Which Singer?
 

I was talking to my grandmother in law tonight about her sewing machine... She has a Viking and doesn't like it. She said her favorite machine ever was her singer she got after she was married. She still has and uses the table but for some reason she doesn't have the machine.

From her memory it was a singer, off white in color, and had multiple stitches. What she liked most was it wound its bobbin in the bobbin case? She said she didn't have to take it out to wind it. With her current machine she does and drops it all the time and has a hard time seeing it.

I would like to tryto find out what model it is and try to find her a working one.

Thanks!

misskira,

That would be one of the 600 series Touch N Sew machines. They made quite a few versions. If you go for one try to get one of the early ones. The very earliest ones had steel gears.

Joe

Yay! Thank you! Already checking Craigslist and the first one I found is a bargain at only $800. Bwahaha. Nut case.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/atq/3368295149.html

I also had a 290C that wound in the bobbin area.
There are a few models out there that did it. Joe's right, most of them were 600 series.
It might be worth showing her pics.... just for curiousity sake if you're trying to keep it a surprise.

The "Self Winding bobbin" mechanism is a little harder to service, and a little more prone to "issues" though, so keep that in mind when checking out used ones. Make sure you test the winding. The lever could have trouble moving (lubrication issues), like Kittywolf was experiencing, or the bobbin may wind incorrectly (sometimes the wind will miss the bobbin and wind beneath it). That one I can't currently help with, because I haven't had one in front of me that did it, though there are 2 here I haven't had a chance to test yet, so I may have input on that one sooner than later.

I had tons of trouble with my 290, I used to break needles all the time when winding. Part of it was user error I'm sure, but I don't think it all was. The process is quite particular, make sure you follow the manual to the "T"

BTW, my 290 was mint, and I sat on it for a month before I sold it for $75 with all the attachments, serviced, manual, bobbins, tools, etc. So don't pay a lot of any of the self winders.

If she loved that touch and sew she might like a Singer 500, 503, 401 or a 403 just fine - they don't wind the bobbin in place but work close to the same. Those machines are a lot easier to take care of than the T&S.

This reminds me of my first sewing machine memories... my mother swearing like a sailor at the bobbin winding mechanism on he Touch and Sew. She still used it a lot and well so it must not have been a bad machine but oh my she had problems with the winder. Knowing her she might not have been following the instructions quite closely enough :)

I remember when we went from old machines in home ec to the T&S I had to take all my sewing home to do - I spent way too much time messing with the stupid bobbin winder. I wouldn't touch a Singer after that until I found one in the garbage - I would have left it in the garbage but my sister dared me to make it work. I did and I'm glad. It was a Singer 401G - I learned a lot and have decided that pre-T&S Singer machines are just fine. After that - not so much.

Unfortunately for me there was a T&S waiting at home. I don't remember what we had for home ec other than they were Singers and the tension was never right (X classes of 8th graders a day probably explains that!) I do remember that I couldn't sew a straight line to save my life (how much of that was the poly double-knit that I was working with I don't know.) At least I didn't have any problems in the kitchen so my grade was fine.

Misskira,

The Touch and Sew machines seem to be "love 'em or hate 'em" machines. In any case, $800 is not a bargain for one of them. However, if it works perfectly and you find that it has been taken care of, it may be just the machine to make your grandmother happy. Best wishes in trying to find a machine that will be just the right thing for her!

Dayle

Oh! The 758 that KittyWolf has is a Self Winding Bobbin too. I have one here, it's plastic, but it doesn't seem -too- bad. It hasn't been run through its paces yet though. I'm waiting on feed dogs.

That's the other thing to watch for. About that time, Singer started putting rubber feed dogs in the area where you oil.
Not the best idea, but I understand there was more reason than just selling replacement parts. Some of the stitches required fabric to move better than steel dogs would allow. Another thing to watch for though. These rubber dogs deteriorate, and won't feed fabric. They can be replaced, and they're fairly cheap (the 758 for instance uses dogs 181843 and they're about $10. It's a good bargaining tool)