Vintage Sewing Machine Websites & Information Sources

Vintage Sewing Machines can become a fun hobby, even an addictive one! You don't have to be a mechanic, or a sewing expert, to enjoy finding, cleaning up, servicing & repairing vintage sewing machines, & learning how they work, & the many enjoyable, creative ways they can be used.

Here are several websites I like to use to research sewing machine information-

Needlebar.org is a good website, but for some reason, blogspot, and Google are unable to find it, even when copied directly from the site, itself, so you may need to do a search for it. Some of Needlebars links no longer work, but if you are able to get it to load, they are one of the early internet "pioneer" old sewing machine information collector resource sites, and have good information, about many old machines. Unfortunately, just like any successful web page, or site, spammers and phishing scumbags target  them, hoping to hijack their success, for dishonesty, like I've had happen in this blogs comments, so I had to shut that off, to prevent being labeled a dangerous site.

http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/model-list/classes-1-99.html

http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_machines/

http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/antiques/antiqueshome/

MANUALS LIBRARY SEWING MACHINE MANUALS

https://www.quiltingroomwithmel.com/2017/03/replacing-treadle-sewing-machine-belts.html

http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachineshop/index.html

http://w.treadleon.net/fleamarket/events.htm

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageSewingMachines

http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/p/resources-for-sewing-machine-repair.html

http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/

Sewing Machine Motor overhaul tutorial

http://www.industrialsewmachine.com/

http://www.singeronline.com/freehelpguides.html

http://mivintagesewingmachines.blogspot.com/2012/02/kenmore-117841.html

http://industrialsewingmachineman.com/parts/list.asp?subcat=All&c

at=&brand=&keywrd=&partnumber=&page=96
http://possumjimandelizabeth.com/xhtml/collections.html
http://possumjimandelizabeth.com/xhtml/collect_sewing_machines.html


http://possumjimandelizabeth.com/xhtml/collect_sewing_sing319.html

https://www.stillstitching.com/2019/04/collecting-vintage-sewing-machines.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR0dKRP7KNWp-ActB1V1pQ4QTf16IlPNY09vc9FFwLoN9w-X2B55nvIKmWk

 Above, Bernina 830 darning with the Bernina darning ring, which attaches to the free arm.

 Above, cleaning & servicing a vintage Lavender Sears Kenmore, known as the Lady Kenmore.

 Lady Kenmore motor during service... (above)

 Above, Singer 15-91, my first vintage straight stitch Singer Sewing Machine, with the potted motor. At a garage sale, the lady BEGGED us to buy it, finally convincing us, for $20. It is a FANTASTIC machine, & started our vintage sewing machine craze, these treasures need SAVED! They are so much BETTER than the new machines made today. Get a new machine for quick buttonholes, but for a better buttonhole, get one of these old straight stitch sewing machines, & the old Singer metal buttonholer, with the metal buttonhole cams, they do a much better job, though it may take a little longer to set the machine up to sew the buttonholes.

Singer 101 sewing machine, note the oil wicks, built into the bed of the machine, this is the only Singer Sewing machine with the removable bed plate. It was full of lint, had a newly replaced "octopus" wick, & new wiring, but otherwise, in GREAT shape! It was $20 on Craigslist, but my husband & I had to drive an hour & a half to get it. It was almost frozen up, due to not being used for so long, but is an absolutely incredible sewing machine!

The internet has made researching the information about your specific sewing machine model, quick & easy, with just a few key words. Some manufacturers have their own websites, but because of political & financial changes, many of them have been sold, gone bankrupt, or been gobbled up by another company, it can be challenging to find information on some of the less common machines, but somewhere, you can find the information you need, to fix, thread, & sew with your vintage sewing machine, whether you love the antique Vibrating Shuttle Treadle Sewing Machines, other treadle machines, hand crank machines, or electric sewing machines!


Above, Singer 15-88, treadle sewing machine, has a motor added, but I put a treadle belt on, I enjoy treadling, even more than I like sewing with a motor!






Japanese manufactured, badged class 15 clone. You will find this design of machine, throughout the world, with hundreds of different names "badged" on them. They are excellent machines, the advantage of these badged versions, is they often have the feed dog control button, on the front of the machine bed, to adjust for various fabric types, silk, heavy fabrics, or embroidery & darning. The early Singer class 15 sewing machines do not have this feature, but they do have adjustable presser foot pressure, which essentially does the same thing, but you have to know how to adjust it, for the various weights of fabrics.

Sewing tables are absolutely FANTASTIC! In this photo, my sewing tables are messy, because I both sew, & work on machines, but I'm super slow, & take forever, due to health problems. The table on the left, in the photo above, has a pop up serger table, tucked under the left side, it comes out forward, & springs up to table height, then locks in, so the sewing surface is in an L shape, with the serger to your left, & the electric elevator machine lift, on the right side. Note the Bernina 830 is lowered into the table, & a top put on, so I could service a friend's Viking Husqvarna sewing machine, which sits on top, in the photo. To the right, the front of the cabinet door, has pattern, thread, scissors & snip storage, as well as thread & bobbin organizers. This door closes, to hide the sewing machine, a matching door is outside the left of the photo, it closes in front of the serger & the 2 drawers below it.

The cabinet in the corner, is actually a rolling book cart, & the table to the right is the Pfaff California sewing table, with a Pfaff 260 sewing machine in it. It has 4 drawers on the right side of the machine, & 4 shelves, hidden behind a faux 4 drawer cupboard door. The table sides fold back in, when the machine is put away. 

Pfaff California style sewing machine table, with storage chair. It closes to look like a solid cabinet.

The center front, has an opening on the left, to reach in for changing the bobbin, essential when using the flatbed Pfaff sewing machines, with the very heavy embroidery unit on top. The actual chair for this table is missing, I paid $15 for the table, & $15 for the machine, at Goodwill. The dingdongs had separated the two, left the feet in the table, but broke the handwheel, when removing the sewing machine from the table, to sell it separately, because it turned out to be way heavier than they ever expected! Since it still worked, I didn't care, & use it anyway! When the table's matching chair is with it, it looks gorgeous, it appears to be more cupboards & drawers, but actually is a sewing chair, with drawers, and/or a lift up seat, to store more sewing items!

http://mysewingmachineaddiction.blogspot.com/p/information-sources.html

If you love vintage sewing machines, & use Facebook, one of my online sewing friends, is pulling together a sewing machine museum, where people can not only learn about sewing machines & sewing history, but where they & their friends can actually go & USE the sewing machines, to sew, quilt, & create items! It is located in Tulsa Oklahoma, if you go to Facebook, & do a search for Wk Binger, on Facebook, you can friend him, & share vintage sewing machine information with our informal group of Your Vintage Sewing Museum, YVSM.

HAPPY SEWING & SEWING MACHINE SAVING!