See full version: My Sewing Machine Obsession
The 15-91 is a gear driven straight stitch machine. According to the user manual it will take up to a size 21 needle. The potted motor on the back houses a spiral gear that meshes with a texolite gear in the handwheel. This direct drive gives added strength and power to the machine. It has a class 15 bobbin and vertical hook. It uses common 15X1 needles that you can get at Wal mart. It runs very smoothly. [links]
Something happens to me when I see a sewing machine. All reason disappears and I just fall in love. Really. At 25 bucks this isn't a huge problem. Since I had to make the trip anyway it wasn't as if I was wasting gas. So all in all I was pretty pleased with myself for chasing this machine and nabbing it.
At the other end I could not crimp the connectors. I had run out of the nifty little open ended ones (Actually, Steven had run out) and all I had were some heavier ones that were rated for 16 and 14 G wire. I took off the little blue plastic insulators and simply soldered the connectors to the wire.
I knew that the foot pedal needed re-wiring. I was up to that task for sure. However, I had disassembled this mechanism almost 10 months ago and had no clue which wire was hot and which wire was not. Fortunately I had another foot pedal as a prototype, further supporting my argument that multiple similar sewing machines is an asset. [links]
But there was an attempt to make straight-stitch machines more versatile. here
As someone who sews a lot of menswear, particularly shirts, I find a straight-stitch machine a necessity due to the large amount of accurate topstitching and edgestitching required. The fact that they’re also a pleasure to use because of their solid construction and simple design is icing on the cake.
On this contemporary Janome, notice how widely set the feed dogs are. Here, I’ve attached my Singer straight-stitch foot to the machine. This is a cheap alternative to purchasing a vintage straight-stitch machine, though less than ideal. more
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Even this Bernina straight-stitch foot (left) offers about the same (poor) visibility as the Bernina zigzag foot (right).
Quilting lines spaced further apart look great on quilts with large amounts of background negative space. They can be quilted at a diagonal angle across the quilt to add interest and break up the space. So don’t feel limited if you can’t or don’t wish to free-motion quilt your creations. The sky is the limit when it comes to creativity, and it all starts with a straight line.
Would you like to quilt your own quilts on your regular home sewing machine? Are you afraid to try because you don’t think you have the right quilting equipment? What if I told you that you can add beautiful texture to your quilts without investing in a specialty machine? If your machine can sew a straight stitch, it can be used for machine quilting.
You can quilt a series of concentric, geometric spirals inside a square block. The lines don’t have to be even and they don’t even have to be perfectly straight to add extra depth and dimension to your quilt. here
Lower your stitch length to zero with the feed dogs covered and you’ve just completed Step 1. In fact, some machines may actually perform better using this technique. If you can lower your feed dogs, try with and without engaging them and see what you prefer. more
If free-motion quilting is still not for you, there are other options for quilting using a regular sewing machine. You can add plenty of amazing texture to your quilts with simple straight line quilting. A walking foot or built-in even-feed system works well for stitching straight lines. However, if you don’t have either of these options, you can still quilt straight lines with your favorite all-purpose sewing foot. here
Another great way to add interesting quilting with a walking foot or regular sewing foot is to stitch a series of straight lines spaced very close together over the surface of your entire quilt. This is sometimes called “matchstick quilting” and is a very popular design to use for modern quilting. here
However, as I noted in a previous post , not all bobbins are created equal. I used some cheap bobbins, and they were so inconsistent in size that I thought my bobbin winder was broken. I recommend these Class 15 bobbins from Sewing Parts Online--they were nearly identical in quality to the vintage Class 15 bobbin I had. [links]
Mine has a spoked handwheel like the treadle models, so I believe it started out life in a treadle table and was converted to electric at some point. If it had been in an old wooden case, it might have started out life as a hand crank instead, but the case looks like it's from the 1950s-1960s, so that's probably when the conversion happened. more
In this post, I'll show you how to restore, clean, and use your Singer 15 sewing machine. This is one of the most iconic sewing machines Singer ever made, and there are plenty of them still out there waiting for a little TLC. I had my eye on this machine for almost a year before I bought it. Initially, it looked a bit run down, the decals weren't in great shape, and I wasn't crazy about the case.
In terms of needles and bobbins, some vintage sewing machines take obscure parts that can make using them difficult. With the Singer 15, however, you're in luck. The Singer 15 uses a 15x1 needle (also known as the 2020 or 130/705h), which became the standard across the entire sewing machine industry. here
Three Part Series on Singer 15-30: