I thoroughly loved this introduction to Mary Margaret , she's a beautiful machine. The Singer factory was in Clydebank, Glasgow, Scotland ( the banks of The River Clyde), so how appropriate that you have a Scottish Tartan pin cover to hand. I hope she gives you many years of pleasure. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this excellent video. I was given a dusty treadle, couldn't figure out the model number - either 28 or 66, and didn't know what to call the design. Tulip? Wheat? Would never have thought of lotus. Your machine is exactly like mine (but in better shape). I especially appreciate your great explanations about threading, bobbin direction, tension and stitch length. You've saved me a LOT of time!
Gosh, this was months ago and I realized I never answered you! I'm glad the information was helpful. I'm no expert, but I'm learning more and more all the time. I hope your beautiful girl is running smoothly for you!
You can disengage the handwheel for winding a bobbin by holding the wheel and turning the knob on the end toward you until it stops. About a quarter turn. The handwheel will then turn the bobbin without running the entire machine. Then re engage when done winding the bobbin. Also the slide plate does not have to be left open after you load the bobbin. Just leave the thread tail out through the little notch in the cover. It will be in the right position to be taken up. Thats a beautiful machine you have and its so good to see that it is loved and used to sew. So many are discarded and the cabinets are destroyed in order to make "decorative" tables.
I can on all my other machines, but this one is stuck. When I have time, I'll get it all apart and get some penetrating oil in there to see if I can get it to break loose.
It turns out that there were 66s made in Elizabethport, NJ. My daughter has a 1905 Lotus 66, and when I look up her serial number in the singer serial number database, it says that it was made in Elizabethport NJ. So it having the lotus flowers does not guarantee that it was made in Scotland. It is definitely rare to find them in the US, but they were made here in the US.
Thank you for sharing this video. I bought a beautiful Singer Treadle 66 last month for my 50th birthday 🙂 she is in beautiful condition and I have watched quite a lot of videos so I know how to look after her. I've given her a polish but she has a little bit of rust on the bobbin cover plate. Could you recommend something to clean this off? I just absolutely love the crochet mat you have under your cotton reel, I'd love to be able to make one. The lady who owned her from new before me was called Margaret and hence my treadle is called Margaret 🥰 enjoy your beautiful girl and keep on posting these excellent informative videos x
Karen, you are so welcome! I love my wonderful old girl, she's just wonderful! She is my first treadle, so of course very near and dear to my heart. For the rust, you can try evaporust, or a bit of naval jelly (follow the directions). Once you have it pretty clean, you can wax it with car wax. Car wax won't rub off on fabrics, so it is a good choice for sewing machines.
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 bless you thank you so much for taking the time to help. I'll look out for both the evaporust and the naval jelly x I'm also looking on UA-cam how to crochet so I can copy your beautiful pad for your thread holder x
@@karenarey9788 My mother crochets those for me. My crochet skills don't rise to that level. :) I have them on several machines. My mother is part of our collective at Patchwork Chicken Studio. She is our weaver; check our other videos and you'll see some of her work.
I just bought my very first antique machine and it just so happened to be the 1908 sister to your dear Mary Margaret. I'm just wondering, due to being a complete newbie to these older machines and have only ever seen the shuttle bobbins on the older girls, how does one get the bobbin out of it's holder?? I've been futzing with it for a while and I feel like I'm missing something! Haha. As for the woman below who mentioned these lovely machines coming from NJ, mine was apparently made there as well. So there are a few out there from the States!
Hi Brittany. There is a little lever to lift the bobbin up so you can grab it. When you pull the slide plate to the side, in the front, there is a little round piece that has hash marks on it. push it down with your fingertip, and it lifts the back of the bobbin. I have pictures if you want to email me at patchworkchickenstudio@gmail.com
Hi there :) I have also just become the proud owner of a Singer 66 named "Wendy" 😊 I have been playing with her and getting to know how she runs, however I am unsure how to pack her away? I didn't watch when they set her up so don't know if I have to disconnect the belt first or what to do? Would you mind terribly doing a video to demonstrate that as well as I'd really like to look after her well. Or even a step by step process as I can't find anything online ☺🙏🌼
Yes, I can do that. You do need to disengage the belt, or it will break when you are trying to lower the machine. I'll try to get a video done for you tomorrow, and I'll comment with the link when I do. This is a GREAT question and definitely not something I have covered!
