My first sewing machine
This was our first large purchase after getting married! Â At that time my husband was a Coastie who was stationed onboard an Ice Breaker and spent almost the first year of our marriage out to sea! I already loved sewing and what else should I do with him gone, but sew. I did not have my own sewing machine so we decided I needed one.
We headed to Sears and bought this one! We chose this one because we were told it was the last all metal mechanical workings that Kenmore was going to make. It sounded to us like it would last for a long time, and it has! This baby was purchased in 1980, that tells you how old this machine is and how long we’ve been married.
This little machine cost about $99.00 and is the bare minimum for sewing. I have sewn many, many things on it. I started that first year making little cloth boxes and fabric covered frames for Christmas gifts. Â Then on to pillows, curtains, dresses and more dresses. Sewing clothes for my children was the most fun I had on this machine. I also made a few flower girl dresses and earned a little extra money. Â I had the gathering stitch down and made many many buttonholes. It is in retirement now, and when I mention giving it away I have a daughter that cringes! Â I suppose I will just keep it in the closet and dust it occasionally.
I hope you don’t mind going down memory lane with me? It is fun to think back to where my love of sewing began. If you would like to share your story, we would love to hear all about it!! We have the BEST blog followers and readers ever!!!
P.S. I am a little embarrassed to say I have never had it serviced, oops! Just oiled it once in a while!
Wow, this brings back memories…I learned to sew on this machine (I think I also put that sticker on it…)! Fun, fun!
I wasn’t sure if you learned to sew on this machine or Nana’s, I am sure you were the one who put the sticker on it!! Have a great day with my two sweet little grand babies!!
It would be very hard to give that away!!
It looks brand new still! If it still works, I’d be sewing on it!
My first machine was my mother’s 1958 Singer. When I was more accomplished and thought I needed a more robust machine with many stitches, I purchased a sturdy Pfaff in 1988 and the Singer went to my sister. She was not into sewing much so it sits in her house and I would dearly love to request its return. Like you, that Singer taught me many things and sewed quite a wardrobe for me and a few commissions as well. Full circle, this week I purchased an old Singer 221, with all the same attachments that I learned on too many years ago. Don’t tell my husband but I think I see a collection starting.
It looks very similiar to my second sewing machine given to me by my grandmother. Her and my mom each bought one in the 70’s. I remember going to the classes with them at Sears. I dont think I have ever got it serviced either. I have oiled it. I now sew on my Featherweight and new Babylock but I am missing my Kenmore.
Ooops my first machine was my Dad’s mothers 1950s White. I LOVED sewing on it but dont have room fro its cabinet.
I love first sewing machine stories! 🙂
Mine was a 1961 Singer Slant-O-Matic 500 that my grandmother gave me for Christmas when I was 15 (early 90s). It was the heaviest thing wrapped under the tree, and by the size/shape/weight I was *CONVINCED* it was a stereo. My disappointment at getting a sewing machine must have been palpable.
At this point I’ve been using that “disappointment” for almost 20 years, and has proved to be a much better gift than a stereo. 😉
I have a few “antique” machines. I keep them in my “studio” high up on a shelf as decorations.
Love the story! My first machine was a Singer and I still have it also. It works great. I even have my little toy machine I made Barbie dolls clothes with.
Hugs
Donna
Oh my gosh, that looks a lot like the sewing machine my parents bought me for my 16th birthday. I upgraded to a Viking about 12 years ago. I passed my kenmore onto a friend and her daughter.
I have that very same machine! Got it for high school graduation. I bought a Janome last year so I could learn to free motion quilt and I love it. Something about the familiarity of that old Kenmore and feeling like I could sew with my eyes closed on it leave it stored happily away in my closet!
I have that very same machine! Got it for high school graduation. I bought a Janome last year so I could learn to free motion quilt and I love it. Something about the familiarity of that old Kenmore and feeling like I could sew with my eyes closed on it leave it stored happily away in my closet!
