So if you need to make a buttonhole, buy a new machine, right? The Singer 66-16

So I disappeared over here for a bit.  I thought it was because I hadn't done any projects lately - I haven't sewn, crafted, crocheted, or anything for a good week or so.  Then my husband reminded me I have been busy - just not with what I thought I should be!

I've been rehabbing old sewing machines. And I like it.

If you'd have asked me to do one this time last year, I would have laughed in your face.  Restore ancient sewing machines? Why??

Here's the point A to point B.

You see, it all started with a sewing machine.  I got the Kenmore 1946 - so I decided to give my new (2005ish) plastic Singer to a good friend of mine to learn on.  I like the machine fine, and I love my friend - it just made a good learning machine and I prefer metal machines now.

So the Kenmore 1946 became my main sewing machine. But the buttonhole function was a bit stuck. I was working on a project that needed a bunch of buttonholes, else I wouldn't have cared! So I started to research what makes the best buttonholes...after reading lots of sewing blogs, message boards, and the like, the consensus is interesting - find and old Singer and use what's called a buttonhole attachment.

Good grief...now I felt like I NEEDED to find a Singer with an attachment to use, so I'd have a machine I could keep set up for buttonholes.  So Craigslist filled my need, with a Singer 66-16.

It came in 50s style walnut cabinet, with an upholstered stool. And in the stool, the original manual, the butttonhole attachment and all it's pieces, and the manual for that as well.

And it is pretty!  The cabinet is in great shape.  It's a model 56 cabinet, according to this resource.

I degunked the insides and oiled her up, and everything is running smoothly.

 I'm not using her to sew yet, because I want to clean out the motor and possibly rewire it.

I call her Betsy.

Her paint job is a gorgeous gold filigree. They don't make them this pretty anymore.

Here's a tip for you, if you have or are planning to get an older Singer sewing machine.  The older machines didn't have model numbers on them.  So determining when it was made can be difficult. Luckily, these machines have a tiny little plate on them, which on my machine is on the top front right.  There's a serial number imprinted on the plate, like this one.

You can go to this site to establish the age of your machine, and this site to print out a certificate with the information on it. You can find the entry form on the bottom right of the main page. It's pretty cool, I think.

That's how I found out my machine was made in 1951.

She's a young'n compared to what I have to show you next time!

Still a Singer, still a model 66, but with different decals and I had to refinish the cabinet it's in. Ready for a lesson in that?

See you next time,

Jess