My Machine Went to that Great Quilting Guild in the Sky
08-03-2011, 07:24 AM
#41
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: My Sewing Room
Posts: 1,180
Originally Posted by BellaBoo
I never felt anything when my older machines gave up the ghost. I just thought yippee! room for another one! I have several vintage Singers so I always have a working machine on hand.
I don't know of any new machine that has metal gears for under $1000. ?
I don't know of any new machine that has metal gears for under $1000. ?
08-03-2011, 07:25 AM
#42
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: near Peoria Illinois
Posts: 1,638
Originally Posted by BuzzinBumble
Thank you all of you for your funny, commiserating, and wise comments and for the great stories you shared. I had quite a few laughs and am still smiling at the things you all wrote.
I've spent hours reading through the board about sewing machines. It is helping me form what i'd like to do in my mind. There are so many plusses to a good vintage sewing machine and i am someone who loves and appreciates connections to the past. I know I would love a vintage machine. But on the other hand... the allure of a new model with fancy stitch capabilities is a draw too. So many of you said things about the importance of having a back up machine, which I sure realized when mine died in mid project.
So I am thinking...why not both? Vintage & New?
We have sewing machine shop in the area that is offering me a deal on a Baby Lock Tempo floor model for half price and cleaned and tuned with the full warranty. It has many of the handy dandy quilting features i was hoping for... such as needle up/down, drop feeds, quilting feet, speed control, the option of starting and stopping with a push button, see through bobbin case (I hate running out of thread in the middle of a continuous line.) Not to mention fancy pants stitching. So I'm going to go for it.
But on the vintage side, I'd really like your advice. I'd like to find an electric machine in perfect working order and good condition, maybe from the 1950's. Jacquie mentioned how she likes the Singer 301 long bed. And Miriam recommended the Singer 403 with disks. (Thanks for those recommendations!) I started looking for those on eBay and did indeed find some good ones. Of course it depends on condition and whether or not I will need to be taking it to a dealer when it arrives... but I'm not sure what a reasonable price range is.
I was wondering: Do any more of you have opinions on your favorite vintage machines that you would like to share? And do only some vintage machines have the capacity for free motion quilting? (I'm just learning to do that.) On a vintage machine, is it merely a matter of being able to drop the feed dogs?
I'd appreciate any insights you might have!
I've spent hours reading through the board about sewing machines. It is helping me form what i'd like to do in my mind. There are so many plusses to a good vintage sewing machine and i am someone who loves and appreciates connections to the past. I know I would love a vintage machine. But on the other hand... the allure of a new model with fancy stitch capabilities is a draw too. So many of you said things about the importance of having a back up machine, which I sure realized when mine died in mid project.
So I am thinking...why not both? Vintage & New?
We have sewing machine shop in the area that is offering me a deal on a Baby Lock Tempo floor model for half price and cleaned and tuned with the full warranty. It has many of the handy dandy quilting features i was hoping for... such as needle up/down, drop feeds, quilting feet, speed control, the option of starting and stopping with a push button, see through bobbin case (I hate running out of thread in the middle of a continuous line.) Not to mention fancy pants stitching. So I'm going to go for it.
But on the vintage side, I'd really like your advice. I'd like to find an electric machine in perfect working order and good condition, maybe from the 1950's. Jacquie mentioned how she likes the Singer 301 long bed. And Miriam recommended the Singer 403 with disks. (Thanks for those recommendations!) I started looking for those on eBay and did indeed find some good ones. Of course it depends on condition and whether or not I will need to be taking it to a dealer when it arrives... but I'm not sure what a reasonable price range is.
I was wondering: Do any more of you have opinions on your favorite vintage machines that you would like to share? And do only some vintage machines have the capacity for free motion quilting? (I'm just learning to do that.) On a vintage machine, is it merely a matter of being able to drop the feed dogs?
I'd appreciate any insights you might have!
08-03-2011, 07:28 AM
#43
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SoCal
Posts: 12,028
Originally Posted by BuzzinBumble
I was wondering: Do any more of you have opinions on your favorite vintage machines that you would like to share? And do only some vintage machines have the capacity for free motion quilting? (I'm just learning to do that.) On a vintage machine, is it merely a matter of being able to drop the feed dogs?
I'd appreciate any insights you might have!
I'd appreciate any insights you might have!
singer 201, singer 15-91, singer 401 for piecing and quilting.
The 401 has all kinds of stitches if you have the cams.
I like the vintage Bernina 830. You can lift and move it and is great for piecing. It is supposed to free motion wonderfully. I think the troath opening is a bit small for that and I would grab one of the Singers.
