Since I don't have any stitching to share today, I thought you would enjoy seeing my antique sewing machine. In case you're visiting my blog for the first time, I've been wanting an antique treadle machine for quite awhile. I finally found one in very good condition about a month ago. My husband decided to refinish the cabinet for me. It still needs the new lock bezels and he wants to go over the gold paint on the stand with another coat but for the most part, it's done:
The original finish on the cabinet was quite dark. My mom told me that it was typical in the "old days". Well, I prefer natural oak so after striping all the old dark finish off of this, Scott just sealed it with clear finish. The wood is Tiger Oak. It has the most beautiful grain!
Here's a close-up of the machine:
It was quite dirty and dingy. Scott used Turtle Wax to clean and polish the outside. That sure brightened it up! This machine has what they call, the "Red Eye" decal. Be sure to click on the photo to go to my Flickr site where you can see a large version. The detail in the decals is so beautiful!
I took the machine to the Singer man and he took care of cleaning it up mechanically and re-aligning something on it. We have the new belt on as well so it's just about ready to go! Since my mom learned how to sew on one of these, she's going to come over and show me how to treadle. I'm really looking forward to playing! I sure hope I enjoy treadling after all the work my husband put into making this so nice for me!
