Antique Sewing Machine Restoration

08/30/2026

08/30/2026

One of the teens who received a Singer 15-91 from the donated machines shared these pictures from one of her first craft projects: a nice bag with a zipper!

08/28/2026

A sweet lady from Anniston AL dropped off a free machine for a teen last week while she and her husband were at a Ham Radio convention in town. This is a wonderful machine with lots of attachments, fashion discs and a reference book.

Send me a private message if you have a teen who is learning to sew, or if you picked up one of the earlier/simpler ones and want to swap it for an upgrade.

Also note in one of the pictures that many times the parts costs are trivial to the labor charges (shop name hidden on purpose). This is the difference between a shop running a business and paying bills vs working on machines as a hobby. This is why I focus on the old ones which might otherwise not be worth restoring.

08/22/2026

One of my neighbors found a Singer 201 centennial in an estate sale, but the wiring was degraded to the point that it blew the breaker when plugged in. A new wiring kit and rewired motor coil and it’s ready to go!

08/22/2026

Click on this link in blue and identify all the moving parts in the ultra slow motion video of a Juki serger. 2 loopers, 1 or 2 needles, feed dogs, walking foot and the edge cutter: https://fb.watch/J99Uq-1cuh/?fs=e

08/21/2026

One of the favorites in my collection. Found this one in my price range after several years of searching. No bobbin, creates tiny chain stitches underneath the needle plate using a rotating hook.

08/20/2026

Customer referral from my friends in Fayetteville TN. A needle busted and she was concerned that the timing might be off. After cleaning and a new needle, long groove on the left, it’s stitching fine. It’s nearly impossible to mess up timing on these heavy duty machines, the needle busts before it causes anything on the bobbin hook to slip. Typical cause of a busted needle is forcing or pulling the material vs letting the feed dogs do the work. The needle eye passes so close to the hook that pulling it a bit to the side will hit the hook and pop the needle. Now ready to go home and start her next project.

08/17/2026

Customer from Birmingham needed cleanup and rewiring on this 100+ year old machine. The company didn’t keep detailed serial number databases, but they started this model around 1914 and this serial number is past 3 million. We went with a modern foot controller and used a couple of extension cords to rewire the light and motor. Besides the wiring, the motor gear was pitted, brittle and noisy so I wrapped it in heat shrink tubing to soften and smooth the motor movement. All ready to go home next weekend.

08/15/2026

Working on a White Rotary USA machine for a customer from Birmingham. Close up of catching the bobbin thread before sewing…

08/13/2026

Several folks have asked about this recently, $30 is my maintenance price for old rusty/dusty machines. If it doesn't need rust removal, simple oil and maintenance is $20. I'm on the north side of Huntsville and you bring it to me. If you want to then go grab lunch or shop at Hazel Green Walmart, I can probably have it done by when you come back. This is NOT for the modern/electronic machines - take those to the sewing shop and certified repair - this is for the old iron machines.