Treadling Away

Many years ago, my mom became the caretaker for my grandmother's treadle sewing machine. She invested in refinishing the cabinet, and as a piece of furniture, it makes a beautiful show piece. Somewhere along the way, my mom decided that it would become mine and it could go ahead and move to my house.

Recently, I became more interested in this machine. We had always said that it would work great if it just had a belt installed. I wanted to know if a belt really was all that it needed. We had a new belt, and Duane installed it fairly easily. Then it sat for a little while longer, because it was going to take some effort to figure out how to wind a bobbin and thread the machine.

A few YouTube videos later, the bobbin was wound, and the machine was successfully threaded. It was time to sew. One of the things I was worried about is how I would look using this machine. My hand-eye coordination isn't the greatest, so I had this fear of my head bobbing like a chicken while my feet went up and down on the treadle. No, I did not record myself sewing on it, and I'm fairly certain that it wasn't an overly embarrassing experience.

The really exciting thing is that it sews a fairly good stitch. For a machine that hasn't been sewn on in probably thirty or more years, it works great. I've got to figure out a good way to mark a 1/4" seam allowance. This machine is going to get used.

I love the contrast of the old machine with the modern thread. This machine deserves all the tender loving care it can get, and Aurifil thread will help keep it going long and strong.

With the excitement of being able to sew on this machine, I decided to see if I could find out more about its history. A quick search for the serial number shows that this machine was manufactured in 1911. Wow, 102 years old and still sewing strong. They just don't make them like they used to.

My grandmother was born in 1915. She and her husband raised a family of three daughters in McDonough, Georgia. They were a farming family, which meant it was often a challenge just to meet basic day to day needs. This machine was purchased as a used machine from a newly married couple in the community that had fallen on hard times and needed money more than they needed this sewing machine. My grandmother told me that she remembers how sad the new bride was when they picked up the machine from her home.

My mom told me that she used this machine often growing up and that she could make it go a hundred miles an hour. I can't wait to see her give it a try next time she visits.

Check out the decal detail. A winged sphinx on a Singer sewing machine. An interesting combination. I'm going to do some research to see how to clean this machine up. It has a good bit of rust that I want to try to clean off, but certainly don't want to cause any further damage. I'm also going to figure out a project to make exclusively on this machine. It will be something small that can sit in a basket next to it so that I can work on it a little along. It's fun to think that I am sewing on the same machine as my mother, my aunts, my grandmother, and maybe even my great grandmother.