Boy, add "extremely high quality vintage sewing machines" to the giant pile of stuff that is almost free if you know how to tune them up. I guess no one needs industrial strength metal sewing machines anymore. (this is a Singer 15 clone, postwar Japan, made with permission of Singer). #random #ReduceRepairReuse
I think that's mostly for folks taught to use zig-zag a certain way. Once I started looking at old treadle machine accessories, I realized there are a shitload of things those machines can do with accessories so they definitely have more than "merely" straight stitch.
I was taught to use zig-zag mostly as a substitute for serger stitches for seams. These days I feel like I can do both buttonholes and seam-sealing better with other methods.
@TonyYarusso @meganL I need a list of machines that can be hacked to be run from software (not that I have any need for it... but it would be interesting)
The embroidery is done freehand and replicates many hand techniques that modern embroidery machines do not do.
I have often thought that it wouldn't be that hard to make an embroidery machine with an old Singer or similar. You need to be able to move the hoop and use a darning foot. Finding time is the problem, as usual.
If you have a treadle, it is easier to time the movement of the hoops with the rise and fall of the needle. You can use a hand crank, but it is much trickier one handed.
This type of embroidery and lace making is still done by some older people in Eastern Europe. Like hand spinning it is a dying art as younger people are less interested in learning.
While traveling in Hungary, I had the opportunity to see how this beautiful authentic Hungarian lace is created. I was very surprised to see the artist usin...
@TonyYarusso @meganL Speaking of modding, as an experiment I once swapped out the head of my treadle machine with a new electric (not electronic) machine. Just dropped it right in the cabinet where the old machine head was, attached the belt, and presto. I was able to do all the things by treadle power, including buttonholes, piping, zigzag, etc. Wild.
@womble @fembot @TonyYarusso @meganL It looks like the Singer's of this particular model used standardized parts and had fairly standard shape, no matter if they were hand powered, treadle powered, or motor powered. Amazing. I guess you could be sewing using a machine even in a complete blackout.
@womble @TonyYarusso @meganL Oh yeah, looks like buttonholers are easy to come by, probably $15-20 online or at thrift auction here. Now that I know what they look like, I probably can snag one at an estate or garage sale here sometime for $1 or $5. Considering I haven't ever had to make a button hole prior to now, though 🤔
@TonyYarusso @meganL just watch out that you don't get one for the slant shank machines. There are also high shank industrial machines, and their parts won't work for you either. They all look very similar, but you won't be able to make them fit.
Fortunately most of the time what you find is for short shank types, as there are so many more of those.
@meganL Oh, I understand... the same with people with very expensive ham radios. Some folks will pay $4000 for one, and they aren't using 99.999% of the features. We are, by nature, consumers, and we always want to have "something better". (well, a lot of us).
that’s basically how I got my sewing machine. Mine is a domestic model, but also made entirely from cast metal and built like a tank. I found it on the street. Every once in a while I look around for one that can do longer stitches and thicker materials and it’s fascinating how much of that stuff ends up in places like eBay.
@jaseg I've concluded there is a sewing machine oversupply in the United States... probably a smaller population sewing than the number of good old sewing machine models, and many people buying crappy plastic stuff not realizing this good stuff is out there.
@jaseg substantial oversupply in San Diego. Paradise Sewing has floor to ceiling machines (mostly from trade ins and trade ups) in the back. Getting a machine these days doesn't seem to be much of a problem.
@stevewfolds @abraxas3d @jaseg Boy, there are scads of those also available. It does seem like there is a massive oversupply of sewing machines in the US.
@stevewfolds @abraxas3d It's the same over here in western Europe. Where I live, almost every household had one during my grandparents' generation, but nowadays, it's mostly a hobby, and not a particularly popular one.
@msbellows not being pedantic, but its Joanns and they aren’t taking online orders anymore. If she ordered online from a Joanne’s Fabrics, it might be a scam site that popped up after the closing announcement
There are specialty industrial machines, like ones with a walking foot, which are specifically designed for stitching thick materials, not just mostly capable of it. And then there are the walking foot machines specially designed for leather... @jaseg
Using quilting foot on treadle Singer to quilt top, batting, and backing. Just got the walking foot delivered and trying it out.This iron lady might be hecki...