Hi Smurfette! It took me a couple days, but the video on how to disengage the belt and put the machine down into the cabinet is up! ua-cam.com/video/3LuSn-TA1qs/v-deo.html
Nicely done. Thank you. Very informative, just bought my first treadle , 1906 Lotus, have just got it working and teaching myself to treadle. Question to you. Does the bobbin holder need a rubber tire? If so, is it the larger one I’ve seen? Thanks.
No, it does not get a tire, because it needs to rest on the belt when it is winding a bobbin. Check out my other video on how tight a treadle belt should be, here: ua-cam.com/video/lGWj1kR1kLk/v-deo.html
Hi .. love your tutorial .. I have one of these dated 1917 and I'm trying to learn all I can about them .. I have a question though about the little light you're using .. can you point me in the direction of where you bought it from? I am in Australia and I can't find anything like it listed anywhere .. thank you
I bought them on Amazon forever ago. They have a sticky-back but I just use a magnet on them and leave the stick-back alone. You can put them anywhere on your machine, so that makes them really really versatile! Here's a link: smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0721NYMJN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 Thank you so much! I like your idea of attaching a magnet to the back of it too .. apparently they're out of stock but now I know what to look for .. thanks again
Could you please share images or footage of the cabinet of Mary Margaret? I am cleaning up this exact model (lifelong dream!) and I'm trying to learn what knobs the drawers need and, also, what pieces go in the carved spots in the center drawer. I've only figured out where would hold screwdrivers so far. :) Any further info on Mary Margaret would be so appreciated!
Hi, Judy! I may not get additional video for several days, but I have pictures of the cabinet and treadle on my hard drive, and would be happy to email those to you. You can email me at susabelle@gmail.com, and I'll send you what I have. If you need more closeup pictures, I could get those for you this weekend. I'm happy to help!
When you want to get the thread to slip into the thread guide on the face plate of the machine it will only slip/slide in one way - either from the far side towards you or the near side away from you. I wonder... If you haven't already then perhaps take the face plate off your machine and look from the other side at where the guide attaches. From that side you might be able see which side your "gap" is on. Yours might blocked with something or the gap was set so it is too far "into" the face plate, making it hard for the thread to slip in? A good inspection of it from the other side might help you work out what needs to be (very carefully) tweaked so you don't have to "thread" it each time.
Thanks for the tip! I did clean it, but probably didn't put as much effort into it as I could have. The few times I could actually get it through, it is on the back, not the front, of the guide. Gives me a good excuse to spend some time with her tomorrow, as I have had a busy few days but tomorrow only has one thing on my schedule - REST! :)
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 I've just finished cleaning up a 1916 Singer 66 with the lotus design like yours (I guess she's a younger sister to your one!). Today I'm starting on cleaning up the attachments (which are all in pretty good shape, but need a bit of a clean and polish and some fresh oil on the ruffler and testing it). I'll be thinking of you spending time with yours while I'm spending a bit of time with mine. :-)
Does your vin start with a letter B or the letter K , just trying to do some research on 1904 model 66 , dont need the vin numbef just the first letter
The machine is a Singer 66, and you can always look that up to find the right bobbins and needles. In this case, it takes a standard 15x, or 15-class needle.
I believe yours is a newer version of the 66 ( maybe 1920’s). Mine has the old style bobbin winder and it is from 1913 ( a red eye). What is the serial number on it?
I do know how old mine is AND I know where it was made (Scotland). The date is correct - 1904. I has a back-clamping non-articulating foot, and that style was abandoned before 1910.
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 wow!!! That must be really rare! I never came across with a 1904 singer 66 😱. All the serial number records from 66 production in UK were from 1907 until 1939.
