Treadle Machine Stools?
 

Maybe this has been discussed before but I have not seen it. I am wondering if any treadle machines came with stools or chairs. If so, what did they look like and if not, what do those of you who sew on a treadle use to put your rear end on? Inquiring minds want to know.

I've wondered the same. What is an appropriate stool for a treadle machine? I don't remember seeing any Singer offerings until at least the 20s or 30s.
Rodney

lI tried to find images (which I know I've seen) of people sitting at their sewing machines. It's a very good question, because any chair that has a seat that slants upward in the front is uncomfortable to use for treadling. Here's a page on ISMACS that has pictures of people sitting in chairs: http://www.ismacs.net/wheelerandwils...ne_factory.htm

I use an old chair that has a little padding, straight back, and medium height legs.

Linda

I've wonder also. have never seen any.

I think back of the grannys and mothers, There was never a chair or stool next there treadles, but they were not working with them, There isn't place to store a stool or chair. so those would be at the machine.

I do know my mom used a kitchen table chair, flat seat. I use what I think would be called a sewing chair, again flat seat, I would think a wooden stool like whats known as a bar stool would be correct,, The round seat and spindle leg type, some places still have those in a kit form

I found a vintage piano bench at a flea market similar to this http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ART-...item54101d7e21 . It had been painted white but I repainted it with a flat black paint. Buffing the flat paint develops a sheen which matches my treadle cast iron legs. The most important part was finding something that was the right height.

Maybe something like this?

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/an...ece/1078011798

Looks kind of neat even though the ad mentions that it is an industrial piece ... and of course it is too far away and too expensive for me! But maybe it would be great since industrial sewing would involve a lot of long sitting periods, I would assume. Looks like the height is adjustable kind of like a piano stool. Oh, maybe that is what would work well .... a piano stool?!?! pennycandy did mention a piano bench so maybe look for a stool although I think I would like some sort of back piece. Ah the search is on!

(Champanier: I could not get your link to open to any pictures of people sitting in chairs.)

Don't know who/where to credit this pic to. Anyways, this may not be a bad idea for a stool for treadle! http://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...d=491723&stc=1

Other than the Singer Industrial Stool that was bolted to the floor at a machine that KLO pointed out with her link, I haven’t seen any stools that I would consider a “matching stool” for a treadle by Singer or anyone else. There was a Singer chair used in industrial settings with the H-leg and K-leg electric power stands like shown in one of my photos, but that’s about all of the Singer chairs that I’ve seen. I don’t think that the matching stool was available with treadle cabinets like it was with electric cabinets. Probably because the stool wouldn’t stow under a treadle like under the electric cabinets. People must have just used whatever chair was available. The matching stool was probably a sales aid during the electric years.

I have a couple of wrought-iron stools that I’ve used with my treadles both at the shop and at home, and they kind of look like they match from a distance, but on close inspection they’re obviously not a match. We use an old claw-foot piano stool at home also, but the stool came off of the homestead ranch where it had served as a piano stool. We don’t have a piano, so we use the heirloom stool with our treadle sewing machines. The height adjustment threads are stripped out, so we can’t adjust the height of it anymore. We also have a 4 ft-long wooden bench that works good when two of us are playing at the same machine.

Here the past 6 months or so, I’ve begun using office chairs and motorcycle stools on casters when using my treadle sewing machines. I thought that I needed a stool without wheels to keep from rolling away from my treadle, but since I only use one foot on the treadle, I’ve found that rolling chairs work just fine. I’m so used to having wheels under my chairs at my electric machines that I about tipped myself and the rigid stools over several times when pushing to move without realizing it wasn’t going to roll. I thought that I needed the height of the rigid stools too, but found out that I don’t, even on the Singer 29K70 that I have mounted on a trolley with wheels underneath. The trolley raises the treadle about four inches, and I put one foot on the treadle and the other on the trolley frame to keep all of the wheels from rolling, or at least the trolley and the chair rolling in unison the same direction.....

CD in Oklahoma

It's almost a relief there are no actual matching stools. I don't have to keep my eyes open for one. ;)
I like that old office chair CD. Nice clean lines.
Looks like the Victorian piano stool is a good match for the treadles. Even if they're for different purposes the same era's design sensibilities apply to both.
Rodney

CD, I was interested in reading about your thoughts on chairs with wheels for treadling. I too thought they would not work as I figured that I would keep pushing myself away from the machine. However, I use two feet for treadling so maybe a wheelie chair would not work for that method? Not sure so guess I should try an office chair to see how I do. Right now I just have an old wooden chair from my grandparents house that I use just because I have it and don't need it anywhere else. However, the wood does not match either of my treadles but I suppose that does not matter in the long run since it appears that's what people did back when treadles were the only machines around ..... meaning that they used whatever chair was available. Interesting topic .... oh and thanks for the photos. Still liking the piano stool idea even though it does not have a back.

