Do Vintage Machines Call their Old Friends and Tell Them to Come Join the Party?
 

You can't say yu weren't warned, lol. My 3rd came into the house last weekend, and dh went and looked at another last night and then has been caught checking Craigslist multiple times. He also is having second thoughts on selling the 2nd featherweight... He's hooked.

It is seriously addictive, Lara. Is your daughter moving anywhere close to me? She might need a guide for Mary Jo's in Gastonia!

I'm glad I'm not the only one so 'pulled' into this addiction! :D I only realised today that I have 3 old sewing machines, one new sewing machine and one new serger making a grand total of 5 machines. One would think that the family will stop growing now, but a treadle machine is calling to me….where it is, is still a mystery but it will show itself at the right time (6). :D Now my sister wants a Singer 99 hand crank machine so that is going to be number 7. We may go on to have a few more children; enough to staff a foot ball team, at the moment we have just about enough for a netball team!….what do you think? Is it us or are the machines all magnetised? :D :D :D Great thread. Thanks for starting it.

Yes, they do find us and come because they know they will be loved!

Hear! Hear! I support this theory! :D

A few months back, I posted a note because I bought ($25!) a green Elna '50s Supermatic (aka a "Grasshopper"!) It went to DD who alas, did not learn to be comfortable with it. No matter- at local Goodwill I saw a Brother machine which works very much like the Kenmore she learned on (which is vintage like her mother!) I looked at this blue and white Brother machine and there wasn't a bobbin shuttle so I was about to pass by when 30 feet away, down on another shelf I spied the attachment box and everything including shuttle was there. Held my breath when I plugged it in, sews beautifully and for $20 DD has sewing machine again. Best of all, she was delighted because she sold the Elna for $75. I love to read the threads about yard sale, Goodwill, Craigs List finds Happy Hunting!!

Yup. My neighbor brought me my very first Kenmore, and it sat in my dining room putting out The Call. A month later, I had seven Kenmores!

Shhhhhhh!! I have the spousal unit convinced that they breed and that's how they keep multiplying at our house!!

:D

And my last one came all the way from Dallas to find me! LOL

They seem to follow me home......sometimes you just can't save them all,




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Now that is a very sad sight. :(

Oh, I just realized! I've got it too.

The youngest machine in my house is 11 years old. The eldest is dated somewhere in the 1920s and there are 3 between them. All of them are set up to sew in my sewing room and I use them all regularly.

And I never thought I had an addictive personality! I should have known. The first thing I wanted to know about Gram's treadle was how it worked. She taught me how to clean and oil it. Only then did I demand to be shown how to sew. Live and learn.

Thank all of you for the unalloyed pleasure I get from reading "Vintage....". And thank you for giving my mornings something to always look forward to. (I hate mornings on average.)

Pat

I'm telling you, I started last year and I now have 12 old Vintage and Antique machines. It is very addictive. The oldest one is 104 years old. It is a Singer model 27 treadle. It sews like a charm. I had one other one and I sold it. With the 12 old ones and my 4 embroidery machines I have a house full. I would still like to have a featherweight. That might be the last, did I say last one, lol...They just seem to find me now. Good luck on your addiction, it sounds like you husband is also addicted. Joy

I used to watch my grandmother sew using her Singer treadle machine. I'm not sure what model it was, but it is now with another family member and well-loved. I've always wanted to have one of my own. Last week at an estate sale, I found a machine for sale for $10. I'm not sure who made it, but it is a Minnehaha model. I think it may have been made by National, but I really don't anything about it. I wasn't too sure about it, but when I went back on the last day of the sale, it was half-price. For $5, I couldn't pass it up. I couldn't imagine leaving it there. Silly, but I didn't think anyone would love it the way I could. I packed up the drawers, folded up the machine and brought it to the check-out table. As I was checking out, he told me that the drawers were being sold separately, but he'd give them to me with the machine. He even told me that the top was bad, but I could take the top off, replace it with a new top and use it as a table. I told him, "I want to use the machine!" He wasn't too sure what to think of that, but I am very happy to have it and can't wait to get it cleaned, oiled and humming.

Last summer, my neighbor gave me her grandmother's Singer, circa 1935. It's in beautiful condition except for the veneer on the case cover. I also bought a charming Kenmore at Goodwill for $4 in the cabinet and gave it to my 13 year old daughter. I have other machines for every day sewing, but I really am fascinated by the vintage machines. I can't wait to add to the family!

Of course they holler out to their relatives! I find they seem to travel in 3 around my house. Lately I have come across a few that really need love but I have told DH nope it is not on my wish list so it cant go home with us. It has gotten to the point that when come across a machine at a yard sale or thrift store he goes to it and starts to check it out, spins the hand wheel lifts it up to see what the bottom looks like, never thought that day would come!

I have 4 treadles, 2 featherweights, a couple 91's, a hand crank and a couple others. They saw my house and just followed me home. In all fairness, hubby is just as bad as I am, he loves these old machines and likes to bring them back to their former glory. So I have an enabler. HaHa!

Hi,
Brand new to QB I am so additcted to machines old and new! My newest and current favorite is a Babylock Serenade.
Old and New I think have 21. Isn't that awful. Yes, I love to work on them. Many over the years have been donated
to charities and fund drives.

Yep...you've joined a very fun crowd of addicts here!! LOL I started early last year with 1 machine, and now I have 13, and probably another on the way soon from a friend of ours who has a Japanese 15 clone he doesn't want any more. They smell each other out, I say!! LOL