miriam

I had some kind of old hand crank sewing machine when I was about 5 years old until I sewed over my finger. Then mom let me use her Singer FW. I sewed on the dress I wore to first grade. When I got married I bought my own used featherweight. I always had a rather stormy relationship with the FW so when my first son was born (1975) a friend lent me an Elna to do zigzag. AH this was the bomb - no more fights with the tension and the bobbin! So I bought a used one for $275 - this was cheap since it was used. I literally wore it out by 1990. The motor burned out for the dozenth time and my son's friend broke the gears trying to fix it ourselves. That machine has so many scratches and nicks it isn't funny. Friends gave me a basic Viking to replace. It was not the same and I did not love it so DD took the Viking when she married and left me with a FW which again, I did not love it either... I bought a simple used Viking but it didn't do enough for me. I bought a Janome - hated it - really hated it - actually quit sewing because I hated it so much. Then one day a couple years ago, my son found 2 rusty dirty sewing machines in the trash. One was plastic and too far gone to keep. The other one was a Singer 401g. It was covered in dirt and dog poo and what else. It didn't even turn. My sister encouraged me to try to clean it up and make it work. I did - it took over a year. I had to unstick the whole thing - nothing moved. DH cleaned the motor. I made the mistake of putting a foot from an old Necchi on there and messed up the timing. (I learned to fix the timing after that) I learned how to get all the old sticky gooey oil off a sewing machine. I learned how to take apart and clean out the stitch selector and take apart and reassemble a tension. Take off the cam stack, clean and put it back. It all works. All I had to come up with was a cord and a foot control and some accessories. I'm sewing for fun and joy. Between finding that machine in the trash and now - I have bought and fixed up a good dozen of those slant-O-matic machines. I love the slant needle - I can see what I am doing. It has a real nice light shines right on the needle. The bobbin is a drop in and it is in front where I can look and see if it has run out of thread. It does plenty of fancy stitches. It sews through about anything. I haven't had much trouble with the bobbin or the tension.

ScubaK

I sewed by hand or with a hand crank toy machine and was ever so happy to get my Grandmothers White Treadle at 11yrs old.
I sewed on that and made a couple of formal dresses with the silky material...
It was my machine and I understood the workings and didn't have to hear my Mother harp on me about her Singer...
I love the treadle...and it still works lovely.
Now I have a few "fancy" machines but I love them all.
K

gzuslivz

Sewing goes way back in my family. My grandmother taught sewing for the Singer Co. and made clothes for the wealthier folks in town. My Mom made her first skirt when she was 5. She taught me how to sew on her tan Singer (don't know the model). When I was 16, she bought me an old Singer (black with gold, dont know the model) in a cabinet at a second hand store. She taught my daughter to sew by helping her make a quilt for her kindergarten teacher. Mom bought her (now 19) a sewing machine for Christmas. And the tradition continues:-)

k_jupiter

What a set of stories!

My first machine (at age 50) is a used 1970s bernina 830 ($400). Never ever gonna give it up. My backup machine is an Elna Super ($150). I have it set up for doing HSTs and the like. And then there is the 1970s Phaff in Germany...

So... I have a couple of machines, they all sew 1/4 inch seams... what more do I need? The people running quilt shops in the area here in the Bay area look at me with dismay. They know they are not gonna get a 3 or 4 thousand dollar sale out of me. I have all the machines I will ever need.

Ah yes, the Tin Lizzy. That's another story.

tim in san jose

grammajojo

Mine was a Commodore that I bought second hand in 1962. Used it for a long time and then bought a second hand Pfaff that was made in 1954, wonderful machine. Both are still working very well. I also inherited my mothers last machine which is a Singer 301. Love all of them.

Christine27

My first was the Rockford machine that my mom received as an 8th grade graduation present. Friends of the family worked for the company and wanted to see if the machine would hold up for an 8th grader. It was funky blue and had a knee lever instead of a foot pedal. After that, I had several more hand-me-down machines from my mom. My first machine that I bought was one from Target. I walked down the aisle lifted each model, finally settling on the one that felt the heaviest. I figured it probably had more metal parts inside. When I told that story to the LQS saleslady, I thought she would have a stroke! She sold me a Janome 6600 and it is a total love affair! I've considered writing about how much I love it in my Facebook status, but then I figure my Facebook friends wouldn't get it, so I write about it here instead. I love, love, LOVE my 6600! Oh, and it's really heavy, so does that mean my Target test a good one?

Cottontop

Singer Slantamatic cabinet model. I was 25. Loved, loved, loved it.

GrannieAnnie

My mom's Singer treadle. How old was I? How old do you have to be to handle the wheel and the treadle? 5 maybe?

GrannieAnnie

My mom's Singer treadle. How old was I? How old do you have to be to handle the wheel and the treadle? 5 maybe?

miriam

Those are still a great machine. I have a 403 - LOVE it!!!