Does this Singer 15 have reverse?
 

I was wondering if anyone knows if this machine has reverse or is that just a stitch length adjuster?

Thanks

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I have done some research, I believe the answer is "no", there is no reverse on this one.

You turn the fabric ;- ) I think the reverse lever was introduced sometime in the 1920s. By then decals were much simpler, and I doubt there are any model 15 with reverse lever and Egyptian decals. How old is your machine?

The one I have does not have reverse. It could be a kick butt treadle. That hand wheel is extra deep. If you want you can convert it back to a treadle by putting on one of the heavy hand wheels but you may lose your bobbin winder. You could use a sidewinder. I'm thinking yours was converted to electric by changing out the hand wheel and putting on a motor. But who knows, I'm surprised to see a motor mount. Some have improvised the motor attachment rigs. Do you know what year that machine was made?

There is one Singer 15 with the Egyptian decals and reverse. The newer ones Singer had made in Asia in the 1970s or 80s. Not near as nice as that machine.
That machine is in great shape. The Egyptian decals on the originals are usually in worse condition. If the price is any sort of affordable I'd get it.
Rodney

From my research I believe it to be a 15sv10, probably made in the early 40's. Not sure why they would skip reverse on it.

When this world was less hurry up, I sewed on machines without reverse and never thought about not having a reverse function or a needle up/down function. We just manually turned the handwheel to put the needle down in the fabric and turned the item to stitch back over a just sewn line or in a different direction. These days, I want those functions at the touch of a button. We never would have imagined that someday those old machines would be sought after and prized.

I have seen later model 15s with out the reverse lever, one dated to 1950. The later ones usually have the reverse lever. Singers around here are almost all made at the Kilbowie factory in Scotland, with the odd exception, not often at all. This is the first US example with a later production date.

Ugg, reverse is always a thick place in the seam.......much nicer to tie the threads in a nice neat square knot.

ok, yes I am very old.

There is a video on youtube on how a Dior jacket is made these days, they finish of the seams by tying the ends of the threads, no backtack or anything like that. It's not the only video showing this either. I think it's a technique used with modern machines too, for those who go for something better than quickest and easiest.

Oh my gosh, that triggered a memory of me in sewing class all those years ago, learned on a treadle in school, where we tied off the ends of our darts! By hand! As the years passed we got more modern but they were still black headed Singers, back in the olden days.

I'm thinking about getting it for my 12 year old daughter, she currently has a 66-16 I gave her, but I think she'd like the sphinx model a little more, at least aesthetically. Not sure what she'd think about losing the reverse feature.

I sew on my 27 treadle without reverse and it's fine, but if you want to chug through a quick project it's nice to be able to backtrack real quick.

The drop in bobbin on the 66 was the newest feature at one point, though by the time model 66 were given a backtack it certainly wasn't anymore. The 15 on the other hand is an every older model, but for some reason its' popularity has kept in high regards up to our days. In my experience, all these features has a lot to do with what we get accustomed to. I have had my 201 for well over a year know, and I haven't used my zigzagger nor my computerized machine much at all since. It has to do with the type of clothes make and projects I do. It sort of became a sport to manage on the 201. It's certainly is a smooth machine, with very nice buttonholer attachments. Either of the 66 and 15 should be equally lovely to work on in my mind. The 15 has a very good reputation when it comes to darning and quilting.

No backstitch, but that isn't at all bad, just different. This is a beautiful machine and to be treasured. You can learn which finishing technique works best for you. Baskstitch isn't very pretty anyway.

My model 15-88 (1935 release) has back stitch, but the stitch length plate is quite different from this one.

If you are doing a dart in chiffon or lace the nicest finish is to bring up a length of bobbin thread and thread it backwards up to the top spool (do not just knot it and pull it backwards, that would put lint in your tension mechanism ) then sew the dart from the point to the seam......it looks like magic ..... always remember to sink your needle into the fabric where you want your first stitch to be every seam you start to sew.......yes I used to work for a designer and everything I worked on was an original for a special group of customers. circa 1957

for production work I read where singer just recommended an in crease in hand pressure... kinda hold the favic som advancing for the first couple of stitches.... in my experience that works Very very well and a double stitched area with very short stitches is indeed quite a pain to "undo"

One helpful method to end a seam is to shorten stitch length, make very tiny stitches, at the very end of the seam. They aren't likely to come out.

I have Singer 15 from 1921 according to serial number. It seems that my machine has no stitch length scale next to the stitch length adjustment, so it’s it or miss. After a while, I think you’re supposed to know about where the various stitch lengths are located. However, when I swing the lever all the way up, there is apparently no reverse stitching. Does anyone know when reverse stitching was introduced in the Singer 15 and about what year would that have been? Thank you for your help.
Dr Michael J Elinski
East Hampton, NY

The stitch length lever was introduced around 1930 on model 15, or just before, around the same time model 201 was introduced. They were given the same stitch length lever and plate. On the older models like 15 and 99 you develop a feel for the stitch length setting, it's a minor issue when you get to know the machine better, and there's usually a bit of test sewing involved before starting to sew. The older type model 15 with out reverse were made up until 1950 at least, not too long ago a lady in the UK told me hers was made in 1950 and had the old type nut and bolt type stitch length setting with out reverse. Maybe it was particular to the Kilbowie factory in Scotland, I'm not sure.

I have a Singer 15K80 (fixed feed dogs and no reverse) which left Kilbowie wearing a serial number allocated in 1957!

That late! I have come across a few cases like that on the web. I wonder why Singer kept the old version in production, there must have been a reason. Both 99 and 66 were given a simple reverse function too.

21st April 1932 - first run of 201's in the US, produced here until 1957. To narrow down when exactly when the 15 began to have that same reverse lever in the States, we'd need to have a look at as many 15's as we could with serial numbers beginning with the prefix AC & AD. =)

I need to rephrase that. Although it is true that the singer 201 made it's debut in 1932... the potted motor model 15 (unsure if this would be a 15-90 or 15-91) had been out since at least 1930. What's really interesting... is that while the 1930 15-91 had the same reverse/forward lever as the later 201's... the regular old 15 with an external electric motor and belt drive continued to have a lever much like the one in the OP's photo up until at least 1937. I'm still at a loss to discover when exactly the belt driven 15's were given the 91 type lever.

Interesting info Steelsewing. I have not been able to get accurate details on the introducition of the 201. The earliest date I have read is 1928, but some give 1930 as a date too. I guess there were a few years of development, test productions, I just have to note down the best ducumentation when I come across it. There were definitely many years of overlapping in production of the various version of 15 and other models. I have come across late 28s too, with serial numbers dating production to more than a decade after the 128 arrived.

I'll be the first to admit that I was perhaps somewhat narrow in the search. I began checking casting dates. In particular the late 1920's and early 1930's, and went off the AC and AD lists only. I probably should have looked at other letter codes to verify. Then, for fun (?) I checked online auctions for photo and descriptions of 15's, and tried to keep on this side of the pond. So the findings may be flawed. The production dates on the 101 probably hampered this since it was a US only machine and the 201 supposedly replaced it. If the 201 is being made in 1932, then it took Singer several years to 'replace' the 101 as both appear to have been being built concurrently for several years. As helpful as casting dates are... they don't differentiate a run of 15's from a run of 15's, leaving all sorts of room for speculation.

There is a page with 201 info, it is written by a guy who has gathered a lot of info on old sewing machines and has worked with the for years. He has most details on the Kilbowie factory. I don't know where he found the information. From a quick search on serial number lits, the earliest UK production I could find was 1934. This is from his 201 page;