Vintage Japanese 'Badged' sewing machine with fancy stitches
 

http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...s-t207877.html
Link to Japanese Zig Zagger pictures.

I have some really beautiful machines and so not so beautiful. I hope they will all load some time. I'll start with one or two and let other people add theirs. I'll add more later. This one is really a pretty machine. It is a Dressmaker.
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I won that machine at an auction. Actually I bid a dollar on a table and this machine was inside - very covered in goop. It took a LOT of work to get this machine to work. It works fine. It is not my Elna though. This one would go on a treadle.

Here is one - not so pretty - it says Rotary
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Dressmaker seems to be a popular name for a lot of different style machines.
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White sewing machine is pretty cool - this one needs a bobbin winder - other wise I like this one
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Some of these controls have to have a lever pulled over to be able to turn the stitch selector knob - kind of clumsy for me. They do sew just fine - these should be inexpensive and I don't think you can destroy them too easily - well, not like the new plastic wonders.

Some of these machine are a trick to work. The Rotary just has a big knob for stitch selection - it turns and a line indicates which stitch you have. When you get to the end you have to go back the other way. Some of the knobs get pretty gooey inside with dried up oil. Triflow and a LOT of patience...

In my avitar is a pic of my DGD here and her 3 year old brother 'help' in the shop sometimes. Today I got a call from their momma. DD had a complaint. It seems I have taught them too well. DGS was oiling his rocking horse with Dawn dish soap today. Yup he was putting 'oil' in all the holes and cracks just like I showed him...

Kenmore made a nice machine - uses cams - this one still needs some work but seems like a good machine.
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I sure hope the pictures loaded alright - some times I seem to get too many pictures on one page or something and they don't come up. Maybe I post them too soon after another picture. Then if I post them on another page the picture will show up.

I try to load the pics that don't come up again later. I'm not exactly sure about the Kenmore - not sure where it was made - some were made in Italy. I do know it is a very nice machine.

OK, so Miriam has a bunch of Japanese ZZ / fancy stitch machines. Cool .... so, to add to her thread here are my Japanese fancy stitch machines.

Montgomery Wards, 7 Jewell Model URR-988A:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...owwithcams.jpg
It does not have any built in stitches but the ZZ and uses cams for everything else.

Alden, SUZ-2 Super Deluxe Zig Zag:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...ofPFatIndy.jpg
This machine has a very large built in cam stack. I think with all the variations you could do around 60+ fancy stitches.
Marked J-A /3 which I believe is KOYO.

Dressmaker 7000:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...rontw-cams.jpg
Uses cams. Has 30 to choose from.

Montgomery Wards, Signature Model UHT J275A:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...s/IMG_3929.jpg
Uses cams but only came with a small number. Very nice and quiet machine. Marked J-A 10 and J-C 12. It is stamped HAPPY underneath.

Sears Kenmore, Model 158-523
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...ststitches.jpg
This was a free machine :D. It lives in a cabinet, uses cams and is a very strong sewer. It is marked J-A 4 and was made by Maruzen/Jaguar.


Joe

Ideal Automatik
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...alcomplete.jpg
This machine is marked J- no number on the lip of the bed and j-C 1 on the under side of the bed. Manufactured by Brother. The decal on the lip says: Made in the Republic of Ireland. All the printing on the machine is German and when we got it the original 240V German motor was still in place.
It uses cams and has a set of 20 with it.

Joe

I'll try again to get this picture up. I'm not sure it was made in Italy or Japan though.

This one needs a set of disks - does anybody know what the disks look like?
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And another Kenmore - a bit different - probably made in Italy - I do have a nice set of attachments and cams for it - the table is pretty cool too - it is sort of in storage though.
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Miriam,

I've got a set of cams I've never been able to match up to a machine. I'm going to bring them to try on the Kenmore you're going to or have picked up for us. We can check them on your machine too as the trap door is about the same size and in the same place.

Joe

cool - I have extra cams around that don't fit any thing I own and don't have any markings on them.

It should have been against the law to make cams without ID on them.

I'm wondering why we aren't putting more of these fancy stitch machines. It is kind of funny that some of the zig zag machines look so complicated. Do you think it is because the companies thought they could get more money for them?

