHT 221 SEWING MACHINE, USING THE OPTIONAL EDGE STITCHER GUIDE, WHICH ALLOWS FOR MANY SPECIAL SEWING TECHNIQUES.

SINGER 127 TREADLE SEWING MACHINE SEWS AS FAST AS NEW SEWING MACHINES!

SINGER 127 VIBRATING SHUTTLE TREADLE SEWING MACHINE, WITH SPHINX DECALS, DURING CLEANING PROCESS

Did you know that the old Singer treadle sewing machines, can sew as fast, or faster, than many of the brand new sewing machines, sold today? To be perfectly honest, this Singer 127 Vibrating Shuttle treadle sewing machine, can sew faster than I am comfortable "steering" my fabric, even with just the treadle power, NOT with electricity!

These sewing machines have not become useless, they are still fully usable, worthwhile machines, & still sew the number one stitch necessary for sewing! They basically went out of fashion, & manufacturers convinced customers that they NEEDED a 'new, up to date' model, & would take the old machine in trade in, just to keep it from being sold second hand, to anyone who could possibly afford a new machine! Sure, some old treadle sewing machines are no longer functional, but usually, it is due to either being left to rust, collect dust, & let the lubricants between the metal parts, dry to a glue, which "freezes" a sewing machine solid!

SINGER 127 VIBRATING SHUTTLE TREADLE SEWING MACHINE, DURING CLEANING, BEFORE GIVING TO SISTER GUFFEY

Old sewing machines usually benefit from a soak with sewing machine oil, to help lift the dirt & rust, as well as helping free up working parts. I will use old sewing machine oil to clean the outside of a sewing machine, it helps the paint, & seems to be beneficial 

Singer 127 during cleaning

Singer 127 Treadle Sewing Machine table, treadle configuration of table given to Sister Guffey

Singer 127, behind the faceplate, using old sewing machine oil, to soak the dirt off the machine, I used alcohol on
Qtips, to clean old oil off moving parts. Note needle bar still has dark brown, old dried up oil, on the upper half.

Singer 127 needs cleaned & oiled inside, too.

Singer Oak PuzzleBox, correct organization plan, Style No. 11 for Singer No. 27 sewing machine.

Correct positions  for tools, feet & attachments

Singer 127 rear view, when I was cleaning it, after I put the belt on

Singer 127 Vibrating Shuttle Treadle Sewing Machine, during cleaning

Treadle table center drawer, tips forward, to show 3 compartments, to store bobbins, needles, snips, presser feet & more.

Singer 127 sewing machine during cleaning

Singer 127 or 128 Vibrating Shuttle sewing machine, during cleaning. Note ornate faceplate.

Singer 127 with the Sphinx decals, was in very good condition, but was filthy, & rusty, before I cleaned, oiled & lubricated it, & got everything working again. I bought a leather treadle belt from eBay for $3.00 approximately, cut it to length, used a belt hole puncher, to punch a hole for the metal clip, then used pliers to fold the metal clip, or staple, to join the leather belt into a circle.

Singer oak puzzlebox for Singer 127 & 128 Vibrating Shuttle sewing machines. Another version has the storage for class 15 bobbins, but the funny looking flat metal "teeth", at the upper right, in this photo, are where 5 long shuttles, or bobbins for the 127 & 128 Vibrating Shuttle sewing machines. The set includes a separate shirring plate, (in the wrong spot in this photo, it is hiding under the underbraider, but it usually stores beneath the ruffler, as well as a special underbraider, with tunnels built in, to control the braid or cording, beneath the sewing project, in front of the sewing machine.  The set includes a variety of sizes of rolled, or folded hemmers, a binder, a tucker/tuck marker, a large & small screwdriver, a stiletto, a seam guide & thumbscrew, the set also includes a couple of special presser feet, one of which is designed to be used with the underbraider, another to be used with the quilting gauge guide, for perfect parallel stitches. The shirring plate also has guides for ribbon, or they could also be used to stitch elastic to fabric. 

Oak Puzzlebox for Singer 127 & 128 feet, tools, attachments

Oak puzzlebox, Singer's treadle & hand crank sewing machines, like the 127 & 128, were sold with a set of these attachments, tools, bobbins & feet. The box is ingeniously designed, able to lie flat, it organizes everything where it is readily available, easy to find at a glance.

Singer ruffler, came with the oak puzzlebox of sewing machine feet, bobbins, screwdrivers, & presser feet & attachments. The wide piece of purple fabric, was "puffed", or "ruffled" on both sides, using this ruffler. Note the thumbnut (not sure proper term)  in the center top of the ruffler, it is how you adjust the ruffler to gather more or less fabric, in each stitch. Note the narrow hemmer also has a stitch sample showing the width of the folded & stitched hem.