Which way does my needle go in? Which way do I thread it?

If you're something of a vintage sewing machine aficionado (hoarder) you may occasionally experience some confusion when you go to change the needle or just thread it.

Luckily there are two rules that are always true with sewing machines, but you have to look closely to check the first one.

Simple rule #1: The flat side is nearest the hook.

This one requires you to look at which side of the needle the hook is on. In Singer 66 and 99 the hook race is very large, and the hook actually passes the needle on the outside. That is, the hook is to the right of the needle. Following simple rule #1, that means we have the flat on the right.

Models 66 and 99, the hook is to the right,
so the flat is too.

Model 201, smaller race means the hook
is on the left, so the flat is too.

Simple rule #2: Thread also goes toward the hook

That means the thread always exits the needle on the hook side.

Vertical bobbin machines are a bit harder to see, but as soon as you see the hook, you know how to put in the needle and how to thread it. This will maybe save you a lot of time looking for manuals.

A Pack of Jeans that never runs out

Good Jeans need never die

I went to Sydney three years ago for the '50s fair and did some vintage shopping that weekend. Found a pair of 501s made in Australia, presumably in the 1980s and the tag inside said "Women's". Since I'd already tried them on and they were really comfortable I bought them.
Now the poor old things were on their last legs (pun intended), so what do I do? Cry about it or sew a pair exactly the same but without the rips?

Poor old things

During the week I went to my fabric shop and bought 2 metres of heavy (210 gsm) black drill. During the '80s when these jeans were available the black ones looked really good too.

Step 1: Making the pattern

This was really easy. No paper involved here, just the jeans and pair of snips. Undid all the stitching in one side of the garment. I chose the right side because of the change pocket. The rivets will stop you separating the whole thing, so cut around them. Don't attempt to remove the rivets, the fabric will rip before they come off. There is a lot of chain stitching in jeans, and there's a trick to undoing this. I've never been great at it but it's all one thread so in theory if you snip a particular thread at a particular end of a seam, you will be able to pull it and undo everything in seconds. I scored a few times but it took a while.
The reason for only unpicking one side should be obvious: You need a finished garment to see how it goes back together. Also, take loads of pictures. Every seam you undo and perspective shots. I'm a belt and braces guy because I've run into trouble so many times.
Might also be a good idea to write down the order you disassembled.
The unpicked side is your pattern, in case you haven't guessed. Here are 18 pictures of the process.

Pockets are not the easiest	Take pics of the stitch patterns too.	Where are the belt loops?
This tells you the order of construction	Button holes are key hole	Belt loop bridges waistband and main garment
Can't take too many pictures	All details need to be reproduced	Except the rivets
How the pocketing goes on	and again	Where are things attached?
How far pockets extend	What stitching looks like from the inside	Look at that: Raw edges are folded.

Step 2: Layout for cutting

Now, fold your drill so the selvedges are together and the right sides are together. Something I noticed with making clothes is that they're usually cut along the fabric, so that's what I went with here. If it hadn't been right I'd have noticed by now. I made them three weeks ago, worn nearly every day since, so they're good.

Lay the biggest pieces down

The little ones will go around

Now, all pieces except anything that requires only one piece of fabric (change pocket and fly) goes around the bigger ones. Make sure they're as straight as possible: The straight grain is fairly important.
Make sure you add a seam allowance where required. You can do this any way you like, but I have a great little double wheel tool, with adjustable gap. One wheel goes around the edge and the other marks the new one.
The reason the raw edges folded is exciting is that you won't have to finish the edges at all. Very little on this garment was overlocked.
Also, the chain stitch will have to be replaced since I don't have a chain stitch machine (the 411g could have done it but I never got the special needle plate). What machine to sew jeans on? I chose the black 201K23. This was a "no brainer". Well, I could have used an industrial machine but it's getting a bit cold in Melbourne so a portable in the lounge it is. A couple of people, incidentally, have been quite surprised that a domestic machine was used to make these. New plastic machines would stand little chance. That's progress for you :-)

Step 3: Cutting

Well this is obvious. Cut the pieces out and leave pinned to your 'pattern'.
Cut an appropriate width extra for making belt loops. You should unpick one of the original loops completely and do some maths to work out how much you need. Cut the strips into their pieces and you don't need any seam allowance here.

