Saturday 27 September 2014

Singer 12 Mother of Pearl

This is the most beautiful sewing machine I've ever seen. I bought it because it was obviously a stunning piece. The needles will be a bit of a problem, though. Not all that many Singer 12s being used these days, and they stopped making them quite a while ago (1903). I'm surprised they were made past 1890 actually. My machine was made in 1885. The stand is original and has 1st May 1885 cast into it.










In reality it's even more beautiful than this. The shimmering light on the mother of pearl is something special.
If I get some needles for it I'll post where I got them.
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4 comments:

  1. Unknown28 September 2014 at 15:28

    That is so gorgeous Mike, great find.

    Cari

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    1. Mike Williams28 September 2014 at 16:17

      Thanks Cari, I'm investigating a source for needles now. The one that was in it was broken so I can't even test sew.

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  2. Julie B24 May 2016 at 09:41

    Hi Mike what sort of needle does it take I and heaps of singer needles with round heads,

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    1. Mike Williams24 May 2016 at 09:56

      Hi Julie. I have the needles now. They're called 12x1 by Singer and are a thinner and longer version of an industrial (16x231) needle. They haven't been manufactured for decades so you can only buy them second hand. Schmetz have offered to make them if you order a minimum of 10,000 of a single size/point. I know a lot of people with these who would probably order maybe 30 of each size but not enough.

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