There are some myths surrounding Singer sewing machines that need to be put to rest. They were not the first sewing machine. Elias Howe patented the first lock-stitch sewing machine and he and Issac Singer went to court over it. According to Joan Perk, a patent sharing agreement was finally reached among the major sewing machines companies. This leads to another myth that is common, all sewing machines were not made by Singer. There have always been multiple manufacturers of sewing machines. Singer has never been the only one. Also, while no one can deny the popularity of the Singer sewing machine it was also never the best on the market. Issac Singer was focused on marketing and affordability, not innovation. I like to think of Singer sewing machines like the Ford truck of the sewing world. Ford trucks are fairly dependable, they'll get the job done, but they don't have the style of GMC or the towing capacity of Dodge.
Singer Sewing Machine Models
We here at The Quilting Room wish we could cover every model of sewing machine that Singer ever made but that is nearly impossible. ISMAC has a great list of vintage machines and you can see current models on the Singer website. We have covered many of the models that we have in our collection. You can also find the "birthdate" of your Singer Sewing machine on the ISMAC list of serial numbers. Don't miss our FAQ Post about Singer Sewing Machines.
Singer 28 - This was Singer's first attempt at a portable machine. It's slightly smaller than the Singer 27 and was available in a carrying case. I wouldn't want to carry it far though.
Singer 301 - We have two posts, a general overview of the Singer 301, and a post about the Singer 301 bobbin cases and bobbins.
Repairing Singer Sewing Machines
Some of the posts are general sewing machine repair posts and some of them are specific to Singer sewing machines. Most vintage sewing machines all work in a similar fashion so there is little need to get brand specific.
Oiling Sewing Machines - We have two posts, what you need to lubricate your sewing machine and a general overview of sewing machine oils.
Rewiring the machine - We have several posts covering rewiring sewing machines. First, we have a general overview of rewiring machines, some machine cabinets have duplex plugs to run the machine so we have a tutorial on rewiring duplex plugs, and we have how to rewire Singer sewing machine three connection terminal blocks.
Replacing Sewing Machine Belts - First up we have how to measure your sewing machine belt, then we have a post on how to replace electric sewing machine belts and one on replacing treadle sewing machine belts.
Cleaning the Outside of Singer Sewing Machines
Once we have the inside of the sewing machine back to tip-top shape we want to make the outside of the machine look just as good.
