Chatterbox Quilts' Blog - Chatterbox Quilts

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Vintage Sewing Machines

What to Consider When Buying a Treadle Sewing Machine - Singer 66

What to Consider When Buying a Treadle Sewing Machine - Singer 66

I often hear people say that a treadle machine doesn't work, when often there is only one small, but significant, part that would enable the machine to run: the belt. Most of the belts on these machines were made of leather, which, over time, would wear, become brittle and eventually break, rendering the machine "unuseable". This is a simple and inexpensive fix as new treadle belts can be purchased in either leather or rubber, for just a few dollars. Put on the new belt and you're ready to start stitching.

Singer 48K Acquisition

Singer 48K Acquisition

Hello and thanks for joining me for Telecast Thursday! This week I'll be explaining why I added another Singer sewing machine to my stable of vintage machines. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to do this, but I did sell one of my other, larger machines, so I definitely had room to add this one. It's a portable hand crank model, so no, well minimal, floor space will be taken up by this machine.

Singer Two Thread Embroidery Attachment

Singer Two Thread Embroidery Attachment

Before we had sewing machines that could stitch out hundreds, maybe even thousands, of decorative stitches, you had to use an attachment to create anything other than a straight stitch. One of these attachments was the two thread embroidery attachment made for Singer sewing machines. While these are cool little machines, it's very hard to find them now. I was fortunate enough to find one mixed in with a lot of Singer attachments and snapped it up right away!

Piecing with the Singer 66 Red Eye Sewing Machine

Piecing with the Singer 66 Red Eye Sewing Machine

I pulled out one of my "to do" projects and thought that I had better get it done! I had set these fabrics aside about two years ago to create a project from Turning Twenty - Simply Sashed and that was about as far as I got with this pattern. What got me finally started on making this quilt? My Singer 66 Red Eye treadle sewing machine. Watch my Youtube video on how I acquired this machine.