I heart my new/old Singer

Back in June I blogged about the discovery of my MIL's Singer 306k hidden deep in her garage. My MIL was given it by her mother here in Brisbane in 1954 when she was fifteen. It was made in the Singer factory in Clydebank, Glasgow in Scotland. She has very generously passed it on to me.

I believe Sewco don't generally recondition old machines as they take so much time. However their sewing machine technician Gareth kindly agreed to bring mine up to working order, for which I am so grateful! It was a big job, with his repair report listing the following work performed:

Dismantle complete machine, remove all corrosion from moving parts and main shafts, unseize stitch length and feed mechanisms, reassemble hook unit, service, retime and retension throughout, reset timings, check, clean, oil and retest, sew test/run.

We hadn't been able to find the accessories which came with it including the foot pedal but Gareth was kindly able to source me one.

I picked it up from Sewco back in October in all it's shining glory. The transformation really was stunning.

I was a bit daunted to jump in! So first I downloaded a copy of it's manual, cleaned up it's matching table and got some spare needles and bobbins.



I finally took it for a test run last weekend, making a Christmas tree skirt out of a panel from Spotlight.



I am just in LOVE with the machine's stitch, it's so straight and perfect. The sound of the motor is amazing.





I can't wait to use this beautiful machine some more.

Now I've got the bug for old machines, I've got my heart set on getting a Singer treadle. I would love this model. The beautiful artwork reminds me of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's designs (one of my favourite artists). Everyone needs to collect something, right?! Please Santa, I've been so good this year!!!!