After reading that whole marketing spiel, you’ve decided that you might like a nice vintage sewing machine. As a result, they were made to last! Singer even used to do a gimmick where they would sew together two sheets of aluminium metal together, to prove that their machines were powerful enough to punch through solid metal, too! Most people only owned a few sets of clothes, and keeping them repaired and neat meant that a sewing machine had to be able to cope with absolutely anything that was passed under the presser-foot. And they were expected to do it without complaint or fault.
They had to chew through everything from silk, to denim, to cowhide leather. In an age when most people made their own clothes, even domestic sewing machines had to be incredibly tough and rugged. On top of that, vintage sewing machines had to do a lot more than just repair a torn sleeve. If the machines even DARED to suggest that they weren’t absolutely the BEST that you could buy, then nobody would buy them, because nobody was prepared to spend their hard-earned dollars and pounds on junk! Like I mentioned before, it’s because they were so damn expensive. And compromising on quality was never even considered. Everything about these machines was designed to work, and to be as durable as possible. Vintage and antique sewing machines may only do a single, straight lockstitch. The mechanical beauty, the synchronisation of parts, is what makes it fun. It’s fun to turn that crank, pump the treadle or force the lever, to get those old machines going. But it’s more fun to use something that’s been around for ages, and which will continue to be around for ages.
I repair clothes, I make bags, pouches, the occasional cover or slip for a pillow or cushion, the odd alteration to a pair of trousers, but I enjoy it because it’s fun. Breaking down was not an option, and throwing the machine away and buying another one was UNTHINKABLE! As a result, they had to be made of the very best materials, and made to work forever! Vintage and antique machines were designed to last until doomsday. Your latest machine, which you paid hundreds of dollars for, is history the moment the electronics crap-out. Old sewing machines are workhorses which will run forever, provided they are maintained properly.
Nothing is going to break, snap, wear out, warp in the heat, crack in the cold, melt under desert sun or split in arctic winter. Everything on them is steel or cast iron. Vintage and antique machines have better construction, better quality of parts and materials, full-stop. And that is just one reason why vintage and antique machines look so much damn nicer than modern ones. So Singer allowed for trade-ins in return for discounts, or organised installment-plans and lay-by for customers.Ĭonsidering that the machines cost so much, folks weren’t willing to spend the money on something unless what they received in return was ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR. They’re meant to do something, and once it’s done, you chuck it away into the cupboard.Īntique sewing machines were designed to appeal to people’s sense of style – Don’t forget that buying a sewing machine was a HUGE investment in the second half of the 1800s – they were so expensive, Singer had to come up with a whole new way of paying for them, just so that folks could own one! Few folks could just PAY for one. The problem with more modern machines is that they’re more about function and feature, rather than style and longevity. Would you rather use a glossy black and gold, wood-cased classic, or a cheap, flimsy, cloud-white modern machine? Even when your classic Singer, Jones, Wheeler-&-Wilson, Domestic, Butterfly, Stowa, or Frister & Rossman isn’t being used, you can put it on a shelf, or on a side-table, and it can sit there as a beautiful piece of industrial art.Ĭan your modern sewing machine do that? I don’t think so. Reasons for Buying a Vintage or Antique Sewing Machineįirst-Impressions are everything. So, why might you want to buy a vintage or antique sewing machine? Strength, power, durability, classic designs, and a quality of workmanship and construction which literally cannot be found today in modern machines. People are attracted to antique and vintage sewing machines for a number of reasons. Unless you can physically carry it ANYWHERE and sew with it, without being tied to a power-outlet, it ain’t truly portable. You can perform a wider variety of stitches and functions, at the expense of poorer quality workmanship, disposable parts, and lack of portability. But they also have numerous disadvantages which make them undesirable. Modern sewing machines have all kinds of advantages and features which make them desirable. I’m not sure why I haven’t yet done one for sewing machines.