Or just double the trouble?
I have a Singer model 66, that I use regularly. It is a lovely machine, but it’s hand-cranked and so a bit awkward for a clumsy git like me. I really need both hands to steer the fabric through the machine.
A treadle cabinet seemed like an interesting solution. Certainly more appropriate than sticking an electric motor on it.
So for a while, I’ve been looking for one to come up nearby at the right price.
Then this appeared on a Local For Sale group on Facebook.
The cabinet looked OK in the photos, and I was happy with the price it was offered at, even without the green electric machine fastened to it. That would just be a bonus.
My plan was to stick the green thing straight on Ebay, and so hopefully, almost end up with the cabinet for free.
I already have a modern, electric Singer, with all the good and bad things that go with owning a modern, electric Singer. So I didn’t need another machine.
No, really, I didn’t...
The seller turned out to be a charming lady, who had bought the whole set-up on a whim, and had never even tried to use it.
Besides, she had far too many other machines, and now wanted the space in her sewing room back. Hence the low price.
The cabinet itself was a bit tattier than the pictures suggest, but I was buying it for practicality, not to admire it’s beauty.
There were a couple of problems I could see with the treadle mechanism itself. The Pitman link was missing, as was the skirt guard and the little de-railing mechanism that pushes the belt off the flywheel when you want to fold the machine away.
It was still worth the asking price, even with the missing bits.
The guard was no problem, I don’t wear voluminous crinoline skirts when I sew, (or at any other time, honestly...) so getting my clothes tangled in the belt wasn’t really going to be an issue.
And I’m quite capable of de-railing a belt by hand, so I wouldn’t miss that gadget either.
That Pitman link though.
It’s the rod that connects the treadle plate to the flywheel, and without it the thing obviously won’t work.
Still, I’m a mechanical engineer by trade, so making a replacement was something I could do.
Buying a new leather drive belt, during the Christmas / Covid Lockdown period, turned out to be more of a challenge, but soon enough it was my eager little hands, and it was time to fit it all together.
I suppose it says something about the nature of the old Singer company that those little lollypop-shaped hinges that allow the machine to fold down into the cabinet, fitted perfectly into the mounting holes in the 66, which was built in 1917, as well as the green machine, which dates to the mid 1960’s, and that the mounting center spacing in the cabinet had clearly never varied in all those years either, as everything lined up perfectly.
The cabinet’s actual date is a bit of a mystery, could be anywhere from the 1920’s to the early 40’s. Seems that once they had a successful design they tended to stick with it.
Anyway, historical research aside, how does it sew?
Like this…
“Treadle technique” takes a bit of getting used to, but once you can get the thing to start in the right direction every time, and not just snap the needle thread by going backwards, it’s a delight to use.
Quiet, perfectly controlled sewing speed, and both hands free to turn the corners.
Really enjoying it so far.
And as for the Green Meany ?
I’ll give you a clue.
It's never made it onto Ebay.
Updates to follow.