Sewing Machine Musings
 

For starters, my newest machine is over 30 years old.

But of the ones I have - I am getting fonder and fonder of my Singer 237 Fashionmates. I still have two of the ones I bought.

Besides the basic straight stitch, it has zigzag, three needle positions, feed drop drop, and reverse. That's about it for "fancy" on that machine. The only special foot I have for it is the zipper foot.

It's a plain jane tan machine- but I am starting to like the simplicity of her operation more and more.

One can learn about all one needs to know about operating it in less than half an hour. It's comparatively hard to mess it up by either ignorance or carelessness.

At attribute that can either be a plus or minus - is it's weight. It does not hop around on the table. It is portable, but not for a weakling.

My quilting friends keep asking me why I don't have a new does everything machine like they have. They are nice and I have considered buying one just about every time I go to the dealers. LOL. I then tell myself 95% of my sewing is straight stitch. I have an older Bernina that makes a great stitch, does some fancy stitches and a small alphabet. I have a Brother 1500 that machine quilts perfectly. I have a FW because every quilter has one or wants one. I have a 301 that sews anything. I have two Janomes Jems that are great for workshops and sewing with kids. I have a Singer 15-99 that I use for paper piecing and free hand machine embroidery. I would rather have a machine that does one job great then one machine that does all the jobs so so. And no big maint. fee if something goes wrong.

I love my older machines, easy to operate, easy to fix, heavy (I have a roller case to haul it if needed). But I am really envious of some of the new machine stiches, self threading, speed control, better lighting, and the list goes on. what's holding me back from buying one? The price, some cost more than a new car! Have friends who just love there's, have never had a problem, and other friends having same brand and model who say there machine is in shop more than it is home. Problems with the computer boards. Does the lemon law apply to sewing machines??

Singer 237 Fashionmate Trivia: They can be treadled simply by replacing the motor belt with a treadle belt and putting them into a Singer treadle cabinet.

I have finally bought a brand new machine, Viking Sapphire 960Q. Love love love it! I have three older machines and this is the first new one I ever bought. Viking always has a good promotion going on and I got my machine for 4 years same as cash. For $59 a month I am one happy camper. There's a good sale going on right now. Anyway this machine has so many extras and I'm trying to use them all. Half the fun is learning to use all the neat stitches. Do I sound like I love Vikings? Yes I do, own 4 of them now and none have been problem machines. Just keep up the maintenance of cleaning out your machine every project and you won't have trouble.

I agree. I have a newer brother machine that does fancy stitches,zigzag and buttonholes,but it has taken a back seat to the singer 239 that I picked up a few months ago at a thrift store for 14.99. The singer does a great straight stitch which is mostly what I use for piecing. It came with a cabinet with the fold out table that is helpful for resting a quilt on when Fmq or when laying out pieces to sew next. I love my old machine!

I have two machines: a Kenmore 1316, bought in 1972, and a Janome Memory Craft 9000, bought as a floor demo model when Janome retired that machine. I really ought to buy a walking foot for Ken. He has far more room in his harp than Jan does and his feed dogs will drop, if need be. I could do all my quilting on him as long as I could make myself turn the wheel to lower the needle at every stop. Jan is nice because you can set her to do that but she is a tiny thing in her harp.

I keep looking at all of the new gorgeous machines, but........ I don't "need" one. My Kenmore does all I need and does it well. I may buy a new machine one day, but it will probably be a mid arm. A Bailey's or a Homesteader, which is basically just an "old" machine with a longer arm.

I have two quilting buddies. One of them has the latest and greatest in machines and just bought a high end long arm. The other one has an older Viking machine. Until a few months ago my newest machine was a 37 year old Viking. I recently got a new machine because my Viking was showing significant wear in some areas where parts were no longer available but I still use the Viking and Featherweight too.

I was helping my friend with the older Viking who is a beginning quilter and she was so appreciative and made the comment that she wanted to learn how to quilt using the machine she had and all our other quilting buddy will talk about is how great her high end machine is and how our Viking friend should move up to a new machine etc.

