Wow nicola, the nice lady's site is exciting to browse through. I really like how she asks folks to be responsible with their bobbin buying! I have a hand singer with a shuttle but I've never really used it as I have a electric machine. OH and I have a machine each and find it really hard if we have to use the others. I'm not super keen on him using mine though as he tends to "floor it"! I feel a bit inspired to have a play with the shuttle machine to see if I can get a feel for it.

curlyW it'll be so nice to know that you can just whizz up little things as the fancy takes you!

Thanks for the links Nicola.

It's a pleasure to be of a little help - you are very welcome. :buttrf:

I would love to be able to use a sewing machine, I got one of those mini efforts but it was a pile of poop

Honestly B, an old fashioned hand crank is sooo simple - just straight stitches but it's all you need to make loads of things, and the beauty of the old machines is that they were designed to last, and designed to be understood, almost nothing cannot be taken apart and put together, honestly - and I got my Victorian one for £12 on e-bay and it is so unfrightening and I made loads of Christmas presents on it. All you have to do is hold a pice of fabric with one hand and turn a handle with the other as slow as you want...go on girl, you can make all sorts of complicated bath thingies so this would be simple, and with a machine, when the world falls apart and electricity is a dim and distant memory only for rich people, you will be running up a nifty skirt on your machine for the dancing!  :buttrf:

 :mwaha:

off I pop to ebay then... then maybe to look for dance classes and to dig my veg patch    



I'm back.. my word how beautiful are those old machines! watching a couple now   

Me again, you naughty enablers look what I just bought  :mwaha:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120694386580&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Hope that's a decent machine? (even if it's not there seems to be a huge amount of free knitting and crochet hooks with it too!)

Could you pretty please point me in the direction of some cheapie fabrics to practice on

Oh no what have I done - encouraged consumerism noooo....any way, now you have one (it looks in good nick, but can't see any bobbins, feet and so on) a whole world of buying little bits for it open for you! The lady on my link can help with some spares - your machine should have a model number somwhere on a plaque near the front - look it up here

http://www.singerco.com/support/serial_1letter.html

so you know what you have got and when it was made. If you have no manual they can often be downloaded free or got from here

http://www.singermachines.co.uk/sewingmachineparts/instruction-books/

and if you want to go mad and clean it or understand how it works look here

http://www.tfsr.org/pub/technical_info/sewing_machine_manual/

Best bet for practising is charity shop sheets or duvet covers - you can make an apron for bath stuff making! I do have some fabric links somewhere though - Ikea is brilliant for heavier weight stuff to make shopping bags from. Wow, a whole new hobby to start it's like first love isn't it! :buttrf:

I bought a 1970's bernina on ebay. I love it. My mum loved it too, so I found another one on ebay for her! it will sew through practically anything! it is a work horse, but I also made my wedding dress on it. I cannot explain just how great it is!

My machine came  I've looked up the serial number and it's from 1898 

There's a couple of bits here that I'm unsure if so any help would be fab

link to pics cos I can't seem to post any
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48739901@N04/5526197099/

The metal bit (pic 005) came from the compartment on the machine base, the wooden thing (pic 003) came in a bag with knitting needles and crochet hooks and I can't remember which bit I picked the key up from (pic 005) 

The wooden thing (sigh you young things - I used to sell these in haberdashery in a Saturday job) is a darning mushroom if I am not mistaken - put the sock over the dome, and darn the hole. Just sending the metal thing (I think a foot) to mum as she will know. Key - who knows?! I got allsorts with one of mine - I think the bottom of sewing machines is where people used to put the stuff that now goes in that drawer in the kitchen...you know the one....the one that you have to hold the bits down to close!

Ditto re the darning mushroom!

The "metal thing" looks like a zipper foot - i.e. where you would be wanting to sew as close to the edge of the fabric as possible and a normal 2 pronged foot would hit the teeth of the zip.

If there's a box like compartment at one end of the base (for accessories) and this compartment has a metal lid then the key could well be to "lock" the lid in position to stope it moving when the machine is being carried.

Yes, EJ, mum thought a zipper foot too - however, if it has a metal rod thing like on here, lower down the page

http://www.helenhowes-sewingmachines.co.uk/oddfeet.html

that fits into it , and it is as old as the machine it is likely a quilting foot - I had a few without the rod which must have been lost - the rod sort of guides for spacing if you were quilting a big piece.

Thank you! I would never have guessed for sock darning! I was thinking it was for winding something lol

All the knitting needles are in old sizes too, there's quite a few patterns in and I'm going to have a go at one of them (the one in the pic) as it's the right size for all 3 of my children.. it'd be rude not to really  :buttrf:

Going to try and thread it up later and have a bash, don't want to do it now as L (age 5) has already been turning the handle and trying to figure it out, he's such a boy and has to know how everything works    :mwaha:

*tut* if I'd looked properly I'd have noticed the number on it! google tells me it's a presser foot? *whispers* what's a presser foot? :mwaha:

or a cording attachment...