tomilu

I hope this old girl will sew ands the gears are ok. I need to look at the manual and see if it will chainstitch. Never even thought about that. Thanks for your comment.
Tommie

tomilu

[quote=roseOfsharon][quote=sewnserge]I am having a senior moment (again) and can't think what type of cord yours takes. What kind of prong does it have?
Tommie

roseOfsharon

[quote=tomilu][quote=roseOfsharon][quote=sewnserge]Three prong it is.

Crossstitcher

[quote=Weedwoman]I found on my 306 and 319 if I don't fill the bobbin out to the edges it fits into the case better and snaps into place better.
Just something I found out to do and it works for me.
You are so right about having to man handle the machine and I have burnt my hand on the light a time or two trying to tilt the machine back.

kwendt

Hi Nancy.... first off, I'm sorry for your little guy. I love all my animials and when they are not doing well, I do the same thing. Hold them, give a what comfort I can.... I hope things get resolved for him and you.

On those bobbin's... thank you. For some reason, I didn't think that 1 1/8" was 'long'. My thread tangles a bunch, so I was thinking that maybe the bobbins I had were not the correct ones. It could be the thread or tension. I'll work on the tensions and figure it out. I didn't ever check the S/N actually. lol. I know it's a 127, cause it's full sized, VS2, Sphinx, spoke wheel, but electrified, and has the bobbin ejector. The 27's didn't. So this has got to be the newer 127... It sews slowly... it's not lack of oil or grime, I think it may be the old wiring/pedal. I may just chuck the electric motor all together.

kwendt

There's another trick I learned whilst making historical costumes. I still use this method for sharp darts and stitched down pleats... and it occurs to me that it might could be used to help stabilize a seam - but it would take a relatively long time to do so. Might not be 'worth' it.

You first sew onto a scrap piece of cloth, then sew off that and take a few stitches 'in air' before sliding the real work under the foot. Sew the seam as normal. When get to the end of the work, continue sewing off the material, taking several stitches 'in air'. Stop, cut threads so that you have long 'tails' at both beginning and ending of the work seam. Then at the beginning and at the end, use the two tails to tie a series of small knots at the edge of the fabric. Cut tails.

This is something... like i said... you do for garment/costume and 'finish' sewing. But it might help in this case too.

When I'm doing 'assembly line' quilt block sewing, I don't bother with backtacking at all. I first sew a scrap piece of cloth to the edge, the abutt the 1st of the blocks up/under the needle, assembly line sewing all the blocks, then sew off the last block and onto an ending scrap piece. Then you don't get all the thread snarls on the bottom of your work when starting on small bits of quilting.... I saw this on Bonnie Hunter's quilting site. She calls it, 'using leaders and enders'.

kwendt

That's an AWESOME looking 15-91. $35??? A steal. It will use regular, low shank attachments/feet.... they're an easy find. Side clamps too, just like many modern machines. There's a free downloadable manual out there... just google for it. This machine will FMQ like crazy!

kwendt

mpeters.... lol! love your post. The old, cast iron Singer type machines (and I believe all the other old vintage/antiques out there) do need oil and sometimes grease. Just in case someone hasn't mentioned the basics yet:

First off, if no one's yet told you... always use 'sewing machine oil' in the spots, holes, felts, etc. of your antique machines and only where the manual tells you to. Not all 'holes' are oil holes. Use some common sense too.... lol... it's unlikely that you're going to want to put oil into the motor! It will smoke up a storm!

Also, it's a good idea to put a drop where there are moving metal parts sliding on moving metal parts. You'll see those 'Carter liver pill' oil ports/arrows in the manual - notice that many times the oil points are underneath, and inside the side (behind the faceplate) and in the back underneath the metal plates. So get a screw driver and unscrew the plates and oil it in there too. That's why there are readily removable plates there... so users can access the inner workings to clean out fuzz and oil.

These old machines are not 'self-lubing' so to speak. But they're not really hard to take care of either. One drop and one drop only, in each oil spot... on a maintained machine is good. If you're refurbishing a machine or it's sat for 20 years... it'll need cleaning, and a lot of oil to get it to work. But it will work after you're done with it!

If you sew a lot, constantly, then you might need to oil it every 6 months or so. If you're an occasional sewer, then 1/year or so. After using the machine for a while, you get a 'feel' for when the machine is going to be 'thirsty'. Some people say they can 'hear' their machine metal parts starting to rub more, or that they can 'feel' it needing oil.

Some of the early electrified Singers (and potentially some of the similar, non-singer machines) also had 'grease tubes' for the early motors. The manual will show you where/if you have them. Use Tri-flow or Singer sewing machine grease/lub only. Do not use appliance grease, white lithium grease, automotive grease, etc. Many of those have additives that won't help your machine. If you have a specific question about all that, check with others on the site, like Billy, Glenn, or ???

And lastly.... if anyone else comes along and gives you more advice... go with them! <grin> I'm still new to antique machines, but have progressed a LONG way with the help of this board and this topic/thread.

Have fun with your machine, take a bit of reasonable care... and it will outlast you... and your children.

kwendt

OOOOOhhhhh! MJ! I am so envious of those DMC floss cabinets! I'm so GREEN! lol.

kwendt

wow... Crinkle or wrinkle or Godzilla finish. AND if you look close at it, it looks like a Singer 101 CLONE! How unusual! I love it!