How Victorian Sewing Machines Work (1892 Singer Treadle)

On today's episode of information you might find particularly pertinent if and when you find yourself in the 19th century, we are going to be exploring how to make one of those antique sewing machines work. I have two functioning Singer machines in my workroom, one manufactured in 1891 which is powered by hand turning and this one manufactured in 1892 which is treadle powered. There are many different brands of sewing machine throughout the ages but Singer is personally my favorite purely because they come with serial numbers which you can actually reference in their online database to see exactly which year your machine was manufactured in. So before we get started there are first a couple of little checks and preparations that need to happen. Firstly it's important to make sure that your machine is clean and well oiled. There shouldn't be any dust clumps in the mechanisms and it shouldn't be making any squeaking sounds when operated. Have a good examination of your machine when you first acquire it and look for any oiling holes which were designed to allow oil into the more mobile parts of the mechanisms. Basically any place that moves against another thing should be kept nice and fluid and never dry. This is especially important when caring for antique machines. These things have been around for a long time and are built like tanks so most of them will still work but you do need to make sure that you're taking special care of them and not contributing to any deterioration. Next make sure there's a nice sharp needle correctly inserted. Standard universal machine needles that you can buy for any modern domestic machine has worked perfectly well for all of my antique machine needs, although you can also find packages of antique needles online if you wish. But honestly needles are still built just the same today and as needles are easily damaged and disposable I like to use the modern ones so I don't consume the finite quantity of antique needle resources in the world. The direction in which the needle is facing is extremely important in antique machines otherwise the thread will wrap around the needle and it won't be able to pick up stitches properly if the needle hasn't been inserted correctly. Machine needles have one flat side at the top and the needle should be turned so that the flat side sits in the groove of the machine. The rounded side should face outward and the eye of the needle should face side to side. Older machine needles might have a long groove running down one side. This is the side that should be facing outward. Modern needles don't usually have this but they do have a slight indentation at the eye on one side of the needle which confusingly this side should face inside towards the machine. Next to make up the bobbin. These look a little bit different from the round bobbins that we're used to in modern machines and rather than sitting vertically under the machine these bullet bobbins lay horizontally and are passed backwards and forwards under the needle as you stitch. Usually a working machine will have one already but spare bobbins can also be found on eBay and such. I've got two bobbin cases one for each machine but I have three bobbin spools which is handy for keeping multiple thread colors wound at once. These can be changed out to keep multiple projects going at one time. To wind a bobbin place the thread on top of the machine bring it around that top post the one with the thread grooves not the smooth one which is actually the piston for the needle and will be moving with the machine so don't put your thread around this one. Wind the end of the thread a few times around the bobbin spool to secure it and then insert that into the bobbin winder ensuring that the thread passes through these two little crooks which will actually work to evenly distribute the thread along the length of the bobbin. The bobbin will always be inserted in the wrong way around no matter how many times you try and keep track of which is the right way so be sure to change it around when it inevitably starts unwinding when you start the machine. Always make sure that the foot of your machine is raised before you start winding that way the feed dogs won't grind it down. The bobbin winders are slightly different between my two machines just due to the nature of how they operate so the treadle machine winder snaps out so that the winding wheel is turned by the machine's belt whereas the hand turned sewing machine snaps in that way the bobbin wheel turns as the machine's wheel turns. Be sure to disengage the bobbin winder when finished since this does add a little bit of resistance to the machine's operation and you will be sewing a lot slower if you accidentally leave it engaged. Our final stage is of course to thread the machine. With your thread stationed on top of the machine still pass it around that top post once again but this time bring it down and around the tension disc so the thread is tightly wedged between those two plates. Not so tightly that you can't pull it through but tightly enough that it stays in position. Pass the thread through the eye of this lever and then down again through this side hook. Secret hack time there's actually a tiny opening on the far side of this so you can actually just pass the thread straight through without having to actually thread it through yourself. Finally the thread is passed through the eye of the needle from outside to inside. On the bobbin end of things first the spool is inserted into the bobbin case. This is done in the opposite direction from modern machines with the tail of the thread coming off to form a backwards nine. I know a lot of modern machines tell you to insert the bobbin to make a nine but in the case of antique machines it needs to be a backwards nine. The thread is brought down through this slit in the bobbin case and hooked into that little clasp thing. Test your tension by grasping the tail of the thread. It should pass easily enough through the bobbin without difficulty but you should still be able to suspend the bobbin in mid-air. If your tension does need an adjustment this can be done by tightening or loosening the screw just at the base here very incrementally as just the tiniest little adjustment will make a massive difference. The bobbin can then be inserted into the machine and the wheel turned slowly to fetch the bobbin thread underneath. Hand turned machines are fairly quick to get used to since you have full control over the speed and operation although with one hand providing the power you only have one hand to guide your material which might take a little bit of getting used to if you're used to foot powering and having both hands