Vintage Sewing Machines

My newest obsession is Vintage Sewing Machines. I have had a Featherweight Sewing Machine for many years. This machine previously belonged to my Great Aunt Corrine. When I was little my aunt used to make me clothes and pajamas on the sweet little Featherweight. And every item of clothing came with a little bonus. My aunt always left one straight pin somewhere in the garment. Sometimes that little pin went through the laundry a couple of times before I found it. Several times I thought that I had escaped the little pin scratches and then miraculously the pin made its appearance. Ahhh, memories.

Anyway...Back about the middle of December I found a treadle sewing machine on Craigslist. I had been looking for a while waiting for the right one to come along. I had been researching treadles on line. Before this my only contact with a treadle sewing machine was watching the little Amish girls sew on them during a visit to Pennsylvania Dutch Country. I was fascinated to watch them peddle away.
My research told me to pay particular attention to the cabinet. Treadle machines also have some peculiar bobbins. They are long and cylindrical and are hard to come by. And some machines take sewing machine needles that are no longer available. I suppose that treadles that are unique are much more collectible but I was looking for something that I could really use. I decided to look for a Singer with bobbins and needles that were readily available.

Here is a picture of my "find." I call her Rosie. I have taken her all apart and cleaned and oiled her parts. This is her Before picture. She is a 1915 Singer model 15-30. The cabinet is in reasonably good shape but I want to restore it. There are a few nicks and imperfections that I think I can fix. But I live in Upstate New York and its much too cold to work on her out in the garage so I will wait till warmer weather to see what I can do to give her a makeover.