Dressmaker will not zigzag
 

I just recently acquired my mother-in-law's old Dressmaker 200 machine. It will not zig zag and the reverse button does not do anything. Is there somewhere to find a manual for repairing this machine?

Welcome to the board. Most of our old beasties are fairly simple and will respond well to basic maintenance even without a manual A warm hair dryer can melt out old grease or oil. Open up the faceplate and oil everything that moves ( or should move) gently wiggle at the zig zag movement bits. .The revers button is harder to lube. If you can open the top of the machine it is easier to oil. Otherwise oil from other angles.

I proposed to my girlfriend on a sail boat. The rigging had broken and the sail wouldn't lift . I said,
"The sail won't work, I have the oar and the rudder and it's a long way to shore. Will you marry me?" Thankfully she said yes.

I have taken the top off to try to clean it and oil it. It would do about 2/3s of a rotation then get very stiff. I oiled it and worked it and it finally got loose and smooth. I will work on it some more. Thanks for the help.

these old metal head machines will sew the boat projects.

Be sure you take off the hand wheel and oil well in there. You may notice a great difference once you do that.