for Christmas, I made a bag from australian waxed canvas/leather, and another all leather. I originally started with a hide from BMW upholstery- really nice feel. With my 201 and a walking foot(I also used teflon foot and roller) I could sew 2 thicknesses of the upholstery leather. This hide was advertised at 3oz weight, so 6oz total. I could NOT sew anything heavier, and I wasn't really pleased with the 201.
Moved to a heavy Morse SS- it did better than the 201, but still struggled.
So I moved on to the 130 with 1.5 amp motor. It was able to handle three thicknesses of the BMW hide if going slow. It was able to handle 5 thicknesses of the waxed canvas. Where I had to really work at it was seam intersections- and I changed up the pattern so that I didn't have more than 2 leather/2 canvas.
I used MOLLE webbing from the military store for strapping and could sew 2 thicknesses of that combined with 2 of canvas. I couldn't sew 2 webbing and leather.
I used a #16 or #20 leather needle and 92 weight thread(top and bottom).
First shot shows 4 layers of canvas/1 leather. Second shows 2 layers of 2oz orange leather and 4 canvas. I was able to topstitch pretty well for these.
Like anything else, upholstery leather comes in good and crappy quality. Poor leather with sealers/wax on it will be hard to do on a 15 clone.

The only way to do it would be a heavier needle - but the needle hole likely won't take it.

I have been looking for treadle irons. What do I look for when buying them? No rust, wheels that don't have flat spots. If it works, does it mean that all the parts are there? And, can it be easily taken apart to transport? What is a fair price?
Any tips, or advice would be greatly appreciated, Thank you!

I need a little help. I have cleaned every part on my new featherweight but I can't get the throat plate off. One of the screws is frozen. Does anyone have an idea how I can remove the screw without causing any damage?

This is my first post here, I can't resist sharing a few things about Tikka sewing machines. I live in Finland, and
Tikka is very common SM in various "craigslists" around here. Yellow/yellowish cream is very common colour, there are also black Tikkas, but I have not seen many.

Tikka is made in independent Finland, so it makes my eyes sore seeing it is claimed to be soviet made... although the factory where Tikkas were made, was owned by the Soviet Union at one time (1945-1957). Finland was and is independent state. We were not under soviet rule, but after the WWII there were some silly arrangements around here because Soviet Union "won" and Finland "lost" the war.
Tikka was made in a factory called Tikkakoski. It was famous making machineguns etc. pre- and during WWII. You can easily understand why soviets put the gun making down and made the factory do SM:s instead.

Tikka means woodpecker and woodpecker is seen in the front decal of the machine. Tikka refers also to "tikki", stitch in finnish.
Tikka sewing machines were sold widely in Finland and in Soviet Union. They were made as treadles (1946-1964) and electric (1946-1967).
The quality of the machines was a bit questionable, according to my source, and some of the salesmen were accused of espionage (they tried to recruit persons from the finnish military people).
Tikka is an interesting part of industrialisation of my country and interesting to vintage SM ethusiasts. I do not own one, but perhaps I should, someday maybe.

yes, the Tikka looks like a15 clone. What a pretty machine!

Help! While in Arizona I found a Singer 301. It needs a little help. Can you direct me to a place that tells about repairing a 301. Thanks

Mary,

The above bobbin area information regarding the 221 is the same as the 301.

Tell us what 'she' needs. More than likely oil and grease. As far as oil goes, TriFlow is highly recommended instead of Singer oil. TriFlow can be found on the sewclassic.com website or at a bicycle store. Triflow also has a grease for the gears. Use Singer grease for the motor.

As far a oiling goes, the old saying is if it moves oil it. :) Grease goes in the gears, oil in all other moving parts. When you oil just use one drop - you don't have to over oil.

Shari

Nancy,

We just brought it in the house an hour ago (it was still out in the truck from the trip). It has a place of honor at the end of the hallway in our upstairs! I don't know if I'll do anything to it or not. I think I'll just live with it for a while and decide later. It really doesn't look too bad in person. The wood is nice and smooth where folk's forearms have been resting on it. The machine and treadle really needs oil badly, everything is kind of stiff. The needle in the machine is longer than a modern needle. I'm very pleased with it and am looking forward to sewing with it.

Mary,

I forgot to include a helpful link for you: http://www.sewusa.com/Sewing_Machine...Singer_301.htm