@@PetiteGatita although after snooping around the internet, i found a site that states in order to fill the demand in Europe, singer made a factory in 1883 in Scotland. So maybe it was made there!
@@hayleyjohnson1874 hi, yes, they had the factory in Scotland around that time. What got my attention on your video is that it was saying your machine was built in 1904. I have never seen such old 66 (neither here in North America nor there. And there are articles, like this one, that confirms the production on 66s there started in 1907: www.singermachines.co.uk/faq/finding-model-from-serial-number.html Sometimes, what creates confusion on people about the machine’s manufacturing date, is the patent info on the sliding plates (which is only for the plate). I found a nice app called “singer serial DB” and that is what I use to reasearch the machine serial number to get when it was manufactured. That is how I found out the date on mine (from 1913). If you have an iphone, here is the link: apps.apple.com/ca/app/singer-serial-db/id1493070456
I have looked up my new treadle serial number that I just found today, it says it is a model 31, 1904. But it looks like yours how do I find out more about my machine?
If you did the same thing i did, then you probably looked at the wrong number. Check to see if there are 6 or 7 numbers after the letter (probably B). If there are 6, you would get the model 31 1904. However if there are 7 numbers, you have to scroll farther down in the database and you will see the 7 digit serial numbers, which are 1905 models. So my guess is your machine is a 1905 model 66-1
@@hayleyjohnson1874 thank you my number is B1311986 I am going to have to replace the bobbin winder. Some of the pieces are missing. I ordered on on eBay looked like my machine but with different paint job but it doesn’t fit the screw that holds it on is to small and not long enough. My screw is very fat and heavy, fits further down in the hole.
I was gifted a 1906 66. Treadle machine. Am in process of cleaning it. Can't wait to sew!
I thoroughly loved this introduction to Mary Margaret , she's a beautiful machine.
The Singer factory was in Clydebank, Glasgow, Scotland ( the banks of The River Clyde), so how appropriate that you have a Scottish Tartan pin cover to hand.
I hope she gives you many years of pleasure. Thanks for sharing.
I love that she is called after her original owner!😊❤
Thank you for this excellent video. I was given a dusty treadle, couldn't figure out the model number - either 28 or 66, and didn't know what to call the design. Tulip? Wheat? Would never have thought of lotus. Your machine is exactly like mine (but in better shape). I especially appreciate your great explanations about threading, bobbin direction, tension and stitch length. You've saved me a LOT of time!
Gosh, this was months ago and I realized I never answered you! I'm glad the information was helpful. I'm no expert, but I'm learning more and more all the time. I hope your beautiful girl is running smoothly for you!
You can disengage the handwheel for winding a bobbin by holding the wheel and turning the knob on the end toward you until it stops. About a quarter turn. The handwheel will then turn the bobbin without running the entire machine. Then re engage when done winding the bobbin. Also the slide plate does not have to be left open after you load the bobbin. Just leave the thread tail out through the little notch in the cover. It will be in the right position to be taken up. Thats a beautiful machine you have and its so good to see that it is loved and used to sew. So many are discarded and the cabinets are destroyed in order to make "decorative" tables.
I can on all my other machines, but this one is stuck. When I have time, I'll get it all apart and get some penetrating oil in there to see if I can get it to break loose.
It turns out that there were 66s made in Elizabethport, NJ. My daughter has a 1905 Lotus 66, and when I look up her serial number in the singer serial number database, it says that it was made in Elizabethport NJ. So it having the lotus flowers does not guarantee that it was made in Scotland. It is definitely rare to find them in the US, but they were made here in the US.
I was going to ask about this! My serial number indicates my machine is from NJ, but it's a 1904 Lotus 66.
