Recently my grandmother passed way and I was greatly surprised when my parents arrived at our home a few weeks later with her 1903 Singer treadle sewing machine. I have always admired it as great example of turn of the century engineering and workmanship but more so for the family history that is attached to the machine. Not only was it my Grandmothers but it was her mother’s as well and my mom learned to sew on it as well.
As I began to look in to the Treadle I was amazed to find out how many are still in regular use today and many parts are commonly available even at the local hardware store though you likely won’t need many parts. This machine has not been used in nearly 20 years but I do remember grandma using it quite a bit when I was a kid. A simple cleaning began by carefully removing any covers and brushing away any dust while sucking it up with a vacuum hose at the same time. I just used a small brush like the one below but a clean paint brush will work to. I then wiped all the moving parts down with a soft cloth that I had applied a little light oil to, then a few drops of sewing machine oil at each of the contact points of the moving parts. After cleaning the oak cabinet with a little bit of Murphy’s Oil and replacing the belt mom threaded the bobbin and needle and we were sewing. If you have not used one of these foot powered sewing machines or heard it run I can tell you it really is a amazing to see a piece of history, 108 years old working right there in front of you.
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