Step 4: Make the Pockets

Something else I've noticed is the order to construct a garment. For any garment, pockets need to be made first. The top pockets are the hardest thing to do as usual, the rest is relatively straight forward. Make the pockets look like the old ones. You will be cutting the internal pocketing out of 100% cotton poplin. If you want it to look like the original, use white. Poplin is extremely cheap and a metre will do a lot of pockets.
The back poskets are 'patch pockets' and are really easy. Draw the pattern that matches the original (or a different one - your jeans) with a dressmaker's pencil and stitch in orange thread.

Could have been a better match, but I'm not going
stealing the design, just making for myself.

Pay careful attention to where the pocketing gets folded and where it needs to be sewn on the jeans. I got this wrong a couple of times before getting it right. This is why the pockets are a bit more challenging. The more experience you have the easier this will be.

original, holes marks where the rivets were.

Step 5: Prepare other garment pieces

Most of these are simply prepared with raw edges folded to the wrong side. Fantastic news, because all you need is a hot iron (turn it all the way up, to cotton/denim and possibly turn the steam on). If you have a steam press, this would be a good use for it. If you have to pin it, don't use plastic headed pins, might seem obvious but if you do they will definitely melt into your lovely fabric and ruin it (no I didn't do this).

The fly was the only piece I had to overlock, and my old Japanese Singer was easily able to do this. As soon as it's overlocked, compare the piece with the original, mark your buttonholes and make them straight away.
So far you've constructed the pockets and folded your pieces.

Step 6: Prepare your machine

You will need to have a machine threaded up with heavy orange thread and one with heavy black thread. I used the same one only due to space considerations, but 201s are very cheap and I do have two of them. Another thing to consider is this: Same thread in the bobbin. The heavy, strong cotton I used was very thick and I did have to make a couple of modifications to my 201K.
1. Fill bobbin, and notice that it doesn't take much thread. Just a fact, bobbin only holds a Certain amount. If it's three times thicker, it will be only a third as long.
2. Modify your bobbin tension. Pull the thread through the needle plate. Initially it will be extremely tight, but you must loosen the tension spring until it isn't otherwise you won't get abalanced stitch.
3. Change the needle. You will need at least a size 18, possibly a 20 but whatever size the thread goes through comfortable. Do a test sew. When mine stitched it sounded like it was hitting the table with a small mallet! Industrial needles will work in domestic machines. I used a 16x231 which have a round shank. Just make sure you put it in the right way.
4. Do a test sew. Use contrasting thread so you can clearly see that the stitch is balanced. I had to dial the top tension to 7 to balance the stitch.

Step 7: Sewing it together

When you sew the inner part of the legs, you must do the orange top stitching straight afterwards. You won't be able to do this after the outside has been stitched. Same goes with anything else that's top-stitched. Do it as soon as you can or you won't be able to do it at all.
Use the intact 'jean' to see how it should look. The fly is only on one side (the left) and the buttons will be put directly on the other, non-fly side.
The fly should match the detailed pictures you took. You did take detailed pictures, didn't you?
With the leg seams you can hide them by doing french seams (tends to be bulky) or the preferred method is flat-felled seams, which is how jeans are usually made. You can experiment with spare pieces of fabric. Normal seams are even acceptable, which you can finish by pinking or even overlocking (how modern). Rather than reinventing the seam, there's a good explanation of how to do this at http://www.sewneau.com/how.to/flat.felled.seam.html

Step 8: Waistband and belt loops

This is easier than belt loops for a dress. These jeans were much easier because it doesn't matter if the stitching shows. Prepare by pinning the waistband to the rest and mark the position of the loops (compare with the original waistband).
Make the buttonhole.

Buttonholes use normal weight orange thread

Sew one side of the loops onto the waistband first, sew the waistband to the jeans then the other side to the jeans. This will be hard on your machine: You'll be sewing through many layers of heavy drill but with a 201K, if you can fit it under the foot, it will stitch it. This is also true with most of my machines.

Step 9: Buttons

Bought these from Clegs for about $3.75 a set. Extremely easy to install.
1. Punch a hole in the fabric where each one will go using a hammer and nail.
2. Using the hammer, hit the button's 'nail' into the other bit
That's all, Just hit it firmly and it stays put. I hear you can get buttons put on professionally but I doubt it would make any difference.

