@steve_h Sadly, we don't have Harbour Frieght over here.

However, last year I had some decorating to do, and bought a couple of canvas drop sheets from a local DIY chain.

A bit more expensive than H F price, but even at that, as you say, it's an awful lot of pretty usable fabric for not very much money.

To be honest, I never really thought about re-purporsing it into anything else.

But now you've gone and given me the idea... :thinking:

@Sara-S This was the first one.  https://thesewingplace.org.uk/index.php/topic,8956.msg150644.html#msg150644

The second one got blagged by a friend, before I could get a picture.

This is number three.
Because I ride a fairly old, and notoriously unreliable, motorcycle I like to have a few tools with me.




It's pretty crudely sown I'll admit, but better than having all the stuff rattling about loose in the bottom of the saddlebag.

That's great @Mick

....How come it's not reversed though? Did the rust go all the way through the fabric?

No, but the cuts go all the way through the sign.
So by putting it with the "wrong" side down on the fabric, the dyed image comes out the right way round.

Yeah, I know, and it took me two goes to get it right. Good job I had a few spare napkins...

My entry is finished, just got to find time to sort the photos out.

@Catllar  Muay Thai fighter are the best there are. Most sign up to a training school around six years old, and then devote the rest of their life to the sport. Very few westerners have ever been able to compete on their terms.

I mostly fought in a style known as K1. The Thai would probably consider it a bit "girly", as we weren't allowed to break each others legs. 

Your User Name and Entry Number
Mick’s one and only entry for the competition.

What is it and for whom.
A sleeveless posing training hoodie for me.

Before old age, arthritis, and general decrepitude got the better of me, I was a keen kickboxer
and sometimes, cage fighter.
Normal gymwear in those days was always a sleeveless hoodie, as they keep your torso and neck muscles warm without restricting your arm movement.
I’m not allowed to fight any more, and got rid of most of my old training gear a while ago, but I still work out occasionally, and thought there was no harm in re-living the glory days a little.

Fabric and Pattern/instructions used.
Fabric is some “Heavy-Duty Sweatshirt Fleece” and matching Stretch Cuffing. Both from Ebay.
Pattern was a free download from this lovely lady’s site.
https://mellysews.com/sewing-projects/
Came as a 15 page A4 print out, which worked perfectly through Adobe software. The calibration scale was spot on, without correction, and all the lines matched up between sheets with no errors or steps. (Huge sigh of relief).
Back and front pieces were very similar, with just differences in the neckline shape, and were overlayed on the print out. So I traced the front onto a separate sheet, just to make laying out on the fabric a bit easier.
The site also includes an idiot’s guide video on sewing the thing. Handy for me, that.



A short description on how you made it.
Didn’t need the sleeves, obviously, so didn’t make them. Just did some short cuffs around the arm-holes.

Any problems overcome etc.
Oh my goodness, isn’t stretchy fabric fun stuff to sew on a vintage sewing machine…

The cabinet looks too utilitarian to be Art Deco to me (a better pic of the handle could help) might be 40's ???

Now that I've had time for a closer look at the cabinet itself, @Iminei the more I think you are right.

This one is made from veneered blockboard, and held together by heavy steel knock-down fittings. Earlier cabinets would probably have been solid hardwood, and used traditional joinery.

Also, the hardware is fastened with cross-head screws. These weren't invented until the early 1930's, and not widely used until much later in that decade.

So yes, your "stylistic" estimate of the 1940's is probably pretty much spot on.

 :thumbsup:

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.