Stitchnripper

Now that is hilarious! Nice machine.

Sewnoma

LOL, I just caught the last few posts here, somehow I missed them. Miriam, you're killin' me! That's two "boy" machines I have now; this one and my Pfaff 332 that has a "mystery spike" added to the top. Obviously it's just there to show it's a boy?! LOL

For some reason I tend to think of my old Kenmore that looks like a football as male too, even though it's named Judy. Well, if there can be a boy named Sue, why not a male sewing machine named Judy? LOL

I bought some of the shorter needles for the 319 and I'm pretty happy with them. I don't usually need to sew with specialty needles and if I ever really do I have a dozen other machines to choose from. I like keeping the machine as close to 'stock' as I can (although I did put an LED bulb in, so that's a small modernization). Maybe if I were going to sell it I'd consider modifying it or including a spare, modified case; that would probably make it a more appealing machine to the masses.

costumegirl

LOL - Miriam - you are too funny!

I just posted a pic of one on the 306 thread but then saw this thread so I deleted it. I just saw a similar black machine that was for sale but had no clue what it was about - my space is very, very limited right now but it is at an excellent price so I am debating if I should scoop it up. How do the little levers work?

sews

The levers are raised up (towards the front of the machine) to make it sew the decorative stitch that is marked on the lever. In addition, cams are inserted behind the knob in the front. Together with each lever, that combination makes more decorative patterns....

Black 319s are quite sought after in or area.... I have a fresh minty green one

OurWorkbench

When I called Singer to find out about our 319W all they said it was made between 1956 and 1962 and they had no further information.

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

Sewnoma

You can use more than one lever at a time, too. It can be either neat looking or just messy, LOL. I don't have any cams for mine yet (other than the one that was on it) so I haven't played with many of the combinations yet.

I do like the black ones, but I love my green one too. (Maybe I need one in each color?)

I think I'm happy enough knowing it's late 50's/early 60's - the actual date isn't really important, just a detail I like to have in my files. Not that the dates listed are 100% accurate anyway, since those are just the serial release dates and not actual manufacturing dates.

MadCow333

The 319 is most people's favorite of the swing needed machines because of its built-in stitches. I think you can do the same stitches on 206 and 306, but cams are required for all. The 319, you can do certain stitches using the levers, plus you have the cam capability as well.
319 manual http://www.users.on.net/~instawell/singer_319manual.pdf

Sewnoma

I actually managed to find a print copy of the manual. A little beat but it was fairly inexpensive so I bought it. I *really* prefer original print manuals to scans or reprints.

Scanned manuals are difficult for me to use, the pictures are often scanned at the wrong resolution and that's often what I'm trying to see - my machine might have something bent or wrong or missing and trying to check it in a scanned manual isn't so great. Having the print manual for this machine is what let me figure out my thread guide on the top of the machine was bent out of whack - not sure I'd have been able to see it clearly in a scanned copy.

But a scanned manual online is far better than no manual at all, that's for sure! I'm very glad that people take the time to do it!!

ThayerRags

I don’t think that you can see it in my photo, but I turned my top thread guide over upside down on my machine. My thread kept coming out of it while in the normal position. I wonder about the design of it.....

CD in Oklahoma

Sewnoma

Mine was bent way down, so it was forcing the thread to drag across the top of the machine from the spool. It still sewed OK but I didn't like that. I actually did try flipping it over, from the pictures that looked like maybe how it should be (before I realized it was bent) but that didn't work out. I spent a while bending the bracket part of it and also the thread loop part before I got it to where it would stay threaded and not drag the thread across the machine head and also still be open enough that I could pop the thread into it without having to thread it like a needle. It was definitely fiddly and I was afraid I would break it, but it seems to be working pretty well now. I have only really done test sewing though, haven't sat down and really tried to USE it yet.

You're right though, definitely not the best design I've seen. I think if it starts coming out again I'll just crimp that loop down a little more and just start threading it like a needle!