Another reason to watch this podcast episode is to see me cleaning my 100+ year old Singer 27 treadle base. I was inspired to learn more about treadle machines while writing about the Grandmother character in my upcoming fiction novel Mally the Maker.
This reminded me of my grandma and her Singer treadle and before
you know it, I was looking to buy one!
I've ended up with two treadles in the past two months and now I'm working on restoring a Singer 12 and Singer 27.
Thankfully the 27 is in great shape because I purchased it from a woman in my area who had kept it in her family for at least three generations. The irons are in great shape and have terrific movement, but they were a bit dirty and needed a good scrubbing.
Did you
know you can take the irons off a treadle cabinet with just four screws? By removing the cabinet, it's so much easier to clean all the nooks and crannies of the cast iron and oil the machine so it's back in perfect working condition.
Be looking forward to next week's podcast episode with Cheryl Warren which will be all about collecting and preserving vintage sewing machines.
Do you remember your grandmother or great grandmother sewing on
a treadle machine? Please reply to this newsletter and share your story. I would love to hear from you and even feature a few of the best stories in next week's treadle themed newsletter!