Mabel. A restoration project!

Meet Mabel!

She's a vintage 118 year old girl. 

A Singer 28k sewing machine from 1901.

Mabel was given to my girls by their father a few years ago when he found it hiding in a very battered suitcase under a pile of junk in the loft of a property he bought. He knew I had just bought electric machines for them to start them on their sewing journey, but thought they could use this one when they stayed with him. At the time, I knew they would not be able to work a heavy vintage machine like this without lots of help and guidance but, rather than let him take it to the tip, I took it in and it has been sat on display in our dining room ever since.

Originally a hand-crank, Mabel was converted to a motorised machine by Singer at some point during the 70's.

I gingerly switched her on when I first got her and was relieved that she didn't blow up and amazed that the light still worked!

 

I knew she needed a good clean, service and oil but was wary of the motor, it made an awful noise and barely turned the flywheel so I knew something needed looking at there! All her moving parts work, nothing has seized up and she was clearly well looked after during her working life, she has a few chips and marks and isn't as shiny as she once would have been but it's nice to think that she has history.

Fast forward to now and I have decided to restore Mabel to her former pre-motor self. After researching, I have discovered that it is an easy job to remove the motor and add the hand crank handle, so after a bit of a search I have purchased a used handle from Ebay along with some bobbins as she takes the long rare type!

We named her Mabel after my Granny. I learnt to sew as a young child and was taught by both my Mum and Granny. Granny had a hand-crank Singer machine (a bit younger than this one) and that is the machine I learnt to sew on which really started my love of sewing, I can remember using it as a child when I used to stay at my grandparents during summer holidays. There is something about the oily smell of a vintage sewing machine and as soon as I opened up this machine all those lovely memories came flooding back!

                          

 


I am excited about this restoration project and look forward to sharing my progress :)

Happy sewing, Sharon