Well that's it. Want to see what I ended up with?

Not a great selfie.
They look better
in reality.

I also turned them up too much. The top stitching should have been much lower. I'll be fixing this today.
Total cost = $28.75 not including thread or needles. Yes I know you can buy a pair for less in K-mart but are they as good? Are they made by a person who loves doing this or a slave? Also, I have the pattern and experience now. Hmm... maybe a pair made in tartan or polka dots next :-D

If you don't have a 201, well first of all why not? They regularly sell for less than $100 (I've bought a dozen or so and none was more than $50) and secondly you can do this on any older full size machine. A model 15, 66 or 27/VS2 would hammer this garment into shape pretty easily too.

Singer 201s are very common, not so popular

It's a bit sad really. The greatest domestic stitcher ever made is the Singer 201. It has specially hardened gears and does a perfect stitch. It sews through practically anything with no fuss whatsoever. In its day, it was, fittingly, the most expensive you could buy and Singer still sold millions and millions of them!
 From the moment I used one, my eyes widened and I was deeply impressed with the ease with which it did its job.
Lately there seems to be a flood of them on eBay and Gumtree, and of the last two I got, the first (last Saturday) was free in a cabinet. It was, admittedly, seized and took about two hours solid work to clean and lubricate it, than another ten hours to get it moving properly! The foot controller was also faulty and didn't work at all. It took only an hour to fix and adjust this because I didn't disassemble the carbon pile (the wiring was the problem). I now make a point of always removing any capacitors in foot or knee controllers, and always checking and cleaning the motors. Cleaning them improves contact between the brushes and the armature, and results in a stronger motor.
The second machine was $50, and I didn't actually want this one, but in the picture with the machine was a very nice looking Swiss Zigzagger! It seems I was the first person to call: First of dozens according to the lady. She said she'd done research and they seem to sell for about $50. I told her about the Swiss ZZ and that it was probably the reason for its popularity. Got the machine, attachment and a buttonholer into the car and went home. She had admitted that she had never cleaned, oiled or serviced it and when it got stuck she just pulled out whatever was obviously in the way and kept going again! Needless to say it had an unusual amount of lint and dirt. Additionally, the motor's wiring, like most knee machines, was really stuffed. I carefully replaced the dangerous bits and repaired any damaged insulation. The Swizz ZZ was is very good condition, and all pattern cams were present in their original package. The buttonholer was seized up (I'd never seen one so stuck), and it took days of jiggling to loosen it up. Still not happy with it, so more work required there.
Before I post pictures, I have to suggest why 201s aren't more popular. It is a domestic machine that only does straight stitch. That's it, simply, these days people either want a domestic to do everything or an industrial straight stitcher. The 201 is not to be ignored, however. Add a good zigzagger and buttonholer (which the lady had) and you have a machine that can not only do a perfect stitch but everything else you'd expect. It won't, however, do free motion embroidery/darning very well. Apparently the horizontal bobbin makes it difficult for the machine to maintain good tension doing this.
OK, so it can do almost everything. What are you waiting for? Go get one! They're cheap, easy to fix and use the most common Singer bits: Class 66 bobbins, 15x1 needles, all common attachments, common bulbs and drive belts etc.

 

The free one, aluminium machine from 1954

Now the $50 one:

Bobbin area	Lovely lovely lintfest
Bare wires and melted plastic	After a clean, she looks lovely

Incidentally, I generally sell these machines for what I paid plus whatever it costs in fuel and car wear and tear. This makes for a very quick sale, very happy people and a lovely machine that will immediately see more service.

