Why the cloth wrapping around the arm of vintage machines?
 

Penny and I see many vintage machines with a wrap of cloth pinned or somehow secured around vintage Singers, etc. arms. OK. I plead ignorance here. Is it to make a softer spot to grab and move the machine? I'm sure it's a simple. Hmmm. Thanks. Don

It's a handy pincushion that can't get lost. If you take it off, a lot of machines have 'pin rash'-doinks in the enameling and decals where it got poked repeatedly with pins.

"Pin rash doinks" .... LOL

Yup...I just took the wrap off my Mom's old machine and it definitely has a bad case of "pin rash"
...it is the handiest place to stick the pins though!

Wow I never realized that. Seems like you could sew a several fabric layers together then sew that to velcro and use it in the same way maybe that would help the "doinks"?

Iris and I were looking at all the doinks on her Singer 99 and decided it might be cool to quilt a new 'pin cushion' to go on there

I never thought about using velcro for that, but I found one that had a piece of margarine tub (I'm guessing-it was yellow) between two layers of fabric. Considering that the enamel/decals underneath were still intact, I assume the original owner did that to prevent scratching up her new machine. I would think anything flexible enough to bend around the arm but hard enough to prevent the pins from going through would do, although that might be a hard combo to come up with.

And yes, as long as the enamel/decals are already beat, you may as well put something fancy there! If your sewing table looks like mine, it would be the one pincushion that wouldn't disappear under everything. :)

If i remember right, i think it was to stick pins in!! Any way that is what we did with ours. Long time quilter

Oh my gosh! That makes so much sense! I really admire the butter tub protective idea. Hmmm folks. A craft show idea?? Thanks, Don

Oh my - to see those things on a machine just makes me want to cry. :(

I have a bronze plated (copper colored) White Rotary embossed machine from the company's 50th anniversary in 1926 and I'd bet that the original owner put that darn rag on it within minutes of getting her new machine. :eek:

The protective lacquer is completely worn off of that area and there is not any patina - so there's a bright copper stripe all around the arm of this gorgeous old machine.

At least this will mend itself with time. The real heart-breakers are the ones which have decals and japanning dinged to death underneath the rag.