Compare sewing machine feeding mechanisms to find the best one for your project! Learn the differences between drop feed, walking foot, needle feed and more. Get expert insights to choose the right machine for smooth, precise stitching at Sailrite!
Yes… It is not easy to find a sailrite for next to nothing. It was just a good illustration of how the walking feet move. I used to have a singer 111w155 I got for next to nothing. @jaseg
I reckon it's a case of everyone who needs one having one, then you never ever need to replace it. I've got my Singer 201, I probably never need to look at another sewing machine again.
in my experience if you have a farm (or, I assume, any other sprawling property) and you like quality machinery, people will put boot making machines, lathes and looms in your shed to 'look after for their grandmother' hand over fist until you insist they stop.
@coolandnormal Yeah, I mean, after restoring this 201 (from 1951) I assume it will continue to work fine as long as lubricated long after I have departed this earth (assuming the motor runs that long... not sure what the design on that is. I suspect they can be replaced/fixed easily though).
@phpete I feel like the contempt these machines receive is so much because we've just become accustomed to our clothing being disposable and made by people far away for little money. Anyone who doesn't appreciate sewing machines probably has never used one, and definitely has never done maintenance on or repaired one.
@jaseg @phpete I think you are correct... We've decided that sewing is a low paid activity best done by anonymous people overseas for as cheaply as possible, and people do not mend their clothing here in the US (we cast them off worn once... fast fashion). Thus, the number of machines out there without owners.
I agree, but it's not only clothing. I'd say fast fashion just one facet of the disposable culture we've decided should apply to everything. Clothing just jumps out to us because of the accessibility of sewing. It's something "everyone" once knew how to do. Now , not so much.
Modern engines aren't repairable the way older ones were.
Jeans are still a layer of denim. (Well, mostly anyway.😉)
I don't want to blame it all on the Boomers for many reasons BUT that generation often rejected their parents' Depression skills in favor of class distinctions ("the educated don't flip burgers or mend clothes" or "grocery work is for the under 18").
My father, his younger sister and one of my maternal aunts continued sewing but no one else in either family did.
I had doll clothes my grandma made and the sewing detail was divine.
@jaseg @phpete I think there is an important conversation to be had about how the Boomer mindset was "I never want to have to do this thing that I associate with deprivation or a lack of social rank".
My grandparents Depression skills and mindset were such a delight to be around because they could make and do anything....or so it seemed to me.
My grandma worked 2-3 jobs (gig work) and still made uniforms for her kids' team activities. As well as all the other stuff.
@clarablackink @jaseg @phpete Exactly!!! Class distinctions. My mom (who did not grow up in the US) grew up in similar circumstances, did not learn any "homekeeping" skills for exactly that class distinction reason. I still hear similar comments here (not so much, but in earlier professional interactions) -- a great disdain and scorn even if you were to do something yourself, versus hiring someone or buying something to replace something broken. (I worked adjacent to tech and venture finance for a long time and there was a LOT of that... zero appreciation for doing something yourself or being skilled in something manual).
@clarablackink @jaseg @phpete This boomer learned to sew on a machine that her mother used only for repairs. Every one of my public school female classmates was required to take sewing and cooking (the boys got to take wood, metal, or auto shop - I was not allowed to take wood shop, which I dearly wanted to do). Cooking never took for me, but I love sewing. So do many in my generation (even some of the boys 😀.
Please don’t make generational assumptions without good data.
@ELS I think if you read my comment you'd see that it was less about not being taught the skills than rejecting them in favor of consumerist solutions. And, I mentioned that some of my boomer age relatives kept the skills going.
There's a knee jerk reaction to respond to the feeling of ageism but it's more about economic trends within an age group than it is a critique on that age group's skills.
Marketing via the boomers' parents' generation played a big role...
@clarablackink @ELS @jaseg @phpete There have been many waves of this. I don't have a reference right now, but I recall that Christmas decorations (nativity sets, tree decorations, etc. etc. ) sometime in the 1920's were MORE desirable if they were mass produced by machine... because they were ***NOT*** home made or handcrafted. We're still of course doing that with fashions, clothing, sneakers <insert anything> where "brand name" no matter quality is important because of the class/money it denotes. We do this with phones, even. (I recall a few times being judged by the generation of Android phone I was carrying 🙄. There's considerable weight given to "what private school do your kids go to" in some sectors of professional Los Angeles, and "my kids go to a public school" was NOT the right answer.)