Some of them are complicated. You need to adjust three or four different controls to get certain stitch patterns. Others are so simple it's funny.

And I'll bet you they did charge more for the fancy ones like my Alden and the Morse Photomatic series than they did the plane ones.

Joe

The insides are different from one machine to another - some have metal camstacks with gears and some are more simple and some do have plastic cam stacks. Some just use cams with readers. I can remember the sewing machine guys warning people not to buy Japanese machines. I don't know if they were prejudiced because of the war or if the machines weren't as good as the others. Then in the 1970s they were saying only the European machines were any good. From what I have seen - I would prefer an old European machine than some of the Japanese I have looked at. But we are talking big bucks differences in some cases. For just straight sew or zig zag the Japanese machines are just fine and do an adequate job. For the fancy stitches I can see why you would go with European. I am not at all impressed with the newer plastic and stamped metal machines. I think they are not built to last any length of time and don't do any improved job of sewing. If you figure 95% of the time you are sewing straight stitches it isn't all that important to have the fancy stitches. I've had people lately buy a machine because it just does straight stitch and it is cheaper to get one than to take an electronic machine in to be cleaned. They can clean the vintage machines themselves.

I think my 158.523 belongs here instead of on the other thread. Check out this groovy set of attachments for it though[ATTACH=CONFIG]381013[/ATTACH]

OK, I'm jealous. The cams we got for our 158-523 are grey and our accessories are just plane Greist in the regular box. You got purty red ones ............ :(

Joe

Quiltingweb, I have a set of those attachments - everything is color coded. I think I even have a manual. I've never been quite sure which machine it goes with. The disks I have are different.

My Universal sews a pretty seam, but she's one of the dedicated left needle machines. She is in a basic cabinet though it's in excellent shape. I had to buy this one because it reminded me of my mother's White from the 50s.
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They are kinda cool, aren't they. Two sided. I got the machine for $15.... what I really wanted was the box of accessories. And an extra bobbin holder. I didn't realize until I got it home that it was a great machine. I looked at one of the Blue Montgomery Ward machines, but I talked myself out of it. I could kick myself now. It had all the cams and attachments for it. I guess I can't save them all...

back at the computer!
 

I was excited to see this thread when I got back. I am a Morse fan, and have three right now. The Fotomatic IV(resembling a cross between a 57 chevy and a delco radio) is great to sew with. I also have a Fotomatic III(waiting for restoration), and a Morse pale mint ZZ machine.

and Capri
 

my first fun Japanese machine was a freebie, a badged "Capri". It resembles several other badged machines. It is currently awaiting paint.

couldn't get the pic to load for some reason- trying again!

Every one of these is ssssoooooo cool!!! So vintage! I would love to have wall paper with pictures of these machines

Here is one of mine. I'm sort of partial to the turquoise machines....not sure why, though :confused:

oh, my. Cabbagepatchkid, your machine would look great next to my morse collection! I like it a lot.

Here you go Miriam. :)
~G~
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Rats I'm on my iPad and can't save it! Well maybe tomorrow...

Hahahahaha.......so funny!!

hey Grant....

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/atq/3567788613.html

These sewing machines are wonderful! Perhaps you can help me. I've inherited a 'Braford Deluxe', made in Japan. I'm fairly certain that my Grandmother bought this machine from the W. T. Grant Co. store in Yuba City CA in the early 1970s, which went out of business in 1975. I found 'Model W. T. G. #950' on the machine, and wikipedia says that WT Grant used 'Bradford' to brand their electronic items. I'm looking for a manual, and bobbins and whatever else I might need. I used the machine for the first time yesterday and was able to figure out enough to actually sew something, but am flying by the seat of my pants. I found several websites about sewing machines yesterday, including this one, but 'Bradford' does not show up much even though there are seemingly hundreds of makers that do. I wonder if I could find out who made 'Bradford Deluxe' machines for WTG Co. I might be able to track down a manual. I did notice that the Wards Models UHT J1276 and UHT J1277 are set up very much like the Bradford Deluxe. Could you give me any clues? Thanks, Thomas
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