I sew on a 1954 Pfaff 130 and I’m totally in love with it. It’s been used to make hundreds and hundreds of things over the past decade that I’ve had it, without a bit of service either. I finally decided to take it in, just to get a once over and the only thing it needed was a little oil and a bulb replaced. Gotta love the old machines!
And congrats on both a marriage and a sewing machine that has lasted this long!
As I was scrolling through to catch on my blog reading the word “Coastie” caught my eye in the brief preview that appears on the Blogger Dashboard. People don’t always understand the reference but since my husband is actively serving aboard a buoy tendering here in Alaska I felt compelled to read and comment on your post. It’s amazing the small world we live in where these commonalities can be found. He bought me my sewing machine with my parents help several years ago because I was tired of hand sewing his uniform patches. Since then it has sewn many clothing and home decor items and a few quilts.
I bought my first sewing machine in 1969 with green stamps! It was a Singer and I still use it. I don’t think we heard about serving machines then; just oil and sew. I have had it serviced since I let our kids use it and the tension messed up. I mentored a high school senior who wanted to make a quilt for her senior project. She used it until I felt she needed to use a walking foot to quilt the quilt. It is my back up machine.
I made my boys’ clothes, my husband’s suits, clothes for me, and items for our home–slipcovers, curtains, and even upholstered a couch. There are a lot of wonderful memories with the machine.
Thanks
My first sewing machine was also a Kenmore which I purchased in 1984, not too long after getting married. It was very similar to yours. It lasted until just a few years ago. The machine repair person had told me the last time I took it in that it probably wasn’t worth repairing again. Great memories of sewing all of my son’s Halloween costumes. Now I have a Viking and love it!! It does way more than I need it to do, and maybe one of these days I’ll play around with it and learn all of its features.
Didn’t everybody get their machine at Sears? Mine was in the late 80’s and very generic but a Singer. It has long since bit the dust with along with a very modern multi-stitch digital machine that I despised. Perhaps it didn’t like me either. I finally went all the way back to a Juki industrial machine from the 30’s ten years ago and it runs like a charm. For Valentine’s day this year my husband bought me the limited edition Retro Singer so that I can sew button holes again! Either way the older machines were the best! Smiles…Renee
Don’t give it away!! I have a Kenmore that was used and given to me when a lady at church upgraded. It’s not the same model, but probably close in age. I sewed miles and miles on that machine. I keep it as a back up now, and whenever I sew flannel, I use the Kenmore. I think these machines will last and last, just like the little Featherweight machines.
You should never give it away! No, something like that is important, and I bet someday your daughter will want to have it for herself. Sometimes it’s good to let go, and sometimes it’s better not to. I think I sold my first one, which was really basic, so I could get a better model. Then when I broke that one, my hub decided I should get a new one, and we got rid of the second one. Mine have all been brother models, and I have loved each of them, for different reasons. I think my first one was probably under $100.
How awesome! I got married in 1980 too 🙂 Time flies when you’re having fun! I learned to sew on my Mom’s old metal Singer. I still have it too. I started sewing when I was 8 years old and I just can’t bear to part with my Singer either. I’m hoping to teach my little granddaughters to sew one day when they are old enought. Right now learning to walk seems to be at the top of the list 🙂
I still have my green 1976 Kenmore from our 1st year of marraige too! It’s a workhorse and i still love it! thanks for the memories 🙂
Don’t be embarassed. My Kenmore is a little older and I too have never had it serviced! It sits on my sewing table today, beside my new Janome. I use them both, sometimes with dark thread in one, and light in the other-that way it saves time not having to change thread. It really is a workhorse.
I think that is such a great story! The machine I learned on was my mom’s Singer machine, probably from the late 60s or early 70s. My first machine was a Singer also that I bought new in 2002 to sew curtains for my first house. Now I have a Viking Sapphire and she has my old Singer.
I love your story and your beautiful first machine!