Goodbye to the old, hello to the new

No, I'm not going plastic on you, good people, but the lounge room had started looking like a warehouse, with boxes stacked on cabinets and it made actual sewing (yes I still do that) really difficult. So, what should I do? Buy another machine in a cabinet of course! Two or three weeks ago (on Sunday night) someone had put an ad for a six drawer Singer cabinet in need of restoration on Gumtree for $50. Well, it looked OK in the ad, and as long as there's nothing missing I'm up for it. Yes it's shabby and yes I have no room. It lived in the back of the car for a few days. It took only a few days to get rid of the two cabinets that lived in my lounge room. My beloved 319k in lovingly restored 1960 cabinet and a model 66, which I had swapped the presser bar with a later 66 to fit side clamping feet. This brings me to what a PITA the back clamping 66 is.
The story of the back clamping goes back a bit over 100 years. I read that Singer thought it a pretty nifty idea to have the 66 as a back clamper just after they had bought the Wheeler and Wilson factory in the U.S. seeing as that's what they used.
It was a disaster, of course, and meant that the 66 had to use feet that were different to all other models, and their customers indicated their unhappiness with the back clamp. Around 1922 Singer caved in to the pressure and made all future 66s side clampers, making them compatible with, well, everything.
So every time I get a 66 it seems to be a back clamper. When the six drawer car crisis happened, I hastily converted the back clamper to use the only side clamp version I had, advertised it for a low price and of course it sold quickly. So, got the six drawer cabinet in, looked at the machine inside and it was, you guessed it, a Singer 66 back clamper! It did come with a couple of back clamp feet (which is unusual) but I'm still pretty unhappy about it.
Here's a summary of movements for the past month or so:
Out
Singer 221k featherweight (centennial, manufactured 1950)
Singer 66k in treadle cabinet (1922 - only just a back clamper!)
Singer 319k in 1960 model cabinet.

All of these seem to have gone to the right people. They were all going to see further use as sewing machines. Decisions on what had to go weren't difficult. The 319k is in a cabinet, and I have a 320k that's also in the lounge room. I did keep the cams from the 319, though. Can't understand why the 320k didn't have them, or the darning plate.

OK, now this stuff I have to rely on my memory for, because there are usually so many. In
Singer 201k treadle, original deco treadle cabinet (1946)
Singer 66k treadle, original six drawer treadle cabinet (1912)
Singer swiss zigzag attachment
Singer attachment lot (incl two more of the above, plus two buttonholers). Not arrived yet.
Singer green button hole attachment (for low shank machines, uses cams for different types of button holes) - this has not arrived yet, more than a week after I paid for it. Not happy.

Out: 66k treadle

Out: 221k Featherweight

Out: the 319k

In: The 66 - Did I mention it's a redeye?

In: The redeye's home. The top needs new veneer

Don't have a pic of the swiss zigzagger (Google it - plenty of pictures around). It has a built-in walking foot and originally came with pattern cams (I got one out of the ten), which makes it highly desirable for a straight sewing machine like a featherweight, a 201 or a 66.

Finished a dress, made with 201s and got two more machines

Can't say 201k, because the machine I started it with was a 201p (the tan one). Used the 319k for zigzag finishing seams and putting in the hook.
Here's the dress:

 It should fit her, but she lives on the other side of the planet so it might be a while before I get feedback.

Here's the machine I used to finish it. The knee lever was really hard to get used to. I kept accidentally knocking the lever and sewing the thread into a knot.
The most important thing I discovered with this project was how to pre-finish a seam: Cut the fabric out using pinking shears! If you cut it the right size, the seam edges are pre-finished and no ZZ will be necessary.
Being unable to control my sewing machine addiction meant that since last week I bought two more machines. The first was another 319k but with a free arm. It's called a 320k but identical except for the removable bed. This feature made it horrendously expensive to produce apparently, so they didn't make that many of them.
The second was a Singer 401g (I think). It was on eBay for a while and nobody bid on it. It was re-listed at the same price so I bought it. I haven't picked it up yet but am quite excited. Here are the new ones:

Quite rare Singer 320k2

Singer 401g made in Germany

There are a few problems with these two machines, being that the first one can't go into a cabinet because of the removable bed, so I'll have to sell my beautiful 319k in its cabinet. Good news is that the 401g can be treadled, so I can swap the 319k with a treadle cabinet (and free up some shed space).

new machines

OK, I've been accumulating some new ones. Got a 221k then a 222k, a Necchi Supernova, two 201ks and a model 66 in the past month or so. I've sold a few to make some room, but mostly just re-organised the shed so more will fit (I think I'm getting away with it. No, really). The supernova is said to be a potential time sink, so it's going to have to wait until the school holidays when I'll have a little more time to get caught up.
I think I've fallen for the 201s. Absolutely brilliant, smooth machines they are. Alex Askaroff said the earlier ones have the edge purely because of their massive weight (they can sew faster or some such insanity). The stitch is amazing and fuss-free. I'm going to try out sewing through several layers of denim, just to be convinced it can do it.
Here's a small assortment of new ones:

