On a clearing purge recently I took out my original trusty 1960s Singer sewing machine from the bottom of the wardrobe. I bought it in about 1962s as a demonstration model from a city shop, so I saved a bit of money from my meagre pay packet.
It was a very innovative machine for its day, being (I think) the very first free-arm sewing machine made. It could do all sorts of amazing stitch patterns with the addition of plastic cams to the front of the machine. You can see the black disc behind the fly wheel in the photo below.
The machine can do free- motion stitching with the addition of a covered throat plate to eliminate the drag of the feed-dogs, and as with most of the old Singer machines it came with a ruffler and various other specialised feet.
With the cams added it could so many decorative patterns as evidenced by the pages of patterns shown in the booklet. This is just one page spread of many!
This is the box of cams, all present and correct, a shame that one corner of the original box has been broken.
I had thought to sell this machine, but I really don't think that I can part with it. So many memories of things sewn with it, from my wedding dress, childrens' clothes and household items such as curtains, cushions and bedspreads to butterfly nets and shade cloths.
No comments:
Post a Comment