The manual should tell you what kind of needle this machine uses. Happy for you that you wound the bobbin and got her sewing.

I'm sure you will sort it out with a bit of trying and testing. If the manual is there it might say something about needle type. Some of these straight stitchers run surprisingly smooth and quiet. With a bit of cleaning, oiling and perhaps new feet under the base they improve a lot. My Singer 201 is my smoothest machine. If you manage to track down the model and maker it will be easier to find a box of accessories for it. These machine were often sold under various brands. The presser bar fitting looks a bit different than the basic side clamp.

Congrats :thumbup: Maybe it was already modified to use 15x1 needles - that would be nice.

Is your low shank Kenmore a left homing needle? If it is central, low shank it should be easy to find attachments for. I'll bet you'll be anxious to try the ruffle attachment. It does take a little getting used to. It would be helpful if machine was modified to accept modern needles. It was too long ago to remember with any certainty, but it seems like I did break a couple needles while using the ruffler the first few times I used it.

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

It came with several hemmers and a ruffler, which is why I grabbed it!

I found a place in Manassas. I may bring my low shank Kenmore there too, and see if I can get more feet for it. Happily, oil seems to be all my Kenmore's need. The super high shank I oil often, but I use that one the most.

I recently got one of these, and cleaned it up and got it working. It's a great machine! As for the needles, it is supposed to take "C1221" needles, that are no longer manufactured. I modified mine to take 15x1 needles, it's very simple. It's actually a no-brainer, because you just raise the needlebar as high as you can, but not to where the lower thread guide hits the body of the machine at the top of the stroke. The eye of the needle will be just below the hook, but it catches fine, I didn't miss a single stitch in thousands. As somebody else said, this modification might have already been done on yours.
Also keep in mind this motor has oil ports, mine was very dry.

Hello! Can you tell me what the "needlbar" is? I was overly optimistic about the machine working. If you can send a photo that would be great.

Thanks!

Victoria

The needle bar is the rod thing that goes up and down when you turn the hand wheel, the needle is inserted at the lower end of it. There might be replacments for the C1221 needles if you compare needle systems, but if adjusting for 15x1 needle work well, that might be the best solution. With such a very nice condition macine I'm sure you want it to run and stitch equally nice.

You have to remove the faceplate, and then loosen this screw:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]579146[/ATTACH]
It's likely to take some elbow grease, make sure you use a screwdriver that fits the slot well, and take care you don't strip the screw. Once it's loose, you only have to back it off a little bit, and then work the needlebar loose. It'll probably be stuck a little, just grab the needle clamp and twist it back and forth gently, and it should loosen up. Once it is, you have to move it upwards. You're going to be limited by this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]579147[/ATTACH]
If you move the bar too far, the thread guide will hit the bottom of the "tube" that comes out of the head of the machine. So turn the handwheel to the highest point in the stroke, move the needlebar to where it's almost, but not quite, hitting, and then tighten that screw back up, making sure that the needle clamp is still turned the right way. It should now work with 15x1 needles.
I'm new here, and I only had a couple minutes to do this, so let me know if this isn't clear enough. I'll have more time this weekend.

Rob