Thank you for sharing this video. I bought a beautiful Singer Treadle 66 last month for my 50th birthday 🙂 she is in beautiful condition and I have watched quite a lot of videos so I know how to look after her. I've given her a polish but she has a little bit of rust on the bobbin cover plate. Could you recommend something to clean this off? I just absolutely love the crochet mat you have under your cotton reel, I'd love to be able to make one. The lady who owned her from new before me was called Margaret and hence my treadle is called Margaret 🥰 enjoy your beautiful girl and keep on posting these excellent informative videos x
Karen, you are so welcome! I love my wonderful old girl, she's just wonderful! She is my first treadle, so of course very near and dear to my heart. For the rust, you can try evaporust, or a bit of naval jelly (follow the directions). Once you have it pretty clean, you can wax it with car wax. Car wax won't rub off on fabrics, so it is a good choice for sewing machines.
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 bless you thank you so much for taking the time to help. I'll look out for both the evaporust and the naval jelly x I'm also looking on UA-cam how to crochet so I can copy your beautiful pad for your thread holder x
@@karenarey9788 My mother crochets those for me. My crochet skills don't rise to that level. :) I have them on several machines. My mother is part of our collective at Patchwork Chicken Studio. She is our weaver; check our other videos and you'll see some of her work.
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 I most certainly will have a look, thank you x
I just bought my very first antique machine and it just so happened to be the 1908 sister to your dear Mary Margaret. I'm just wondering, due to being a complete newbie to these older machines and have only ever seen the shuttle bobbins on the older girls, how does one get the bobbin out of it's holder?? I've been futzing with it for a while and I feel like I'm missing something! Haha. As for the woman below who mentioned these lovely machines coming from NJ, mine was apparently made there as well. So there are a few out there from the States!
Hi Brittany. There is a little lever to lift the bobbin up so you can grab it. When you pull the slide plate to the side, in the front, there is a little round piece that has hash marks on it. push it down with your fingertip, and it lifts the back of the bobbin. I have pictures if you want to email me at patchworkchickenstudio@gmail.com
❤️
Hi there :) I have also just become the proud owner of a Singer 66 named "Wendy" 😊 I have been playing with her and getting to know how she runs, however I am unsure how to pack her away? I didn't watch when they set her up so don't know if I have to disconnect the belt first or what to do? Would you mind terribly doing a video to demonstrate that as well as I'd really like to look after her well. Or even a step by step process as I can't find anything online ☺🙏🌼
Yes, I can do that. You do need to disengage the belt, or it will break when you are trying to lower the machine. I'll try to get a video done for you tomorrow, and I'll comment with the link when I do. This is a GREAT question and definitely not something I have covered!
Hi Smurfette! It took me a couple days, but the video on how to disengage the belt and put the machine down into the cabinet is up! ua-cam.com/video/3LuSn-TA1qs/v-deo.html
Nicely done. Thank you. Very informative, just bought my first treadle , 1906 Lotus, have just got it working and teaching myself to treadle. Question to you. Does the bobbin holder need a rubber tire? If so, is it the larger one I’ve seen? Thanks.
No, it does not get a tire, because it needs to rest on the belt when it is winding a bobbin. Check out my other video on how tight a treadle belt should be, here: ua-cam.com/video/lGWj1kR1kLk/v-deo.html
Hi .. love your tutorial .. I have one of these dated 1917 and I'm trying to learn all I can about them .. I have a question though about the little light you're using .. can you point me in the direction of where you bought it from? I am in Australia and I can't find anything like it listed anywhere .. thank you
I bought them on Amazon forever ago. They have a sticky-back but I just use a magnet on them and leave the stick-back alone. You can put them anywhere on your machine, so that makes them really really versatile! Here's a link: smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0721NYMJN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 Thank you so much! I like your idea of attaching a magnet to the back of it too .. apparently they're out of stock but now I know what to look for .. thanks again
Could you please share images or footage of the cabinet of Mary Margaret? I am cleaning up this exact model (lifelong dream!) and I'm trying to learn what knobs the drawers need and, also, what pieces go in the carved spots in the center drawer. I've only figured out where would hold screwdrivers so far. :) Any further info on Mary Margaret would be so appreciated!
Hi, Judy! I may not get additional video for several days, but I have pictures of the cabinet and treadle on my hard drive, and would be happy to email those to you. You can email me at susabelle@gmail.com, and I'll send you what I have. If you need more closeup pictures, I could get those for you this weekend. I'm happy to help!
