Wow! Have we come a long way, baby...
 

Perusing the web today and found this non-copyrighted photo of the machine I learned to sew on. My mom and my 2 aunts went in together to buy it just before WWII. Mom made my wedding gown on it and I made my first quilt on it! ;)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Singer99b.jpg


Anybody else got a picture of the machine you learned on to post here?

:D

Rusty

My mom bought this Viking 3 months before I was born and I learned to sew when I was about 10. I am 53 now. She gifted it to me last year as she's trying to declutter. I was thrilled to get it and it still works!
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A hand crank! I'm impressed! I don't know how people used those well. I really, really need both hands---even bought a knee lift for the presser foot of my current machine.
When I was growing up, if I sewed anything it was mostly by hand because the only machine my mom had was her mil's treadle and I didn't understand how to pedal it. Anytime I tried I just stitched forwards and backwards every inch or so, constantly. My seams were continual rat's nests on the underside. Mostly I remember hand sewing Barbie clothes.
The machine I really learned on was one I bought myself after I was married, and I still have that one. It's one of those awesome Kenmores in the 158. series, an all metal workhorse.

That Viking is pristine sweet!! Pretty, pretty, pretty...I'm envious.:thumbup:

Isn't it funny how we get attached to the first one we actually bought! For me it was a Singer Touch & Sew--which I still have and use. It's a workhorse. It's not original anymore, though. The plastic gears kept wearing out so my son made a bunch of new metal gears as a shop class project when he was in high school. It makes quite a racket as it sews but it is still my favorite machine!

Love that Viking!

:D

Rusty

Certainly well taken care of - what a treasure with memories for you!

I don't have a photo because my mom still uses the machine. I learned to sew on a Domestic brand machine that was purchased in about 1949. She said it is mine when she is done with it. She is 90 and still uses it some. We all learned to sew on it. I was probably 7 or 8 when we started to play with it. We used to sew doll clothes. I made all of my Prom and Homecoming dresses on it. My mom has a huge box of attachments that she had never used. We used to play with them and taught her how they worked. It still runs fine.

This is my mother's machine that she got when she married in 1943. It looks like a Featherweight, but it's anything but lightweight. It probably weighs 50 pounds! There is a Singer manual, but Singer did not make it.

I've had it for years and never use it now that I'm quilting. A new motor was put on a couple of years ago.

Oh my gosh, that is a beautiful thing to behold. What a great color and in such sterling condition. You are so fortunate to have this beauty handed down to you. And while you are both living and able to share the joy!

I learned on my mother's New England Queen treadle. It was a gift from an older relative in 1945 when she and my dad married, and it was already old then. I still have it. My first machine is in my avatar; the Pfaff 262 bought brand new in 1968. Your machine is awesome and having "mom's" is so special.