Have fun picking your machines. Remember many are very heavy so you might need something for taking along too.
401
[ATTACH=CONFIG]235785[/ATTACH]
201
[ATTACH=CONFIG]235786[/ATTACH]
301
[ATTACH=CONFIG]235787[/ATTACH]
08-03-2011, 07:50 AM
#45
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
Originally Posted by BuzzinBumble
Thank you all of you for your funny, commiserating, and wise comments and for the great stories you shared. I had quite a few laughs and am still smiling at the things you all wrote.
I've spent hours reading through the board about sewing machines. It is helping me form what i'd like to do in my mind. There are so many plusses to a good vintage sewing machine and i am someone who loves and appreciates connections to the past. I know I would love a vintage machine. But on the other hand... the allure of a new model with fancy stitch capabilities is a draw too. So many of you said things about the importance of having a back up machine, which I sure realized when mine died in mid project.
So I am thinking...why not both? Vintage & New?
We have sewing machine shop in the area that is offering me a deal on a Baby Lock Tempo floor model for half price and cleaned and tuned with the full warranty. It has many of the handy dandy quilting features i was hoping for... such as needle up/down, drop feeds, quilting feet, speed control, the option of starting and stopping with a push button, see through bobbin case (I hate running out of thread in the middle of a continuous line.) Not to mention fancy pants stitching. So I'm going to go for it.
But on the vintage side, I'd really like your advice. I'd like to find an electric machine in perfect working order and good condition, maybe from the 1950's. Jacquie mentioned how she likes the Singer 301 long bed. And Miriam recommended the Singer 403 with disks. (Thanks for those recommendations!) I started looking for those on eBay and did indeed find some good ones. Of course it depends on condition and whether or not I will need to be taking it to a dealer when it arrives... but I'm not sure what a reasonable price range is.
I was wondering: Do any more of you have opinions on your favorite vintage machines that you would like to share? And do only some vintage machines have the capacity for free motion quilting? (I'm just learning to do that.) On a vintage machine, is it merely a matter of being able to drop the feed dogs?
I'd appreciate any insights you might have!
I've spent hours reading through the board about sewing machines. It is helping me form what i'd like to do in my mind. There are so many plusses to a good vintage sewing machine and i am someone who loves and appreciates connections to the past. I know I would love a vintage machine. But on the other hand... the allure of a new model with fancy stitch capabilities is a draw too. So many of you said things about the importance of having a back up machine, which I sure realized when mine died in mid project.
So I am thinking...why not both? Vintage & New?
We have sewing machine shop in the area that is offering me a deal on a Baby Lock Tempo floor model for half price and cleaned and tuned with the full warranty. It has many of the handy dandy quilting features i was hoping for... such as needle up/down, drop feeds, quilting feet, speed control, the option of starting and stopping with a push button, see through bobbin case (I hate running out of thread in the middle of a continuous line.) Not to mention fancy pants stitching. So I'm going to go for it.
But on the vintage side, I'd really like your advice. I'd like to find an electric machine in perfect working order and good condition, maybe from the 1950's. Jacquie mentioned how she likes the Singer 301 long bed. And Miriam recommended the Singer 403 with disks. (Thanks for those recommendations!) I started looking for those on eBay and did indeed find some good ones. Of course it depends on condition and whether or not I will need to be taking it to a dealer when it arrives... but I'm not sure what a reasonable price range is.
I was wondering: Do any more of you have opinions on your favorite vintage machines that you would like to share? And do only some vintage machines have the capacity for free motion quilting? (I'm just learning to do that.) On a vintage machine, is it merely a matter of being able to drop the feed dogs?
I'd appreciate any insights you might have!
08-03-2011, 07:52 AM
#46
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
Originally Posted by jad1044
I don't know much about new sewing machines, but somehow wonder if there is such a thing as a machine without plastic gears! I'd love to know too - my newest one is plastic! ick!!
08-03-2011, 08:43 AM
#47
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Beaver PA USA
Posts: 1,656
Good luck finding a machine without plastic gears.... they don't make any such thing anymore, do they? That's why so many of us have, or are going to, go back to the really old machines with the metal gears.
08-03-2011, 10:37 AM
#50
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: North Carolina - But otherwise, NOTW
Posts: 7,940
Get a vintage machine....they have all steel mechanicals and will outlive all of us on this board!! LOL I have a 60 year old Singer that sews like a champ, and she has seen hard use in her life!! Mine is a 301, and the feed dogs drop to do FMQ if I want. I also have a Featherweight, a 99 and a 66. I don't think I will ever spend money on a new plastic machine again. I don't use decorative stitches enough to justify it.
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