When you want to get the thread to slip into the thread guide on the face plate of the machine it will only slip/slide in one way - either from the far side towards you or the near side away from you. I wonder... If you haven't already then perhaps take the face plate off your machine and look from the other side at where the guide attaches. From that side you might be able see which side your "gap" is on. Yours might blocked with something or the gap was set so it is too far "into" the face plate, making it hard for the thread to slip in? A good inspection of it from the other side might help you work out what needs to be (very carefully) tweaked so you don't have to "thread" it each time.
Thanks for the tip! I did clean it, but probably didn't put as much effort into it as I could have. The few times I could actually get it through, it is on the back, not the front, of the guide. Gives me a good excuse to spend some time with her tomorrow, as I have had a busy few days but tomorrow only has one thing on my schedule - REST! :)
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 I've just finished cleaning up a 1916 Singer 66 with the lotus design like yours (I guess she's a younger sister to your one!). Today I'm starting on cleaning up the attachments (which are all in pretty good shape, but need a bit of a clean and polish and some fresh oil on the ruffler and testing it). I'll be thinking of you spending time with yours while I'm spending a bit of time with mine. :-)
Does your vin start with a letter B or the letter K , just trying to do some research on 1904 model 66 , dont need the vin numbef just the first letter
I don't remember what letter, but it is definitely not a B or K. I can check next time I am in my sewing room.
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 if you could that would be awesome , just doing some research on the 66s models thank you for your reply...
How do I know what needles I need, my machine looks like yours!?
The machine is a Singer 66, and you can always look that up to find the right bobbins and needles. In this case, it takes a standard 15x, or 15-class needle.
I believe yours is a newer version of the 66 ( maybe 1920’s). Mine has the old style bobbin winder and it is from 1913 ( a red eye). What is the serial number on it?
I do know how old mine is AND I know where it was made (Scotland). The date is correct - 1904. I has a back-clamping non-articulating foot, and that style was abandoned before 1910.
@@patchworkchickenstudioarta5615 wow!!! That must be really rare! I never came across with a 1904 singer 66 😱. All the serial number records from 66 production in UK were from 1907 until 1939.
@@PetiteGatita yeah, there's something off. I read that singers weren't made until 1907 as well
@@PetiteGatita although after snooping around the internet, i found a site that states in order to fill the demand in Europe, singer made a factory in 1883 in Scotland. So maybe it was made there!
@@hayleyjohnson1874 hi, yes, they had the factory in Scotland around that time. What got my attention on your video is that it was saying your machine was built in 1904. I have never seen such old 66 (neither here in North America nor there. And there are articles, like this one, that confirms the production on 66s there started in 1907:
www.singermachines.co.uk/faq/finding-model-from-serial-number.html
Sometimes, what creates confusion on people about the machine’s manufacturing date, is the patent info on the sliding plates (which is only for the plate).
I found a nice app called “singer serial DB” and that is what I use to reasearch the machine serial number to get when it was manufactured. That is how I found out the date on mine (from 1913). If you have an iphone, here is the link:
apps.apple.com/ca/app/singer-serial-db/id1493070456
مكنة حلوة وحبابة
I have looked up my new treadle serial number that I just found today, it says it is a model 31, 1904. But it looks like yours how do I find out more about my machine?
Hi Carol, I think I missed this comment. What is your serial number?
If you did the same thing i did, then you probably looked at the wrong number. Check to see if there are 6 or 7 numbers after the letter (probably B). If there are 6, you would get the model 31 1904. However if there are 7 numbers, you have to scroll farther down in the database and you will see the 7 digit serial numbers, which are 1905 models. So my guess is your machine is a 1905 model 66-1
@@hayleyjohnson1874 thank you my number is B1311986 I am going to have to replace the bobbin winder. Some of the pieces are missing. I ordered on on eBay looked like my machine but with different paint job but it doesn’t fit the screw that holds it on is to small and not long enough. My screw is very fat and heavy, fits further down in the hole.