Midnight: Singer 404 Restoration

Midnight

How do you like this for a complete restoration? I think he's beautiful!

It's been a while since we restored and painted a sewing machine. We bought this guy from Goodwill for $45 in December 2021. It was a cabinet model manufactured in May 1960. The motor was frozen, paint spotty and filthy with dings and chips.

Before

My resident repairman went over it, replaced the handwheel clutch spring, oiled, lubed, cleaned and polished. After that TLC, the motor freed up. He took the machine completely apart, ordered a few parts, and worked on it off and on between other projects in 2023.

Fast forward to May of this year. We decided to paint since I already have a nice Singer 404 (Elizabeth) in original condition. Jerold filled the chips, sanded, keyed the finish, and primed the whole machine. Wet sanding the primer makes a really smooth finish for paint.

He used three coats of Rust-Oleum 2X Ultra Cover in Midnight Blue and Silver. After a week, wet sanded to smooth before layering three coats of Ultra Cover Clear. Two days under a heat lamp, then a final clear coat for a mirror finish.

After two weeks of curing, Jerold reassembled, wired and fine tuned bobbin tension. He did the majority of the work on this machine and it's certainly a job well done. 

Midnight sews great now! I'm happy, loving the classy color scheme and can't wait to stitch a quilt or two.

 

Restoration: Singer 127-3 Mary Margaret

Singer 127-3 Mary Margaret finished

This lovely machine is a 1923 Singer 127-3 in the original oak cabinet. She belonged to Mary Margaret for years, and was generously gifted to me by her son Ervin. We believe this treadle machine was converted to electric at the dealer or factory. We decided on a sympathetic restoration to get her sewing well and protect the finish.

Singer 127 before

Amazingly, at 100 years old, the Memphis sphinx decals were nearly perfect, just a couple of places showed a bit of wear. The finish had a little checking but was mostly intact. She had been stored in an attic, so not too much rust, but there was dried oil/grease and dust.

The handwheel, shuttle and feed dogs moved easily and I actually sewed a few manual stitches before we started work. 

The tiger oak cabinet and ironwork are in great shape, check out that gold paint detail on the logos!   I gave it a good clean, a coat of Howard's Restore-A-Finish, and beeswax.

Here's what Jerold did to spruce up Mary Margaret:

Cleaned handwheel using wire wheel & scotch brite, leaving the brownish patina. Polished all the plate covers to a shine.

Disassemble and clean motor. Rewire with new plug. Disassemble needle box, very dirty, years of gunky oil. Cleaned parts with foam degreaser and WD40.

Before

After

First clean surface with sewing machine oil. Shellac intact, so carefully cleaned entire surface of machine with GOJO hand cleaner. Daubed amber shellac on the few bits of painted decals that had begun to silver.

Pulled drive shafts & shuttle mechanism, cleaned in Coleman fuel, buffed & polished where needed. Replaced a locking screw missing from the shuttle drive shaft.

Removed feed vertical shaft & stitch regulator for cleaning. Finished cleaning other parts. Re-assembled machine. Adjusted feed dog alignment & height, presser bar height. Checked all other adjustments. Test sew - worked the first time!

Isn't she goregous?

Sprayed with 3 coats of shellac: not a perfect mirror finish but shinier than she was and it will protect the finish.

Re-assemble items removed for painting, mount light & motor. Put back in cabinet & wired controller up. Wound a bobbin. Cleaned shuttle. Threaded the machine and she sewed a perfect stitch without any tension adjustments.

I've already put Mary Margaret back to work: just finished piecing a quilt top. What a pleasure to sew on this wonderful vibrating shuttle machine, thanks Ervin! I hope she lasts another hundred years.

1954 Singer 99K - Violet

Violet: 1954 Singer 99K hand crank

From rusty to beautiful, this little 1954 girl from Great Britain was quite a challenge!

We bought her for $35 in February 2022. Her decals looked good but the shellac finish was mostly gone. Gouges and crazing in the paint, wiring shot, and oh so dirty inside and out. Amazingly, she did sew after oiling. We put her on the shelf while working on other projects, thinking it could be a parts machine.

This February, we got going with a plan to clean, paint, replace missing parts and add a hand crank. Jerold took her apart all the way down to the last screw, then cleaned and polished all parts. He rewired the motor, too, so we can use either it or the hand crank. We got the spoked wheel and crank on Amazon; they both fit and the bobbin winder still works.  

We tried to sand the finish but it was too uneven, so ended up stripping her to bare metal. After primer came the gorgeous Rustoleum 2X paint in Gloss Grape. I printed and applied new decals in black, using Art Deco style designs.

Then Violet just decided to be finicky. We hit a snag with the clear coat: it wrinkled up on the bed so we had to sand and recoat. It's not perfect but it's good enough. We polished and waxed her to a super shiny finish.

Jerold had to fine tune all tension and bobbin adjustments, but now Violet sews a perfect stitch. I'm happy with how she turned out, even with the setbacks. I couldn't do this without my talented husband. We learned a lot, didn't give up, and I got the purple machine I wanted. It's all good!

 

1942 Singer 99 Restoration

Bogart: 1942 Singer 99 restored

Here's our latest sewing machine restoration: meet Bogart, or Bogie for short.

I found him in June on a local Facebook listing and went right away to pick him up. For $50 we figured it could be a parts machine for the other 99 we are working on. Oh, were we wrong! The nearly perfect wrinkle finish (Godzilla) and blackened faceplate gave us the first clue, along with a 1942 serial number. It's a Blackside, manufactured during WWII when parts were scarce.