The first machine I sewed on was my mother’s Singer. I always loved that it lived in a gorgeous wooden desk. To get to it, you’d pop off a panel on the top of the desk, fold another small panel up, then pull the machine out of its hiding place under the desktop. It had a knee pedal, too.
When I was 8 years old my mom bought me my very first machine… a Cabbage Patch Kids Sewing Machine! 🙂
I took a break from sewing during college, but returned to it when my folks bought me a Brother from Costco shortly after I graduated. I sewed on until it gave up the ghost about a year ago. Now I have a beautiful Janome – it was like upgrading from an old VW Beetle to a Porsche! 🙂
I bought my first machine, a Kenmore with lots of bells and whistles, before I got married in 1972 and used it to make my wedding dress. The dress was far from perfect, but I loved that machine which came in a maple cabinet. I made a bedspread and drapes for our first apartment. I still have it, although I haven’t used it in many years.
Great! I still have my original sewing machine, too. It is a Kenmore, model 1751,bought in 1969 for $209.99. I got it while my husband at the time was in Vietnam. I have never had it serviced either, just cleaned and oiled it myself and had to buy a new drive belt for it. Otherwise it is as I purchased it! I used it until two years ago when I got a fancy new Brother machine, what a difference! I love my Brother but I am hanging on to the Kenmore, it is a workhorse!
Kenmores are the best!
I love memory lane and yes I still have my first machine. Singer 1970 and it’s not going anywhere. I guess my kids will have to get rid of it. Still runs and thinking of giving it to my first grandchild that is interested in me teaching her to sew. Thanks for stopping by and yes I made the little dresses. More pictures coming soon!
I love memory lane and yes I still have my first machine. Singer 1970 and it’s not going anywhere. I guess my kids will have to get rid of it. Still runs and thinking of giving it to my first grandchild that is interested in me teaching her to sew. Thanks for stopping by and yes I made the little dresses. More pictures coming soon!
Clara, you picked a winner with your machine, AND your husband! 🙂
My first machine holds a lot of similar memories…in fact, Blossom and I were just sharing about them over a pot of Earl Grey!
Hugs
Jenny
xxx
Ah, so many lovely memories with your old sewing machine Clara….it looks as though it would have lots of sewing years left in it too!..I learnt how to use my mum’s machine when I was really very young…it was an old Singer and I’ve been sewing ever since…can’t imagine ever being without one!
Hope you have a lovely weekend,
Susan x
I probably have the same one, or very close…I received mine back around the same time…I think it was either a 21st birthday present or high school graduation. If it wasn’t inside it’s case lodged in my closet I’d pull it out & check it. Back then the newest thing was the zigzag stitch…lol! This is still the only machine I have and it works great for what I need – the only thing I ever had to do to it was change the needle ’cause it got bent. I wonder what these old beauties are worth? Maybe we’re both sitting on a goldmine…lol
Smiles, DianeM
you should definitely USE the machine some just to keep it in running order. Old machines like this will truly last forever if you do a little maintenance on them – like that oiling you mentioned.
I still have my first machine too, I got it around the same time, but it is not as fancy as yours. (and it is a Kenmore also.)
What a great first sewing machine!! Things were definitely built to last, and loved hearing your memories with it! So neat! Have a beautiful weekend! xo Heather
Oh Clara, she’s a beaut! I can see why a certain daughter frowns at the idea of you giving her away.
I think one´s first sewing machine has a lot of sentimental value. I got my first as a confirmation gift from my grandpa. It was the same model as my grandma had (she taught me to sew). My second (and current) sewing machine was bought as soon as I had enough from my first job. I probably couldn´t really afford it, but I HAD to have the same model as my grandma did at that time. So we´ve always had matching machines:)
This was my first machine as well. I got it when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter and now my middle daughter who is now 27 owns it. It still runs like a champ. -)
You must keep it! I donated my mom’s sewing machine a long, long time ago, back before I knew better… in another life time. (I am trying to make myself feel better…Its not working…) I could KICK myself.