Sewing Machines Anonymous Counciling Needed!

[Bigfoot]

Not too sure how this happpened as I do alot more carving than sewing but love the old machines and seem to have aquired a few! (I always think i can get em working again )

Note to self: Must stop tinkering and build workshop ASAP!

[DoubleC]

I feel for you. I have a Singer 15-91 from the 30s, a 27 treadle from 1896, and a hand crank 28 from 1908. We;ve talked about having a group on here for support to keep us away from the damn old iron :-) Cheryl

[TwinOaks]

Hi, my name is Mike, and I have a hundred year old sewing machine.....

[Bigfoot]

I feel for you. I have a Singer 15-91 from the 30s, a 27 treadle from 1896, and a hand crank 28 from 1908. We;ve talked about having a group on here for support to keep us away from the damn old iron :-) Cheryl

Tis bad... if you add up all the money that we(me) spend on "old iron" we (I) could by now have some lovely state of the art, triple feed, walking foot machine that I still wouldn't know how to use !

[Bigfoot]

Hi, my name is Mike, and I have a hundred year old sewing machine.....

Hi Mike,

Thanks for joining the group, 100 years old is a good vintage but don't feel you need to say any more.... just take a seat and have a read .. ..and I'm sure we'll all be feelin better soon...ish

All the best

Bigfoot

[WinterBear]

Hello, I'm a sew-a-holic. I have 6 old machines in various states of repair (ranging from working to doorstop) and two modern household machines. None of them are leather machines (but a couple of them do pretty good anyway!). I quilt too, which makes thing worse, as it also means that I have heaps of farbic lying about too.

[EquusCustomLeathers]

My 18 year old daughter threatened to kick me out to the barn if I brought home one more homeless sewing machine LOL At one point I had 19 Singers in the living room. In my defense, there was still lots of room to get around them..it's not my fault she kept stubbing her toes:) I'm down to 2 Singers, a Brother and a Juki walking foot now. She's no fun at all!!

[Merl]

Hi, my name is Mike, and I have a hundred year old sewing machine.....

Oh, don't feel so bad Mike.

I have twelve sewing machines that are over onehundred years old ranging from my #8 Wheeler and Wilson at 151 years old to the youngest being my 31-15 Singer and the 29-4 Singer somewhere in the middle.

I actualy have something like 50+ sewing machines with only three of them really being suitable for leather.

[Bigfoot]

Hello, I'm a sew-a-holic. I have 6 old machines in various states of repair (ranging from working to doorstop) and two modern household machines. None of them are leather machines (but a couple of them do pretty good anyway!). I quilt too, which makes thing worse, as it also means that I have heaps of farbic lying about too.

Welcome to the group... doorstops have become my favorite as I don't have to tinker with em!

My 18 year old daughter threatened to kick me out to the barn if I brought home one more homeless sewing machine LOL At one point I had 19 Singers in the living room. In my defense, there was still lots of room to get around them..it's not my fault she kept stubbing her toes:) I'm down to 2 Singers, a Brother and a Juki walking foot now. She's no fun at all!!

Welcome to the group....When I first read your post I really thought that you might be a hard case but it sounds like you've got your machine fetish under control due to stern warning by..your children!?? All good though, you have lost 15 sewing machines!!...Well done you!

Oh, don't feel so bad Mike.

I have twelve sewing machines that are over onehundred years old ranging from my #8 Wheeler and Wilson at 151 years old to the youngest being my 31-15 Singer and the 29-4 Singer somewhere in the middle.

I actualy have something like 50+ sewing machines with only three of them really being suitable for leather.

Hello Merl, welcome to the group.......I must admit, I think you are the most serious case but with time and care from your group, that understand where you are coming from everything will be fine.

PS. Has anyone got any pics of the old machines to share??

all the best

Bigfoot

[tnawrot2]

I thought I had too many until I read all the stories. I have six machines that cover light, medium, heavy and extra heavy sewing. Starting with a Singer 29k4, Singer 31-15, Singer 111w155, Juki 563, Singer 97-10, and a Landis #3. I will finish my collection when I find either a 441 clone or an Adler 205-370, and I might through in an Adler 30-7.

[DoubleC]

Hi, my name is Mike, and I have a hundred year old sewing machine.....

HI MIKE....

Tis bad... if you add up all the money that we(me) spend on "old iron" we (I) could by now have some lovely state of the art, triple feed, walking foot machine that I still wouldn't know how to use !

