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Thursday, 2 May 2013

Setting the Needle in Vintage Sewing Machines that take a Standard Needle


Suddenly (I hardly dare say this in case I jinx it) the weather is glorious. Months and months of cloud have given way to a few days of clear skies, which means it is the ideal weather for making videos.  I spent a large chunk of yesterday dragging machines into the kitchen to make a visual guide on setting and threading the needle the right way.  It's all about making sure that the needle makes the loop in the right place, which depends on the stitch-making mechanism.  With long bobbin machines the shuttle has to pass though the loop: with round bobbin machines the loop is picked up by a hook and taken around the bobbin.



So here is the latest offering.  For the keen and eagle-eyed, the machines shown, in order of appearance, are:-

1897 Singer 28K
1930s Frister and Rossmann Transverse Shuttle Model D
1949 Singer 15K
1927 Singer 99K
1936 Singer 201K

I also have to take advantage of this weather by catching up on over a year's neglect of the allotment, waging war on dandelions, nettles, brambles, bindweed and couch grass.  If you spot grubby fingernails on videos, you will know why.

2 comments:

  1. The needles I saw in the video looked longer than a standard modern needle. (1 3/4" compared to 1 1/2") Is the longer needle needed for the 127 machine? I have not successfully made a stitch with my machine yet. I have a modern shorter needle in it.

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    1. The needles you saw in the video were all standard modern needles. That is the whole point of the video.

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