Didn't notice - at first - that this was written by a male - - - - - - - -

:D
I feel like a middle school boy giggling...

Someone asked me why I kept fixing my sewing machine -- without realizing I had 15 -- and then asked the ultimate, "Why don't you get a new one?" That was a day after fighting with an old treadle and I was a bit tired and grumpy because things weren't going well. I wasn't too polite when I told her that I did have newer ones -- one was from 1919, 1928, 1940, 1948, 1950, 3 from 1960's and even some newer than that. She quit asking me questions or making comments.

LOL, Who, me brag? Well once in while when I really do get something right. :D
Like my 66-18, my wife is using right now. She says it's quieter than her Bernina 930, and why don't they make ZZ machines that quiet?

Joe

Um ..... is that a bad thing, being a male, and liking to sew?


My wife's sitting right here laughing too.

Joe

welp. joe I'm like you. I sew also, my son sew's one of my life long male friends makes his living sewing he started at 14 and is now 57, Opp's his son sews... it's was as much a part of life as having a lawn mower..

I have a Frister and Rossman handcrank made in Berlin in the 1920's. It is gorgeous with mother of pearl snowflake inlays. But the beauty of it is that every stitch is precise and perfect. Leave it to the inept to make such statements!

I didn't start out collecting machines...or rather "to collect" machines. When I was growing up my mother made all my dresses, and all my costumes. I never owned a storebought dress until I was in high school, and she continued to make all the costumes I wore until I was an adult (I literally grew up on the stage as a singer/dancer/actress) and they were all made on the Singer 301 I now have. She got a new singer in the 80s and then got a Bernina in the late 90s. As she got new machines she passed down the older ones to me, simply because she didn't have any place to keep them. When I had my first daughter in 1998 I self-taught myself quilting on that 80s singer. Since that time I also acquired my grandmother's rocketeer 500A, and the Bernina when she upgraded to a Designer I. I just keep taking the hand me downs and then I got really interested in finding a treadle to learn on after hearing people rave about sewing on them. I swear old machines are like crack must be to an addict. You can't stop once you get just one! People need to quit selling them for such steals...I'm so glad I'm married to someone who doesn't have a problem with my newest addiction. Considering that I've acquired 7 of my 15 machines in the last 45 days...and I'll be picking up another one tomorrow!

I have to agree with all of you..... older is better. I'm older now, and I'm definately better!! I have a fancy Viking (it was a hand-me-down from a friend getting a newer, fancier one), but I'm finding a few older ones that I love as well. I don't have a lot but the ones I've gotten I've fallen in love with. I've been a little selective because I'm just afraid I won't be able to fix some of the ones I see but I'm acquiring a few... and I'm learning. Next week is my birthday and I've set up an appointment to check out a couple that will probably come home with me..... a 99K and a 101. I hope they are what the seller says they are..... I'll let you all know. I think it's a crime that people don't know how to do much these days..... sewing, changing a flat, replacing a heating element in the oven. Everyone thinks you have to hire someone to do everything.... it's no wonder we are in the economic condition we're in!