@jaseg @phpete I wish I'd been interested in sewing when my Grandma could still have taught me. I didn't have the patience as a kid--could not sit still that long to learn it. Now I would love to be able to make and mend better than I do (or at all in some cases--fixing certain items is beyond me). I do like "visible mending;" good thing, it's the only kind I can do. 🙂 Colorful patches and pretty thread! I treasure the things I have now, that Grandma made.
@Art_By_Erin @jaseg @phpete I am relearning all these things myself, as an adult. I did go into engineering... but I remember that I was the only person in my household (as a child) capable of changing a lightbulb 😬
@phpete @Art_By_Erin @jaseg I have always tried to learn from people, but I know that the default for a lot of people is to *not* take information from other people unless you specifically asked. One of my jobs (teaching at a university) involves trying to provide information and teach subjects, and even though the students are ostensibly there to do so, YMMV on if they really want to learn the material or just get through the class to their degree.
@jaseg @phpete there's a niche area, mainly hyper light and ultra light hikers and hammock campers, people who make their own gear from materials a modern domestic machine won't work well with. They really respect the old sewing machines, though to make it more macho they are (only semi seriously) referred to as "thread injectors".
Although, I have gone down that path myself (looking at making my own ultralight backpacking gear) and I see that this new sewing machine will enable a bunch of projects which were verboten earlier (due to the prohibition on using tough materials in the spouse's machine).
*Obviously* do your own research, but years ago I discovered that denim/leather needles have many fabulous uses beyond jeans repair. They made an underpowered plastic (IKEA maybe?) machine feel downright peppy going through multiple layers of thick weaved fabric. @womble @jaseg
@womble @phpete tbh that’s how I got started. My first big project was a lightweight backpack for commuting with two laptops. I try to stay well clear of these male-coded gear hobbyist places though. I found them pretty toxic, particularly ones where people call this stuff “edc”.
@jaseg @womble @phpete Hmm, maybe I should make a dual laptop bag, that actually has been bugging me. And speaking of which, I have a laptop bag with a tear in it (the spouse said "there's no way I can sew anything like that on my machine") 💡
I guess I have another project for this new machine!!!
@womble @phpete the color thing has been bugging me too. At least the one specialty store where I order fabric for such stuff has a couple bright warning colors too, but they just don’t sell anything in idk, a nice pastel.
@jaseg @phpete depending on what you want, you can find suitable fabrics in yacht supplies. I use spinnaker fabric to make tarps as it is light, strong and waterproof. It comes in many colours. Olive green is harder to find.
@womble @jaseg @phpete hah! That's ain't no tactical baby! Tactical babies are anodized black, have more sharp jagged pointy bits than a half-dozen Klingon bat'leths, and can be used as a cudgel for self defense.
Or is that tactical flashlights? It's easy to confuse the two.
Ok, a defensive ruler souns interesting. I got some metal chopsticks for defensive reasons in my backpack. (As our "interesting" weapon laws even forbid most folding knives.) @phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg
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(obviously there for show, because they are really heavy and it would suck to get that off that shelf... but I know I could get that one running again in a pinch).
🤣 Ok, I´m aware my actual way of carrying those Ti-Sticks is not ideal for very dynamic situations but as I´m not a person that´s running around downtown too often... Still alive. (note to myself: design a way to carry that stuff on my belt) @phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg
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@womble @jaseg @phpete I bet those are more shower gift items than anything - we got something like that in a diaper bag for our Capt. as a gift when his wife had their kiddos
@womble @jaseg @phpete Also back in the day, I sprained my knee in 9th grade PE and had to be on crutches for a while. Dad got out an olive drab rucksack for me to carry my books in at school. My German teacher saw an opportunity to increase my friendship with a certain girl in the class (now my wife of 52 years) and encouraged her to carry my books. She did but refused to touch that ugly rucksack.
@womble @jaseg @phpete I've always thought the urge to use camoflauge-flavored fabrics on everything was one of the first indicators that we were headed towards fascism.
@womble @jaseg @phpete Back in the 60s, when us boys were getting old enough we could go on family backpacking trips, Dad bought a parachute from the Army-Navy surplus store to make stuff sacks and other useful items. I still have some of those.