I didn't even notice the stool at first, I just saw the Brother machine, lol.

Cari

Is that a shower stool/chair?

they just used a wooden chair thats all they had back in the day. my mother kept her chair that went with pump organ she sold the organ in the early 50's

Yep, shower stool.
Rodney

could never use a shower chair as a sewing stool. anyone here ever sit on one of those. Then try up stand up. I like to lean back relax and study what I've done. Then when quilting those 8 foot long lines, and 8 feet of blanket on the floor, in your lap and stuffed under the needle kinda like knowing I'm not going to fall off the chair. I have pushed the sewing machine in a cabinet over a few times LOLOL. That was fun

I have always sat forward on my chair when typing (at work) and sewing. I had a Schnauzer who would sit behind me in my chair when I was sewing.

I've tried the wheeled office chairs when treadling...not a good thing. The chair rolls backwards. :eek:

I did a quick YaHoo Photo Search for Singer Advertisements, and the treadle photos where a lady is seated at the machine shows either a high-backed chair that appears to be a dining table chair, or nothing can be seen beneath or below the floor-length skirt and dress styles that they all posed wearing. They could be setting on a box for all I know....

Does anyone know if the 4-legged adjustable claw-foot stools with the round seat like the one shown in my photo above were actually sold as a “Piano Stool”, or just a stool? Did a person have to buy them from a piano store?

The Singer Chair in my other photo came much later than the treadle sewing machines, as far as I can tell. It has an adjustable height and tip back on it, as well as a height adjustment for the seat. I tried that one for a while, but the danged thing was too hard for me. My wife set in one like it 8 hours a day for a few months when she operated a serger machine in the local Bra Factory that she worked at for a while. She didn’t have any desire to use one for a home sewing chair, and wouldn’t even try it.....

My wife sets way forward on her office swivel chairs that she uses at sewing machines too. I keep waiting for one of them to buck her off (her weight too far forward and the chair scoots out rearward from under her), but it hasn’t happened yet. If I sat that way in mine, I’d find myself setting on the floor in a jiffy.

CD in Oklahoma

I had the same experience when I was trying to teach myself how to treadle with both feet on the peddle. Once I decided that using just my right foot on the peddle was better for me, I don’t have much trouble with rolling chair runaways.

I've begun to use a 5-caster motorcycle stool in my bikeshop sewing area to operate my Singer 31-15 treadle. I bought the specialty stool for my wife one Christmas for fun, but she never cared for it much. The problem with it is the seat that’s contoured to resemble a motorcycle seat, and the seat swivels freely, so if you stand up for a second and don’t look before you sit back down, the seat tends to realign the contours with the brush of a leg into an “oh my goodness!!” position, if you know what I mean..... Touching down in the side-saddle position is NOT comfortable!

CD in Oklahoma

I've used a variety of chairs and as long as the seat is level they seem to be OK. My wife commented on the white plastic one shown in Cari's pic; she said they have a tendency to be unstable. They flex and over you go. My SIL has one at her sewing table.

Joe

Looks like it is!! I think I would put a quilt around it or wrap the legs with selvage strips to make it more of a fit in the dining room where I sew.

Joe, I bought two swivel stools that had a 'tractor' seat for my sewing room and they did exactly like yours, if you didn't hold on to them before you sat down they had a tendency to either turn or roll away. I did use them on a treadle and didn't have any trouble there.

Now that I asked this question, I am finding a few tidbits about the use of chairs at treadle machines. Here's one that says "no wheels" but as CD said, it probably depends on how you treadle .... one foot or two:


"Start by setting up your space - make sure you can sit comfortably with your feet on the treadle plate and your back straight. You need a solid chair (no wheels!) and the machine should be on a firm base - thick rugs can get in the way of the plate's movement.
The chair should be at a comfortable height - ideally your arms should be parallel to the floor from the elbow to the wrist."

Here's one more little write about chairs that seems to support the above writing:


"A straight-back, stationary chair is a must for happy treadling. Find a chair with the right height so you can sew in an ergonomic position, but you're not bumping your knees on the underside of the cabinet. Having your treadle machine on a smooth floor is a big plus, but it's possible to treadle on carpet, too. You may need to put runners under the treadle legs to create enough clearance for the treadle pedal to move properly, but that's not a difficult fix. Furniture casters may do the trick - just experiment to see what works."

Last but not least, check out this entry about a dress making classroom in Kenya. Looks like my old school chairs from when I was a kid.

https://thesewingdivas.wordpress.com...in-mago-kenya/

OK, guess I have beaten this topic to a pulp. Sorry.