Ah....! You can actually mend better by dropping the feed dogs and then free motioning the straight st. all over the tear. I put a piece of fabric under the tear to back it up. It holds so much better than zig-zag. This machine has a dial on the base to lower or drop feed dogs, several different positions.

In addition to Jenny's correct information, Universal is one of the numerous brand names owned by White. White also has marketed these badged machines as Domestic, Hilton, and Standard.


this info was found on a forum site. as soon as i can locate the site, i'll ID it for you.

here you go: a question and answer forum all about them.

http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-...ard.pl?t=29028

http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

these are other sites that have loads of information and some prices.

Thanks for that info, Butterflywing!

Very hard to price a machine...they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them, and there are tons of these out there at yard sales, etc. for anywhere from $5 to $15...

Thank you so much!! sorry been gone today, whew glad this day is about over LOL

Sewbizgirl that is a beautiful machine too! Hmm I wonder if they are the same, well from the same manufacturer maybe, it looks like yours is definitely older!

there are three things you can easily do before you spend money to take it in somewhere. remove the bobbin plate and take out everything under it. that means the dogs and the bobbin chase as well. you'll have to unscrew the dogs, and the screws are very small. while you're in there, clean it (you'll die when you see what's there) and oil it. lay it all out in the order in which you remove it all. look very carefully when you take it apart. you won't hurt anything by doing it. it it's not there, put it together again and try #2.

the second thing is open up the front face by the needle. that's the whole cover that covers the up-and-down shank. don't lose those little screws. don't take anything inside apart, but look carefully for anything loose. oil it as well. try moving it by turning the wheel slowly.

the third thing is (this will hurt you more than the machine) grasp the wheel where the belt goes around and give it a yank 1/4 turn COUNTER clockwise. then back. see if it's turning as it should. if not try it one more time. sometimes that loosens the littlest piece of something that you would never know was there. oil it. there will be a small hole behind the wheel itself, where the wheel attaches to the body where you oil it.

that machine is before computerized machines, so it's mechanical. there are no mother-boards or anything you can irreparably damage.

drop oil into every oil hole and clean out anything that's open while you can. let oil soak into everything overnight and give it another chance if you have to. if nothing works, you may have to get an estimate for repair. if it's frozen, the repair can be expensive. good luck with this.

edit: i thought of another thing. i've done it, but i don't know if you want to. the whole top cover comes off. there should be one or two large screws holding down the top cover. anything hanging off it (spool holders, etc) comes of first, then the 'lid' itself. what's inside is the shank. there isn't too much there, but something may be caught. it's easy to take apart and put together. oil it while it's open.

Thanks butterflywing! I will give that a shot!!

have you fiddled around underneath to see what's there? there's a lot going on there and something as small as a piece of lint can cause it to sieze up. don't blow air in. oil everything and if you have a little vacuum, try that. clean everything down with a lint-free oily rag.