Exactly, LOL. Honestly I sew most of my things on the 28 handcrank, haven't even moved up to the 15-91 beast yet, LOL

[DoubleC]

You want pictures too! aye, have a few hundred as if they were kids.

The first is Lucky I reahabbed

The next is Flora the 28

And then there's Squeaky the Sphinx

Or it would have been had the pictures loaded the way I wanted, LOL

[silverback]

Equus,exactly where did you get rid of those machines,hehe?

[DoubleC]

LOL, Peter. Just say no! Cheryl

[EquusCustomLeathers]

Silverback, my "official" story is that I gave them all to a young guy that works at a nearby military base. He wants to learn to be a sewing machine mechanic, so they're great for him to learn on. But, there is a very large closet at my house that my daughter never ventures in to..maybe all of them didn't quite make it out the door LOL

[Merl]

Tis bad... if you add up all the money that we(me) spend on "old iron" we (I) could by now have some lovely state of the art, triple feed, walking foot machine that I still wouldn't know how to use !

If you compare the number of machines I have, to the amount of money I have spent to acquire them, and then divide that by their average value......well I guess the result would show that I have still spent too much and don't yet have that tasty sounding "triple feed, walking foot (and a cylinder bed!) industrial sewing machine" that is being dangled before me like some kind of unattainable carrot.....

yes, I Know I'm just making excuses. I can't help it, it's been a long stressful day and I just NEEDED something, ya know?

I promiss, after this one I'll quit.

(oh wait, there is another machine I saw at the thrift store.....)

A day in the life of a sewing machine addict.

I do have pics but, do we want to start this?

I know of a "what kind of sewing machine do you have?" thread started on another site that went completely viral and was out to almost 4000 pages the last time I looked at few months ago.

I really keep trying to find someone that knows everything about the 29-4.

Mine works well but I still have a few questions that the op manual doesn't cover.

[Bigfoot]

I know Merl, there's always potential(and need) for one more!

I forced myself to use the scary electric "Sieko" today with the run away clutch motor over the safe "junker SD28" option but it worked out ok'ish.

Low value pouches to sew but they were all curves with stitch grooves to follow so good practice with the speed of the motor and clutch control!

What did you want to know about the 29-4? ...I may not be able to help but I will bet my house that within the next 10,000 years of people reading this thread that someone will be able to help (spooky to think that everything we write will be here forever!)

This is a link to another manual if needed..http://www.ps2netdrivers.net/parts/singer.29-4/

[leatherkind]

The problem with addiction is that you cant get rid of it. Otherwise it would not be an addiction.

You will be collecting them forever.

It is possible however to modify your behavior in a way so you and others have fun with it.

Your closet and leaving room will not be cluttered and your loved ones will be helping you to collect even more!

I know ... i know ... sounds improbable but here are some ideas:

1. If you have a welder you can assemble giant "stitching the clouds" contraption in the back yard. Then drug it to the front yard and boost tourism in your area.

2. If you do not have a welder you can paint them all in different colors and bury them half way. Call it an art and sell tickets to see it.

3. Disassemble them and give away parts to promote local steampunk club.

4. Hook them all up to one ridiculous wind mill and run em nonstop to promote renewable approach.

5. Screw them to the ceiling in the barn up side down.... I may retract that idea. too gruesome.

6. Rube Goldberg machine?

7. Put them in a pile and establish Department Of Deterioration, raise taxes hire stuff and get yourself a sweet pension.

8. ... I can not put this idea here.

9. Put each one on wheels tie them to a lawn tractor and travel.

10. Make them fly? Not sure if it is safe....

I have a few machines too.... I will donate them to first person interested to teach them tricks.

Share your ideas....

[DoubleC]

LOL, I'd love to try some of your ideas, especially about the art display, so donate away to ME. I mean how can 3 be enough? Cheryl

[Art]

Once you get past 60, the heavy iron ceases to be fun. Got rid of most of mine (well except 2 Landis 12s and a chain stitch shoe machine) and started collecting Singer 221s, 222s and 20s, just a lot easier to move. Still have all the modern machines, but they are on roller casters. Then there's the Campbell in the basement......

Art

[DoubleC]

Wouldn't have guessed you for a featherweight guy Art, but I do see your point when I lug these things around. Cheryl

[immiketoo]

So wait, whats number 8 leatherkind? I have a funny story about how I aquired my Singer treadle machine. I was conducting surveillance on a house for a drug investigation with five other guys in a van. We were in a residential area and an old couple dragged this machine out to the curb and put a "Free" sign on it. This was at about 11 AM, and towards 4:30 PM, people started coming home from work, and the woman from up the street came by, hawked the machine and began walking back to her house, where she was clearly explaining her intent to grab it to her husband.