@jaseg @phpete modern machines are cheap too. These old Singers (and the 201 was top of the range for a while) were paid for over years. You needed one in your house as a status symbol.
The Singer 15 patent expired during WW2 and the designs were given to Japan as part of the help in rebuilding their industry. They quickly made a few improvements and flooded the market with cheaper 15 clones in various colours.
The sewing machine industry was already struggling by then.
@jaseg @phpete My wife was a trained seamstress (there are two main schools in Japan, conservative "Doreme" [for Dress-Maker] and fashionista Bunka [for Culture], she attended the former, in the early 1970s). She had an amazing sense of 3d form and technique. She once took a blazer to a London tailor to have buttons fixed to it, and his immediate question was, "Who made this?!" And he meant it in a good way.
@fgbjr @jaseg @phpete I think Japan has raised many of these things to an art form, and provide more respect for the art than other cultures. i.e. thousands of hours spent to perfect your technique on something -- ie, look at the effort put into food preparation, ikebana, calligraphy, bonsai, etc. -- thousands of hours of very manual, non-automated things -- which is very different from the (default) approach in the U.S. to many things. (which tends to automation and where it seems to me we default to "quick" results without willingness to spend the time becoming an expert).
I watched *exactly one* episode of The Kardashians (and must have lost a significant number of brain cells, swore never to do that again) and the premise of part of that that was they were attending a martial arts class, and were expecting to get a black belt in one single session (and being upset they couldn't get a belt in one class) 😬
And many ...americanized?... martial arts studios recognize this. It took my youngest many "one free class"es before wet doing a place that wasn't dangling a black belt in front of her as a carrot to try and get me to sign something.
I do think to be fair that with the current state of the internet, it's becoming harder and harder to LEARN these skills. You'd think it'd be easier, because there's so much info online. But between the AI slop and constant churn of influencer videos on platforms and search engines that want to show you profitable results over relevant ones...even if a young person (or old person!) now wanted to learn to repair these, they're going to end up stuck in the swamp learning to do it. I've become a big advocate for skill sharing meetups and stuff like that because God, even if you just want to know how to sew a hole closed on a shirt you find ten thousand YouTube shorts that are overly complicated or assume you know how to sew some already, which does nothing for someone who has never threaded a needle before. I'd hate to try to learn to use a sewing machine online now, thank god my mom taught me as a kid.
That's not to say that we don't have a culture that throws things away instead of fixing them, we absolutely do, but as someone who does want to learn to repair a lot of things
... show more
I do think to be fair that with the current state of the internet, it's becoming harder and harder to LEARN these skills. You'd think it'd be easier, because there's so much info online. But between the AI slop and constant churn of influencer videos on platforms and search engines that want to show you profitable results over relevant ones...even if a young person (or old person!) now wanted to learn to repair these, they're going to end up stuck in the swamp learning to do it. I've become a big advocate for skill sharing meetups and stuff like that because God, even if you just want to know how to sew a hole closed on a shirt you find ten thousand YouTube shorts that are overly complicated or assume you know how to sew some already, which does nothing for someone who has never threaded a needle before. I'd hate to try to learn to use a sewing machine online now, thank god my mom taught me as a kid.
That's not to say that we don't have a culture that throws things away instead of fixing them, we absolutely do, but as someone who does want to learn to repair a lot of things I don't already know how to repair, it's such a cesspit. Your best bet is to buy books, especially old books or else you still hit the AI slop (though depending on what you want to repair old may not be an option).
@kib @phpete I made a similar experience when I learned to sew a few years ago. I found most online resources not particularly useful, and ended up figuring out a bunch of stuff from first principles.
What definitely didn’t help was that my sewing machine is some oddball design made by a long-defunct Italian manufacturer that isn’t that close to any of the larger manu designs.
@jaseg @kib @phpete The AI slop is HORRIBLE. I have started turning to YouTube first, with the caveats mentioned (ie bad advice abounds). Books (and archives online of old books) most certainly are better.
The worse everything gets, the more YouTube becomes a gem - provided you know how to sift through it.
Our library is part of a fabulous county wide system, but the local branch is tiny & reference books aren't handled the same as fiction with regards to access. 🫤 @jaseg @kib
@phpete @jaseg @kib Yeah, I love our library, but my reference library in my office here is deeper than the local branch in many areas. (they do focus mostly on providing those to the kids, which is great).
