The Hybrid Shuttle

Every now and again I get messages from people who need help with their vintage machines. Last week I had a message from a gentleman in Germany who has a Little Vesta minus its shuttle, and he needs to know what he should look for.

This shuttle is from my Little Vesta sewing machine.  The shuttle for my Vesta Transverse Shuttle is identical to this one, and instructions for threading are shown in the Vesta manual.

It is known as a hybrid shuttle, because it is a later development of the boat shuttle, threading in exactly the same way as a shuttle for a vibrating shuttle machine.

It is easy to recognise by its smooth flat side.

This particular shuttle is 4.8 centimetres long and about 1.1 centimetres across (or, for those like me who have a deep seated affection for imperial measurements, one and seven eighths of an inch by seven sixteenths of an inch - more or less).  It is much shorter than the hybrid shuttle for the Frister and Rossmann machines, which are much larger machines.

The first place I always look for bits and pieces for old sewing machines is Helen Howes's excellent website.  She knows more about machines than I ever will.