Originally Posted by ThayerRags

I can understand that.

I have my Grandmother’s 1906 White VSIII Treadle sewing machine. She got it used as a wedding gift in 1928, and used it until she bought a new 1959 Singer 404 portable with folding table (I have those too). Those are the only two sewing machines that she ever had in her lifetime (that I know of). She gave the White treadle to me and my wife in 1982. My wife sewed on a small Wards machine at that time, but I had no interest in sewing machines. The treadle served as a what-not table through the years, being moved with us from one house to another, and holding everything from televisions to hamster cages, usually in a back room.

One year in the mid-90s while Grandma was visiting, she and my wife got it cleared off and tried to sew with it, just for fun. They couldn’t make it sew, and I remember so clearly the embarrassment and frustration that my Grandma had at that time. She just could not understand why she couldn’t show my wife how it worked!!! She got so stressed-out about it, that my wife and I finally had to convinced her that something must have gotten knocked out of whack while we were dragging it all over the place in two states, and that it probably would need to be looked at by a repairman to fix whatever we had done to it. She begrudgingly gave up.

Fast forward a decade, after Grandma had passed on and I had gotten enthused about vintage sewing machines, when I took a look at it to see what was wrong. The only thing that I could find wrong, was that it had a 15x1 common needle in it instead of the 20x1 needle that it needed. I put the correct needle in it and it sewed like a champ. Golly, I wish I would have known that back in the 90s!

Grandma’s White VSIII treadle now has a prominent position in our sewing/living room as the guest of honor, and always will have. My wife and I have both sewn on it and it works great. It’s got some bumps and bruises on it, but it still looks mighty good to us! Still, when I look at it, it brings back memories. Even the unpleasant ones....

CD in Oklahoma