a vintage machine

I am in awe, wow!  The International Sewing Machine Collector Society is an incredible resource for old sewing machines, and has scanned and put online many old manuals.

Here is the link to the beautifully illustrated and written Singer Sewing Skills Reference Book. Scrolling through, I am dumbfounded by the fascinating attachments that were cleverly engineered to create hems, various edges, complex stitches, bindings, piping, tucks, darts, ruffles, seams, braids, shirrs. Perhaps it is not lamentable to have some of the fashion styles go away, however, the minds who designed such beautiful machines and brilliant attachments that have lasted decades, the factories which made these machines–are these lost forever, never to return?

For amusement: how to open the domed lid (“the doomed lid”). It is amazing what helpful things good people put online to advise and guide others. It was this post that taught me how to open Richard Hudson’s 1948 antique sewing machine cover. The machine seems to run beautifully, the artfully crafted steel attachments are intact.

With the help of the International Sewing Machine Collector Society, there is a good chance Mr. Hudson can sew his sails for schooner Issuma. She will look smart leaving Jersey City to Toronto under sail with perfectly ruffled leeches and a smock tucked fisherman.