Thread: Vintage Sewing Machine Shop.....Come on in and sit a spell

Yes, Suze, that's a ZZ machine and a real bargain. It will clean up beautifully.

Originally Posted by Muv

Remember the Willcox and Gibbs I showed you months ago? Here it is - I finished the clean up yesterday and got it stitching. I love it. I've had another look at the picture of Nancy's W&G treadle because I remember her saying that the W&G is good for decorative stitching. It's a really neat chain stitch.

Charlee - Hope you are well! Nice you are enjoying the knitting. Why not knit two socks at once on the same needle to keep them the same length? I used to do that with sleeves. It just means you have two balls of wool dangling about.

Nancy - Lovely to see your two Jones machines together. The one that refers to Queen Alexandra will be the older of the two. She died in 1925.

Wow Muv, I'd love to find a Wilcox and Gibbs hand crank! I have the treadle and an electric version, but no HC! Your HC is awesome! Yes, I love the chain stitch and can see why that machine was used to put the decorative stitch on our Civil War soldier's uniforms! The stitch stands out and is so pretty!

Nancy

Muv, I agree with the consensus. It is a great looking machine. Great condition. You have single handedly doubled or even tripled the value of them here in the states.
~G~

Originally Posted by redbugsullivan

That's it!! Been wrangling with this for a while. Why do I prefer piecing with my old National Alvah over the New Home and White. Thanks to you I have figured out the reason!!

This old very basic treadle has a treadle stroke that is long. It takes two feet to keep it smoothly going. To get it started, the treadle wheel gets a push down, not the handwheel. Where it stops, it stays. Accidentally go backwards a couple of rotations? Rarely does a thread break.

It may be rough looking, but my dear Alvah isn't just special because it was my first treadle. It is quietly dependable and feels like an old friend. Thank you for helping me figure this out Nancy! Joe, my New Home 6000 is my go to electric.

Hummmmm, I started with the Singer 27 from 1900. Pheasant decals almost gone, machine is bad shape, treadle cabinet in worse shape, but that darn machine could sew! I had no idea how to treadle! I think some people are just naturally better treadlers than others! I was terrible. All I did was go back and forth and break thread! If it were not for the fact that my DH could treadle so well, I'd of probably quit trying. He got the biggest kick out of the fact that he could sew with that treadle and I couldn't! Anyway, I don't know if that 27 was any harder to treadle than any other treadle, but it was a good one to learn on! I think if I'd started with my Davis Vertical Feed - I probably would have given up! That machine is a work out! I don't know about the Alvah, but I do have an Elredge Two Spools that is made by National. It is a dream to treadle. Great machine.

Nancy

Maybe I should take a second look at my Leader before I sell it if National machines treadle easily. Now it is very stiff, but I haven't played with it at all. The nicest treadler I have touched was the New Home Ruby I gave away.

Originally Posted by irishrose

Maybe I should take a second look at my Leader before I sell it if National machines treadle easily. Now it is very stiff, but I haven't played with it at all. The nicest treadler I have touched was the New Home Ruby I gave away.

Judy, I think all the treadles are probably about the same to treadle. The only reason I work so hard while treadling my Davis Vertical Feed is because I am also wrestling with a queen/king size quilt. I use that treadle to put bindings on my large quilts. Yes, it is a work out to treadle, maybe because of the walking foot and the fact that it has no feed dogs to help move the fabric (the walking foot and no feed dogs are great to use for bindings because you don't get puckers/tucks - that Davis doesn't care how many layers you go through). When I do the testing stitch before starting with the huge quilts, it runs very smoothly. I never sew with that Davis except for bindings so I can't compare it to treadling with my Two Spools or my 319w. I know Monica has done grid type quilting with the Davis, but I haven't tried that yet. The 319w is a dream to treadle too, but after treadling for a hour or so - I begin to 'feel' it in my legs!

Nancy