leonf

My GF, Iris and I had a good day yesterday, offering hand cranks for people to try. A 1912 Singer 99 and a 1954 128 VS were the workers. Lots of smiles and no fingers sewn. Lots of treasure bags were carried off.

Tartan

​Fun day indeed!

Stitchnripper

That looks like lots of fun!!!

Manalto

What a great thing to do. You look like you're dressed in clothing about the same vintage as the 99 (1912). Am I way off?

MFord

What a fun event for you and for your "clients"! Did you make your clothes on a hand crank?

pennycandy

Wish I could have gone to try a hand crank.

IrisIrene

We have dressed "frontier style" and "1890s" On this particular day, my 1890s garb was out of action so I was frontier and he was Gay 90s. [ATTACH=CONFIG]559608[/ATTACH]

IrisIrene

This garb was made on various machines. I believe I used both my Brother 929d serger and the Singer Featherweight for Leon's garb, and a modern Brother machine for my garb. My 1890s garb was made with a Singer Touch-tronic 2001. HOWEVER my daughter, granddaughter and I are taking a Victorian corset making class. My 17-year-old granddaughter has claimed the 1911 Singer 99K for her project. She doesn't like sewing with an motor driven machine.

IrisIrene

We let visitors make "treasure bags" when they try their hand at the hand crank machines. The bags are made from a 6x8" piece of fabric folded in half. Visitors sew a hem across the top and an L shaped seam along the outside to form the bag. It is amazing how pleased folks are to take away something they made "all by themselves!"

Sometimes, though, there is down time between visitors. Presently I knit, but I would rather be making something with the hand crank. I don't want anything as involved as garb. Although I have sewn for more than 50 years, I haven't quilted much. Is there some small quilt project that I can work on that can be put down easily when someone stops by?

IrisIrene

During the hand crank demonstration we chatted with many folks. Some had never sewn. Some had never seen hand cranks. The most interesting remark was from the lady who said her high school home economics class only had one electric sewing machine in the 1960s. It was reserved for senior students. Beginners learned on treadle machines!

My first thought was, "Wow, was that a poor school district?" Second thought was, "What a savvy teacher. She knew beginners were intimidated by the speed of electric machines so she eliminated the problem."

I have my own intimidation from treadle machines (I always get my feet out of sync and break the thread by going backwards). Hm... HAND CRANKS would be even better beginner machines.