Friday, June 25, 2010

1940 Singer 15-91 - Pearl

This is Pearl, she is 70 years old and another rescue from the dump!  Unfortunately, this one needed lots of refurbishing. 
Instead of belt drive, she has a gear-driven motor, which makes her very unique in my collection.  Looking at the "after" photos now, "before" photos would have been good. As always, I cleaned, oiled, replaced the rubber bobbin winder tire and thought we were good to go.  The needle bar moved freely, the black finish was lovely, all the sticky residue was removed from the throat plate.
I ordered a marked throat plate, straight-stitch walking foot and deluxe darning foot for Pearl from Jenny at Sew-Classic.
What a beauty...I was smitten! So I took out the bobbin plugged her in and tried the foot pedal.  Pearl's gear-driven motor was worn out.  It would start off sewing but the longer I pressed the foot pedal the slower the machine sewed.  After about five minutes the motor would just hum and not turn the needle bar at all.  So I tried disassembling it, lubricating with singer grease.  This made no difference.  The Brandon Sewing Centre did not have a replacement motor and it is not possible to order a new motor.  I contacted Dominion Sewing in Sudbury, Ontario, they had six used gear driven motors in stock, only one was good.  I bought it and had it shipped to Brandon.  The Brandon Sewing Centre installed the new motor.  Next, the 70 year old electrical cords were worn and frayed.  So I took the plunge, bought a new electronic foot pedal, 16 feet of heat resistant appliance wire and a new plug.  On Tuesday, June 22, my husband rewired Pearl.
Now she not only looks beautiful, but sews fantastically.
This is Pearl wearing her new straight stitch walking foot.
The yellow straight stitch on white is the bottom side sewn with Pearl.
This is the top side.
Photo above is the bottom side.
This is a baby quilt for a little boy.  Happy sewing all!  For more vintage treasures, please visit Colorado Lady's blog.

15 comments:

  1. Tammy how kind you were to rescue her from the rubbish dump- glad you could find what you needed to keep the old girl stitching. The old machines do have a nice sense of history. Her end plate is especially pretty and her filigree decals are the same as on my old treadle the MIL gifted me years ago.

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  2. You know the way to my heart is with a classic. She looks terrific. I've not heard of the gear driven motor. What a find! I love the concept of no belt. Lane

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  3. The old machines truly are works of art. It's uncommon to see someone so dedicated to restoring them.

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  4. normally old machines last long.. especially with sewing machines. my grandma always said when to buy a sewing machine, try and get a good one i.e. Singer.. coz it gonna last you for many years to come! and just like yours, my grandma have one currently at her home and it still works a OK. and so happy that you finally made it the machine work perfectly! thanks for sharing.

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  5. Gorgeous - there's a whole host of Singer restorers down here - thank goodness ;-)

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  6. A great machine and story. I believe my mom had one very much like this - your photos take me back.

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  7. This is a beautiful sewing machine! I had no idea that you could find feet to fit...now she's ready to quilt and sew once again! Good job! Bet she's so grateful that you made her useful once again.

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  8. What amazing sewing machine story. You just about performed a miracle on this. You now have a vintage machine like no other. Enjoy it.

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  9. Those old black machines are my idea of what a sewing machine should look like.

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  10. What a fabulous old machine! She sews beautifully, now that she's had some TLC.

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  11. Wow! What a great rescue!!! I love that machine, and wish I had one like this!!! Have a great VTT~! Thanks for the link, I am going to check that out!

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  12. I'm new to sewing, but I do love the look of these vintage machines, they are so beautiful. What a job you did restoring her. Happy Canada Day!

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  13. What an wonderful find! And I am impressed at all the time and effort you put into restoring her! I am nervously trying to figure out how to rewire my 1955 Necchi that was handed down to me from my grandmother last week... So scared I'll do something wrong! Happy VTT and happy sewing!

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  14. Hope you can help me-I have a 15-91 and just took the bobbin winder tire off to replace it. I'm tired of winding bobbins on another machine for this 15-91. Now how in the world do I get the new tire on? Thanks so much for any help. BTW-I'm a Tammy too!

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    1. Hi Tammy, I buy replacement bobbin rubber tires from the Brandon sewing centre. As long as you have the correct size they are easy to put on. Just stretch a wee bit to slip on the rim. If the rubber tire won't stretch enough it is most likely the wrong size. There are at least 3 different bobbin tire sizes. Hope this helps.

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