Fixing a Sewing Machine motor

I bought a treadle cabinet last week on ebay. It cost $10.50 and the picture of the machine inside was corrupted during upload so it was a mystery. When I picked it up, the cabinet was missing its treadle iron - arggghh! OK, the machine... hmm.. black and gold, apparently in mint condition, full sized. It was an early 201k! This cast iron beast was more than enough to make it worthwhile. I was expecting a model 66 and instead got the best domestic Singer ever made in mint condition.
On getting it home I cleaned it up. Major dust under the feed dogs as usual. Gave it tri-flow all round. Next problem is that of drive. I had a spare singer motor and light in the shed so out they came. The motor was really weak and sparks were lighting the place up like the proverbial Christmas tree. The problem is caused by carbon, oil and dust building up around the armature, where the brushes contact it. Singer motors are made so you can remove the brushes without separating the motor. There are two screws holding two small pieces of bakelite. Take these off and the rectangular brass tubes can be removed. Remove one of these at a time. My mechanic (dad) told me that even putting them back on opposite sides can reduce the performance of the motor. Clean the brush and the armature. I used methylated spirit, which seems to clean it well. When you're happy with it, put the brush back, screw its bakelite cap back on and clean the other brush.
Put it all together and test. Mine was a lot faster and way stronger than before.
Here's the machine because I know you're curious:

She was born on 10th December 1936. My mum was very happy that this lady shares her year of birth, although she may well weigh more than mum (not really but she's very heavy).

Best domestic machine ever?

I've fallen in love. About six months ago I bought a brown 1950s Singer 201, in mint condition.
It sat in the shed for, well, six months. Got it out when I was having trouble several layers of sewing denim (the 66 couldn't handle it easily). It went through it like a hot knife through butter. Afterwards, I imagined it saying "so what else ya got" in a Brooklyn accent. This thing is tough.
Last weekend I had no hesitation getting it out again. Someone I know had some blouses made by a sample machinist, who charged the Earth, but refused to finish with buttons and buttonholes! The buttons were easy: The 319k is made for button sewing. Looked at the 319 instruction book for button holes too. Yes it can do them but it's all very manual. I pulled out my vintage buttonholer, attached it to the 201 and started practising. The combination is just about unbeatable. Buttonholers are very cheap but sooo sophisticated. You can do a buttonhole on any straight stitch machine. How? The 'holer grabs the fabric and moves it, keeping the needle moving straight up and down. Instructions tell you to keep it slow. Hmmm... why's that? I went fast and the heavy fabric dragging on the needle pulled it far enough from its normal path that it went down on the plate and broke. Well, that's why!
So, I don't have any pictures, but here's a link to a demonstration by a guy in NYC, Peter Lappin.
I did take pics of doing the button on the 319, though. Very quick. Bummer (or otherwise) thatone machine can't do everything, isn't it? Could probably attach the buttonholer to the 319, but that'd be less fun, wouldn't it?

Wasn't my fault this time!

Well, it wasn't. Her indoors wanted to go outdoors during this rainy, cold day. Back to Tyabb no less. After being nonchalant at the packing house, we went to the nearby Antique Shed. At this place I remembered seeing a lovely Singer 201K last week for only $45. In the first minute I saw a wooden cover that looked suspiciously like a sewing machine cover. The note said Singer something, something, lid, something $25. Looked at the lid and it seemed a bit heavy. The lid seems to have a sewing machine under it. It looked rather good too. Of course at this price who could resist.

Singer 201P

Kept asking myself why it's $25. Reading the other lid label it has been professionally restored. $25? $25? Kept asking why in the queue and when I put it in the car. Got it home, oiled it thoroughly (it was almost completely seized) and plugged it in. About 20 seconds after putting my foot down, it went from a groan to a gallop! Sews beautifully too. Why on Earth was it $25??? It's almost like new. The P model is identical to the K model (made in Scotland) except it's two tone brown and was made in NSW. It's very quiet and was made in 1957. Obviously it hadn't been used for ages but it's probably worth $200, considering the condition. The solid wooden case is like new as well.
Didn't want to boast. These machines are fantastic bargains. Go get one :-)