who's got the oldest singer sewing machine on here??

[MuddyWitch]

The machine I use most is my Singer foot treadle, but I have a lovely old Jones handwound that gets used occasionally as well. Not sure that really helps you, though!

MW

[sleepyowl]

very much appeals to the steam punk side of me

don't know about that genre! intriguing!
check out the machine's serial number on the link above if you are interested in dating it owlie.

Steam punk is an interesting genre if romance is not the key objective in the novel

[red]

I love hand crank machines - I have three - one inherited from my gran, and I have a Jones pedal machine

my oldest singer is from 1892


still works fine - I bought it from the charity shop for £10.
Imagine it was in use through 2 world wars, probably made a few wedding dresses.. they were definitely built to last!

[safronsue]

that's the oldest lady, hats off to her! lovely

[fruitcake]

Oh my goodness- it looks like mine could be 1902. It's electronic though so I'm well surprised. I will have to recheck - I thinks it's like yvette's and 1930s sounds more like it.
My mum has just downsized and has let me have her singer which was I believe, her mothers before that but given my gran was born in 1901 it must've had owners before then. Will have to check with my mum and see if she knows the history. It's a fabulous machine and I have coveted it for years. I have had my grans 'new' machine since the early 90's and she'd had it for 20 years before that, lol. When I got it serviced one time the guy asked why I had industrial needles in it - cos I kept breaking them obviously - he advised I use an older machine - I was trying to ram boat lining through it at the time, oops. This machine has lots of fancy embroidery feet and attachments etc but needless to say, they are totally wasted on me.

[the.fee.fairy]

Agnes (pink) is from 1953 and Morag (black, treadle/electric) is from 1952.

I love my old singers, they just have something about them. Agnes has the most beautiful sound, she purrs through fabric. Morag's got to be serviced and have her power lead and belt replaced before I use her. She's got an original latex power lead, so I daren't try it!

Both of them came from freecycle. Agnes was just given away from some random person with no history, and Morag came from a really sweet old man who'd made a custom cabinet for her (he gave me that too). his wife had used her to make all the children's clothes, curtains, linens etc. for their house. After she died, he kept it for a while and then gave it to me because 'you said you would love her forever and she needs a good home'. I do love her very very much!

I did have a 1910 Vesta, and it was apparently one that had been a family heirloom, because it had a special pattern painted on it that the sewing machine lady had never seen before. It was hand-crank and had been serviced, but I just couldn't get on with it properly, so I freecycled it.

[fruitcake]

Agnes (pink) is from 1953 and Morag (black, treadle/electric) is from 1952.

Love their names, how did they get them?

[wabbit955]

will have to go look not used my old singer in the last 20 years
was given to me by a friend that was clearing out her grand mother house
i thought i might like it

[thethriftysquirrels]

I have quie a few old Singers here as brian (husband!) is just a little bit obsessed with saving them from second hand shops, charity shops and antiques centres and restoring them.

We have 11 at the moment - he bought another one just yesterday - a 1948 99k electric model.
The oldest one we have is a 1902 model 28 long bobbin in a 'coffin top' wooden case but my favourites are my 1954 model 201k electric. It was known as the dressmaker's sewing machine, its stitch is absolutely perfect. (I have put a picture on my blog if anyone would like to see it!!)

My other favourite is my 1951 221k featherweight. this tiny machine is a little gem. They are not quite so easy to find but we only paid £20 for it, in fact we have never paid more than £25 for any of them!

[the.fee.fairy]

Agnes (pink) is from 1953 and Morag (black, treadle/electric) is from 1952.

Love their names, how did they get them?

Well...They're both old ladies, and they were both made in Edinburgh, so they just seemed to acquire traditionally old lady scottish names.

I always saw the name Agnes as being a strong willed, independent, if a little grumpy old lady name, and that suits Agnes very well.

Morag may have her name changed when i eventually get to use her (after servicing and replacement leads/belts). It's a temporary name until i can work out what her name should be!