free. Always be sure that you're turning the handle away from you that way the larger wheel spins towards you otherwise your machine might make some very disgruntled noises. Treadling does take a weird bit of getting used to it's nothing like using a regular sewing machine. So before you actually start sewing something it's very useful to just sit here with nothing under the machine just do a little bit of treadling just to sort of get an idea of what the rhythm of the machine is like because you kind of have to respond to the machine rather than the machine responding to you. You do a lot less pushing of the pedal as you do making sure that it still has the momentum that it already has. In order to get the machine going sometimes if you have stopped your last treadling just with the lever the foot lever parallel to the floor you can just start it with your foot and it will just keep going but sometimes if you've stopped with the lever either all the way backwards or all the way forwards there's no more way to push to get that going again so you'll have to start it with your hands. It can be nice just to start it with your hands anyway just because this way you can give it a nice forceful tug get it going nice and fast instantaneously without having to work up to that speed with your foot. So it might be tempting when you see a treadle machine to want to operate it by pressing your foot forwards and pressing your foot backwards in order to manually create that back and forwards motion that gets the machine going. That's actually not how you use a treadle machine and it seems a little bit counterintuitive but this machine has a lot of corresponding mechanisms things that respond to everything. This larger wheel down here connecting to this smaller wheel creates more motion and stuff physics. It's not as much effort as you might think constantly moving your foot so you don't have to necessarily be the one true source of power once you get it going a little bit it will have a bit of momentum and if you interfere with that momentum you can cause the machine to sort of get confused and try and go the other way which is not what you want to do. In order to keep the mechanics going in a forward motion and not faltering back and reversing on themselves you do need to get the machine going at a base speed which a can be a little bit difficult to gauge at first and b might be a bit fast for beginners liking so just get a hang of this before you actually try this on actual sewing. Treadling is a bit more difficult to get used to even if you do have sewing machine experience but it does leave both hands free to handle the work as you sew so is a little bit more convenient once you get the hang of it. I was trying to teach my friend Constance how to treadle a little while ago. Constance who is a professional costume maker and can operate an industrial machine which I cannot and she can very much confirm that this is a very unique process that takes a little bit of getting used to. You have a whole new appreciation for Ruth Goodman in that one scene. I know I feel her pain even without knowing what I'm doing now. You do kind of have to get it going a little bit because if it slows down too much then it will kind of just fall backwards a bit. Yeah yeah. There you go. See now you feel it like you feel it. And I've stopped. Yeah it's a completely different action to what you think it should be. Oh wow. Some additional things to note with these Victorian machines. This little knob here regulates the stitch length if you need to make your stitches longer or shorter and this one here regulates the top tension thread if that needs a little bit of adjustment. These machines do not backstitch like modern machines do to anchor the thread at the beginning and the end of the seam. They also only do a straight stitch so no settings for zigzagging or anything but that's kind of to be expected. You'll need to be responsible for making sure that the seam is anchored properly which most of the time isn't really a problem because garment seams tend to often get finished off in other seams such as at the top and bottom of straight seams. Those often get put into hems and waistbands so those loose ends get tucked away and secured with tasks that are often in the Victorian period done by hand anyway so it doesn't really matter. Sometimes though you will need to make sure that there's a knot in your seam and this you will have to do yourself once you've pulled the garment out from under the machine. This can very easily, neatly, and inconspicuously be done by pulling both ends of the thread through to the same side, knotting those two ends together, threading them through a needle, and burying that tail into your fabric. So there's your beginner's crash course on how to operate one of these machines should you find yourself time-traveled into a time without electricity or should you happen to acquire one of these in our merry modern times. These truly are extraordinary pieces of machinery and have been built to last centuries and while they might not go as fast or have as many fun features as modern sewing machines there is such a unique element of life to these. You have to learn its language and feel its rhythm and connect with it in a more tactile way that makes the process of sewing so much more magical. I find that I don't even need an electric machine anymore. These two trusty friends assist me with all of my sewing just as they've done undoubtedly for many others over the last century and hopefully will continue to do for many a century to come. If you too enjoy not being bound to life in a single century might I suggest giving a listen to The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer as available through our sponsor for today's video, Audible, my go-to source for quality audiobook entertainment. It follows the story of two brothers who in the year 1348 find out that they have just six days left to live before they die of plague and are given the opportunity to live each of their remaining days 99 years after the last. Ian Mortimer is a historian who wrote some of my absolute favorite non-fictions, The Time Traveler's Guides to Medieval Elizabethan and Restoration Britain, so here is some historical fiction based on actual documented historical evidence and no shortage of history nerd comedy. Absolutely recommend. This title and thousands more along with sundry additional listening material such as plays, podcasts, guided meditations, and sleep tracks can all be found in Audible's extensive library of possibilities with members receiving a new credit each month and full access to the plus catalog. To start your 30-day free trial visit audible.com slash Bernadette or text Bernadette to 500 500.