Thank you for reminding me of how I learned to sew. Gram had a treadle and a real aversion to sewing. Her main complaint was, you'll never guess, tension issues. In the bad old days, sewing machine repairmen came to the house and that could get expensive. And Gram could never get the tension right.
I was fascinated by her sewing machine that "lived in the kitchen." And I couldn't keep my hands off of it. I couldn't figure out how that big wheel went around and nothing happenned. One day Gram was working on repairing work clothes for Gramp and beginning to seethe. I asked her to show me what was wrong, why it was wrong, and what she was trying to do to fix it. Guess anything was better than what she was fighting with so she did exactly what I asked. A piece of muslin, a bobbin thread one color, a different color top thread, a screwdriver, and instructions on how to get the bobbin case safely out of the machine and I was off. I became the official thread tension "fixer." And I could actually do it.
I insisted on learning how to run the machine and do the much dreaded sewing repairs. Even buttons with thread shanks. All this started when I was about 7.
Time is a goodly piece down the road now and I am still at it. The treadle is in my sewing room. Complete with water rings left by Gram's beloved African violets.
Thanks for letting me babble.
Pat