1942 Singer 99 Before

The wiring had all but perished, so no idea if it worked. The Bentwood case has a hole in it (to be fixed at a later date when we have our carpentry hats on). Still, it was too unique and complete to use for parts, so we decided to clean, oil, and restore with the least amount of interference.

Trial run: it sews!

Jerold oiled the creaky old guy, cut off the nasty wiring, and hooked it up temporarily to find the motor runs just fine! Threaded it and it sews pretty good, better after a bobbin adjustment. He took off the bobbin winder, bobbin case, hook, and other pieces to clean and oil. The handwheel was nicked terribly, so he sanded and used satin black to repaint it. The bobbin plate was missing, so he blackened a spare Singer one to replace it.

Love this Blackside scrolled faceplate

I cleaned the dirty finish with Goop and a soft toothbrush. Lots of nicotine and dirt! There are no decals, just simple paint stamped Singer lettering. I was careful not to scrub too hard around them. There were about 6 small nicks in the paint and I used a mix of black and satin black to dab on so it wouldn't rust. These don't have shellac, so I polished (using Jerold's suggestion) with Kiwi shoe polish and buffed with a soft brush. I used the same technique on the foot control.

Rewired, all parts cleaned and oiled, wood base cleaned and polished, Bogie is looking pretty spiffy and running fine at eighty-one.  He has some wear, but who wouldn't at that age? I'm so happy I found him, even though I really wasn't looking. I'll be sewing something with Bogart soon.

We had so much fun working together on this! Next up, we finish complete restoration and paint on the other 99. Then on to a  clean/oil/polish on a 1923 Singer 127 with gorgeous Sphinx decals. 

 

Just Flying Around

Aqua, pink, yellow, and coral prints look great sewed into traditional 12” flying geese blocks.

All piecing was done on Black Betty, our beautifully restored Singer 201. She was humming right along in the dining room. I set up an ironing station on a folding table next to the machine. I really enjoy using my vintage sewing machines; their stitch quality is unbeatable.

The blocks are separated with narrow sashing in the same aqua fabric, also used for binding. Backing is a cream swirl material. I quilted with white thread, making a grid of serpentine stitches using the Janome machine.

Just Flying Around finished out at 53” square and only took a few days from start to finish. I decided on the name after watching one of the Blue Angels practicing over our neighborhood on Wednesday. (Nashville's Air Show was this past weekend.) I'm used to seeing them when we vacation on the Gulf, but how amazing that they were flying around over my own back yard!

Dies used:
Accuquilt 55456 Flying Geese 3” x 6” finished
Blue Wren 6015 Strips 1½”

Not A Singer, But...

This vintage find is not a Singer, but it sure was an irresistible Goodwill bargain at $30.

Japan manufactured clones of the Singer model 15 and others after WWII. Universal is one of the brand names they used. 

My Granny Hill used a Universal, but I'm not sure which model. This one was shiny and fairly clean, no scratches and just a couple of paint dings. Gold decor and lettering is near perfect. Not bad for a 1951 era machine.

We've named this one Tojo, after famous Nashville wrestler Tojo Yamamoto. Tough little machine, but the original covered wood carrying case looked like it had gone 10 rounds and lost. It may not be salvageable, but Jerold is going to try to glue it back together. In the meantime I'm using a plastic base.

As for Tojo, he was missing the bobbin case, needed a v-belt, LED bulb (E17 screw in), and a replacement foot control. After a good service by my favorite mechanic: grease, oil and polish, he was ready to sew in just a few days. Stitches look great after adjusting the tension.

I did the final quilting for last week's Back To The Sixties throw on this nice machine. We've found a few more Singers over the summer, and they're currently on the shelf waiting for their chance to be tuned up.

Singer 201 Reveal: Black Betty!

1950 Singer 201-2 "Black Betty"

Last week we finally finished restoring our first 201-2, Singer's Rolls Royce. She's all shiny now, with brand new paint and decals, sewing smooth and fast. 

Purchased in November 2021, this machine was very dirty with scratched cracked worn finish and a few missing parts. Seller had no idea when it last ran. 

Black Betty: before

We didn't have a deadline, so took our time on each part of the restoration, starting in mid January. I cleaned her off with Goop hand cleaner. All parts were soaked liberally with sewing machine oil. After that she loosened up enough to sew a little bit.

Singer 201 wiring before: YIKES!

Black Betty was completely disassembled for inspection and cleaning. All the wiring was rotted and crumbling, not too unusual for an old girl built in 1950. My resident electrical guru rewired her and rebuilt the motor.

Years of gunk, lint, and grease on all parts took a while to remove. We experimented with several methods to take off the gnarly old shellac so we could repaint. Rubbing alcohol with a Scotchbrite pad and lots of elbow grease worked best on this machine.

Jerold primed, filled defects and sanded before applying several coats of black DupliColor Automotive Paintshop lacquer with air sprayer. After that dried, he block sanded to flatten paint. I added all new decals. After a few days, he used DupliColor Paintshop clear lacquer for final coats. Waxed to a high shine after she cured.

Reassembled everything, then added vintage and new parts: spool pins, scrolled face plate, chrome trim hand wheel, bobbin tire, light switch, wiring, foot controller. Jerold even nickel plated the stitch length plate for a little more bling. Finally, we modified a Singer #40 Queen Anne cabinet from another machine and installed Black Betty.

This was a real learning experience. We had several ups and downs, got to practice painting with an air sprayer, and enjoyed working together on a major machine rehab. There are six more vintage Singer machines in varying states waiting for their turn on our workbench.

But first, I will quilt something on Black Betty...Bam-a-lam!