I had already decided this was MY machine, although I couldn't do anything about it being in the van. I told the driver we needed to grab it, but he was reluctant to get out and grab it. Finally, as the woman and her husband got about 25 feet from the machine, I convinced my guys to help me grab the machine.

We back the van up, and three burly dudes in police raid gear jump out of the van. I open the back hatch, they grab the machine and toss it in the back. The driver says in his best police voice, "I'm sorry ma'am, the sewing machine is wanted for questioning."

We slam the doors and drive off to another surveillance location. I'll never forget the look of shock and surprise on the woman's face as this 30 second event unfolded. It was priceless! Needless to say, we laughed so hard we cried afterward. I still have the machine, but I don't even know if it works!

Mike

[Mike516]

I only have 4 machines left myself, although my one industrial Singer is in my shop and is going to get overhauled at some point so I can learn to use it.

I don't sew at all but I like these things a lot. Part of my business is buying at estate sales and reselling. No one around here has any interest in the old sewing machines so first, they were selling them really cheap and second, if they didn't sell they take them to the dump and they become landfill.

It pains me to think about that so I was buying them and trying to resell them to people that would appreciate them. But they don't sell real well and I started to run out of space and my wife began giving me a hard time about them.

I sold one of my ones in a ornate cabinet for 200 bucks to some guy who wanted to make it into a table or something. So I started telling all the estate selling people about that. So one by one, I'd go to their sales and they'd be like "oh yea the Singer, that's a real gem, retails for 200 bucks, but you can have it for 150." Same machine before I told them what I got for the one I had they were selling for 15 or 20 bucks lmao. So that has cured me of buying the old machines.

But now they all think I'm full of crap because one of them asked me about that one I sold for 200 bucks and I think they don't believe me now because they can't get the 150 bucks they now inflated their prices to, the greedy bast@?0$!

Saw a red eye today and was proud of myself because I didn't even ask how much they wanted. Of course my wife was there and nearly had a stroke when I opened the top of the cabinet... "Oh no you don't!!!" I think I'm cured.

[DoubleC]

I think I'm cured maybe......addictions, who knows? I actually sold a machine, a 15-91 to a fellow leather worker on here I wasn't TRYING to sell. At one time I had 5 of them here, the 15-91s because I like them so much. I rehabbed all of them but this last one, was going to sell in on eBay for parts because I didn't want to stir up all the old behaviors, LOL. I was just hoping taking it APART didn't do that. So it's sat here for months waiting on me to take it apart and sell, and someone got in touch with me to see if I had any left, read one of my 1000s of responses on the glories of the 15-91s. It was a match made in heaven. He likes to refurb them and I had one that needed it, so it's off to it's new home this week. He's going to get one dandy machine and I almost broke even on this one, LOL. I'm sending him every left over part I have. Cheryl

[Merl]

On a sewing website I frequent, the other sewing machine addicts and I kid each other about some of the things we each have done to get "just one more machine" into the house with out completely destroying marital harmony and household bliss.

My worst has been leaving the latest "new machine" in my car until everyone went to bed and then sneaking it into my basement shop and pretending it has always been there.

That worked for about a week before my (then 6 year old) youngest boy asked me where did I get this new machine?

He knew right away that it was a new one and I had to swear him to secrecy for about a month before I finely couldn't keep it quiet anymore that the youngest person in the house was the most aware of his surroundings.

One online friend hides the latest machine in the closet for a couple of months so her husband gets used to tripping over it and then gives up and asks her to please put it in the sewing room.

Another one is considering putting up shelves in the bathroom (the rest of their small house is apparently full)to display the sewing machines that they have collected/accumulated, and the thought of having to doing that has turned into a running joke on the web site.

However, I must bow to the police stakeout turned "Grab Team" incident described above.

Any professional police officer that would jeopardize an official police operation for the sake of retrieving a discarded sewing machine and right from the arms of an "innocent civilian bystander" besides, well Mike, YOU are the leader of THIS pack!!

I almost don't believe such a desperate story such as yours but, being a serious sewing machine addict myself, I fully understand the anguish that drove you to commit this act.

It's alright though, no one was seriously harmed and only a few tax dollars where misused (the three fully armed officers and an under cover vehicle, while seemingly excessive, can be overlooked considering the gravity of the situation)