I love my older machines. They have history and I have an emotional attachment to them. They don't have needle down but I have a hand that can turn the wheel to put the needle down to pivot. They don't have automatic thread cutter but I have scissors. They don't have lights up the wazoo but I have a lamp. What they do have is character. I have nothing against new machines nor people of have them. I just wish there was more understanding of the emotional attachment some of us have to our old machines.

I have the newest AND the oldest of machines. I love love love my Vikings, but I also love love love my 1931 Singer that only does straight stitch. I have that one in the bedroom where my only TV is. I can sew and watch TV. Nothing beats an old straight stitch machine for piecing. I also have a couple old 1960s machines, a Janome, and and a Kenmore that were given to me. I cleaned and oiled them, and love them too. They weigh a ton, but sure can purr when touching the foot pedal. I do confess that when I sit down to the Vikings with all the bells and whistles, I still reach back for the presser foot lever, and when sewing on the antique I look for the thread cutter button.

I SO agree with this sentiment. Especially the part about having an emotional attachment to them. I picked up an older machine a while back because I it was in a cabinet and I needed one for my 301. Or so I thought.

The machine on the cabinet was a Singer Touch & Sew (1969) and I didn't really think it was old enough to be interesting. Decided to try it out and fell in love with it. I bought it from an estate sale and the woman who sold it to me told me it was her mother's and that she had used it to make all of their clothes, etc...and had taken immaculate care of it. All of the pieces and fashion discs were still together as were all of the other doo dads that came with it at the time. The manual was missing, but we downloaded one off of the internet. It has the fancy (to me) push button bobbin winder that makes me squeal whenever I fill it up in place.

I am not a great sewer/quilter and when I get discouraged I feel like this little machine is telling me "Come on, you can do it!" "Try again!" "Trust me, I've done it all before." :o

I wonder if I should share my musings before I have had a second pot of coffee? lol

I purchased my Singer 237 new in 1971 for $75 and used it for 30+ years. I sewed clothes, quilts, and crafts with it and it never gave me a lick of trouble. But the little tab that fits into the slot of the bobbin wore down and I couldn't wind bobbins any more. This was before they came out with the bobbin winder. Since I wanted a few more bells and whistles, I bought a Bernina 440QE, which I dearly love. Then I won a Bernina 240, which has become my class/retreat machine. However, I have 6 Singer FWs which vary in age from 1936 to 1965, and a Singer treadle (1939). I love the FWs for straight stitching and even if I'm taking the Bernina to a class, I always carry a FW, just in case.

I love my Memory Craft New Home 4000, which could be 20 years old or so, but knock on wood, she's going fine. If she does get a problem and has to go to the hospital, I pull out an old Brother machine which I picked up for free at our town's swap center at the incinerator (dump). I was walking down the stairs as this gentleman was walking up, I saw the Brother in it's original box, asked him if it worked, he said yes, and I brought it home. I originally planned on giving it to my daughter, as she does very little sewing, but could use it for mending, etc. Every time she would come home, I intended to give it to her; however, my machine needed a tune-up, so she twisted my arm to keep it. It is a simple machine, but to me it actually does better satin stitches than my New Home, and the price was right, and it doesn't weigh very much.

Went to a brother dealer yesterday and saw the latest brother, one they have been advertising, on sale $10,000. Way to high for an old lady who is retired, nice as it is, if I was 20-30 years younger and could use if for many years, but I about passed out at price and that was sale price. Oh well.

I love my Bernina 1130. I was fortunate to find it on CL a year ago. A woman had it for sale and told me it had belonged to her MIL, who had been a seamstress, and had passed away a couple years before. The machine had been put in a storage area and she just wanted to "get rid of it" because she didn't sew. So, for a shockingly low price I purchased this wonderful workhorse, along with the original documentation and many feet, including an even-feed foot. When I took it in for service and cleaning, i was told that it was a very clean machine and nothing needed to be replaced, despite of its age and heavy use. It had been that well cared for! I smile every time I see her sitting proudly in my 1976 Singer cabinet that housed my Athena 2000 of the same year. Emotional attachments to sewing machines ... you bet! I cried when my Singer broke and was not repairable because parts were no longer being made.