new guy
 

Hello to all of you
I recently acquired my grandmothers 1922 red ball singer. now I am trying to learn to sew.
I have gone through the machine cleaning what i can and oiling it up. it purrs like a kitten.
The problem I am having is operator problems.
I mounted a motor from a brother sewing machine.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]619110[/ATTACH]
So now it is a Brother Singer,
I am sewing, but do not have a clue as to what I am doing. My goal is to make a quilt as some time
so if you guys will take pity on a retired plumber that is trying to learn to sew. I will appreciate it

How do you set the thread tension correctly?
and
below the bobbin winding thingy. is a knob. what is that for?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]619108[/ATTACH]

Welcome, Frodo. I've never sewn on a "Brother Singer" myself, but have had many operator errors. There are many on this forum who can help you.

You can probably locate a copy of a manual for the machine online if you have the model number. Or maybe someone on the forum can provide a source for the manual or provide a copy for you. The manual will answer your questions on threading and the bobbin winding.

For basic quilting, there are many, many you tube video's to guide you. If you have a quilting guild near you, visit them and ask if someone will help you learn. Some quilt shops provide lessons but you will pay for them.

Good luck to you. And remember, at one time we were all in the "operator problems" stage!

a warm welcome from western Ky. we all learn one stitch at a time so no worries enjoy the journey

Waving hello from the Seattle area.

What a beautiful machine! I can't help you much there but there are people here who can.

I just wanted to encourage you in your pursuits. One of my male friends moved back home an economically distressed rural area because someone had to hold the family farm together and take care of his mother with mental issues and his sister with cancer. (Everyone got through the short term!) It was getting colder and he had time on his hands but no money and thought about the trunks in the attic full of old clothes and that if I could quilt, so could he. He had no craft or sewing history except seeing his grandmother sew clothing.

He started from a desire of warmth and continued with a love of the process and developed into quite the artist in his own right.

I am also self taught and learned from many trials and errors, if I can help you avoid some of the pitfalls that I learned the hard way -- well that's what I'm here for!

Welcome, Frodo! Lovely Singer 66 "Red Eye" you have there. The knob on the right front is to set your machine to reverse. Only the later 66 models had that option.

Here is a link to the manual for that machine. I suggest you go through the whole thing from cover to cover and learn as much as you can.
https://a1sewingmachine.com/manuals/66.pdf

This is a link to a basic 'how to sew' video. There are others online if you want to see more.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...il&FORM=VIREHT

Have fun learning to sew with your machine.

Welcome from western NY and happy quilting :)

Welcome, enjoy your machine and learning how to quilt. Read a few books about the process and you tube many things to. Most important enjoy yourself. The worst thing that could happen is you waste a little fabric.

Your first quilt book or it should be, by Carol Doake has a lot of well explained (how to) basics to quilting. I highly recommend this book

I think that what sewbizgirl meant to say is that the knob is for the stitch length. She is correct that only later 66 models had the option to reverse (which is a lever rather than a knob). Your machine is a straight forward stitch only machine.

The link she gave is actually for an earlier model that the presser feet attached differently than your machine. The basic information is the same. Another manual for early 66 machines can be found at http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_mach...ine-manual.pdf There are some images that have back clamp presser feet and some side low shank presser feet.

The official name for the decals on your machine is "Scroll (red)", while there are many that call them "Red Eye,"
from my understanding Singer employees call the decals "Red Head."

Have fun learning to sew with your machine.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Welcome from Michigan!:)