anyone live in Las Vegas?
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/...hine-on-wheels

or in Orange, CA?
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/...sewing-machine

I checked Craigslist this evening. There are some nice machines available. A complete treadle for $25, another for $350 and they weren't much different. A 'rare' 201. Interesting, but no Jones handcrank. Y'all have me wanting one.

I am one that was attracted to the machines before the sewing. My mother let me sew a little bit with her LBOW 301A when I was a teenager back in the late 60s, and then in the late 70s, I made a cut-out in the top of a small desk for my wife’s first sewing machine, a 3/4-sized MW Signature URR-266. Other than that, I didn’t touch a sewing machine again until 2006, even though I sewed leather by hand for years while doing leathercraft. (Still have Mom and her 301A, but the URR-266 and desk got away from us.)

In 2006, my wife asked me to look at a customer’s sewing machine at her fabric shop that was acting up and she couldn’t get it going. I did get it going, and once I began learning about the mechanics of sewing machines, I was hooked. I’ve bought, sold, traded, parted-out, and repaired machines now for almost 7 years. I catalog each machine that is mine (not customer-owned), and I acquired my 516th machine this month. It’s a 1957 Singer 401A in the snap-on portable case that I serviced up to gift to our DIL for Christmas.

In the beginning, my wife helped me test-sew machines that I worked on, and soon was teaching me more about how to sew. I more or less taught myself how to sew with my leather-sewing industrial machines, but she introduced me to mending customer jeans with a Singer 538 Stylist. It wasn’t her choice of machines, but one that we kept at her work station for occasional free-arm mending. She uses a Singer 401A for nearly everything. Since the Stylist was setting there not being used much, I began sewing with it. I used it for about 4 years, and then switched to a Singer 834 Stylist that I’ve used for 3 years now. Basically the same machine, but I don’t have to change cams from multi-zigzag to regular zigzag anymore. I just have to move the control. I’ve mended about 80 pairs of jeans this year so far, including the closing up of torn crotch seams, reattaching hip pockets, and replacing bar tacks. I replace zippers in insulated coveralls with it too. The 834 came to me with a broken hook gear that I replaced, and have been using it ever since with no problems. I’ve done a lot of embroidered patches on uniform shirts with it (over 600 this year).

Most quilters think I’m nuts, but my favorite type of sewing is mending jeans. I guess I can identify with the guy that got hung up in a barbed wire fence, or forgot that he had welding rod in his hip pocket and ripped it off. I’ve been there and done that, so I know the feeling. I remember being grateful that my wife would mend my jeans after one of those “close encounters” of the “ripping kind”.

Yea, I’m a man that sews, and I like to do it. I especially get a charge out of the young people that select funky contrasting fabrics for me to use to patch their designer jeans to fill the hole behind the strings (the strings can NOT be trimmed off!) so that they can keep stylin’ without letting (more than they’d like) to hang out....

CD in Oklahoma

I'm enjoying reading these stories from the guys about how they go into machines and sewing.

I agree with Littlebear
 

Its neat to hear the stories from the guys, I agree! The first guy sewer I met in person was John Flynn. He used to be a bridge building engineer and then he got to tinkering with designing things to help his wife sew and then eventually into quilting. He came to our guild one time and it was a really fascinating lecture. I took a class from him on hand stippling and he signed my class piece and drew a bridge on it. Its one of my favorite WIPS :)

Jody

Anyone have a 185K? I have one in a blonde cabinet, havent cleaned her up yet, but doesnt need a whole lot.
Can you tell me anything about them? Who came first, the Featherweights or the 185K?
Havent decided what I am doing with this one. If I can sell the 201K, might keep this as a back up machine.
All opinions welcome on this "plan". I wish I could keep them all, but its just not going to be possible!

Jody

Jody, now that is what I expect a Jones machine to look like! Your machine is beautiful! The yellow rose is the one I wanted, but I do love mine! Thank you for the offer, but I also printed off a manual from ISMACS site.

Nancy

Ok Muv, after Christmas I will have more time to spend with my new Jones! I will then check out the tension thumb tab.

Maybe, I will try joining Needlebar again. I tried once, but gave up when I never heard back whether I had been accepted or not.

Thank you Muv, for the information!

Nancy

Jan, it sounds like you have the right attitude! Healing one day at a time!

Nancy

Jody according to ISMACS the 185 was introduced in 1958. The FW was introduced at the Chicago Worlds' Fair in 1933. The 185 was only produced from 1958 to about 1964. The FW was produced, although the color changed, from 1933 to about 1970.

Nancy