Used to live next to a family of tailors, in suburban California. They'd roll up their garage door in the morning, then work on clothes all day. Indian garments, I think...
i have never seen machines like this on the Chicago craigslist for so cheap... whenever i do they're over $100. i think someone in Evanston also buys old ones, refurbishes them, and then resells them along with 1 'lesson' for about $250
heres another -- prolly works, but it's not ten bucks, for sure.
@rustoleumlove Interesting... Perhaps a difference in the demographics here. I wonder if there are more people sewing still in the Midwest, vs. less people here in California? I know where I grew up (in Utah) lots of people sew, so you're not going to see quality gear up for cheap as much.
yeah, the LA area has always struck me as a place full of people who love "the latest"
i think in the midwest, you have way more people who define 'cool' in a very different way. you should see our hipsters lmao they are kinda disgusting with their ridiculous moustaches and high-waisted pants but i bet many of them are using one of these old machines while wearing a monocle
I love the Pfaff “portable” that I inherited from my mom. It weighs over 50 pounds and it can sew through many layers of dense cloth. It runs circles around my little light-weight Singer portable that will do zig-zag, but can’t even sew through two layers of high-thread-count percale.
My mom loved to sew, and she had a machine not as old as that one but likely from very early 80s. Some time in the 2010s she got a new one. Shortly after that got placed in a storage cabinet and she used the old one again since it was better. I think she even got it repaired instead of still using the new one. Pretty sure my grandma sewed by hand.
Megan Lynch (she/her)
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Tony Yarusso
in reply to Megan Lynch (she/her) • • •Megan Lynch (she/her)
in reply to Tony Yarusso • • •I think that's mostly for folks taught to use zig-zag a certain way. Once I started looking at old treadle machine accessories, I realized there are a shitload of things those machines can do with accessories so they definitely have more than "merely" straight stitch.
I was taught to use zig-zag mostly as a substitute for serger stitches for seams. These days I feel like I can do both buttonholes and seam-sealing better with other methods.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Megan Lynch (she/her) • • •me_valentijn
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Tony Yarusso
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Tony Yarusso • • •womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@TonyYarusso @meganL so, in 1910 there was a book published that is a course on sewing machine embroidery. I found a second book here:
archive.org/details/singerinst…
The embroidery is done freehand and replicates many hand techniques that modern embroidery machines do not do.
I have often thought that it wouldn't be that hard to make an embroidery machine with an old Singer or similar. You need to be able to move the hoop and use a darning foot. Finding time is the problem, as usual.
Singer instructions for art embroidery : Singer sewing machine company. [from old catalog] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Internet Archivewomble
in reply to womble • • •womble
in reply to womble • • •@TonyYarusso @meganL
If you have a treadle, it is easier to time the movement of the hoops with the rise and fall of the needle. You can use a hand crank, but it is much trickier one handed.
youtube.com/watch?v=Sr4jioQv3b…
This type of embroidery and lace making is still done by some older people in Eastern Europe. Like hand spinning it is a dying art as younger people are less interested in learning.
Hungarian Lace.wmv
YouTubeAI6YR Ben
in reply to womble • • •.
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Speaking of modding, as an experiment I once swapped out the head of my treadle machine with a new electric (not electronic) machine. Just dropped it right in the cabinet where the old machine head was, attached the belt, and presto. I was able to do all the things by treadle power, including buttonholes, piping, zigzag, etc. Wild.
womble
in reply to . • • •@fembot @TonyYarusso @meganL I have a 401 that can be used with a treadle. After that, this feature disappeared fairly quickly.
You can easily switch the motors though, and run off old vehicle batteries and a solar panel.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to womble • • •womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Tony Yarusso • • •womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@TonyYarusso @meganL yes, there are several designs.
There are also other attachments for things like hem stitching, buttonholes, etc.
Greist designed most of them and they are an engineering work of art.
singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery…
I own several of these, and one embroidery attachment that I love.
singer-featherweight.com/produ…
This shop has fantastic pictures but is vastly overpriced.
Single Thread Embroidery Attachment, Singer (Vintage Original)
The Singer Featherweight ShopAI6YR Ben
in reply to womble • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@TonyYarusso @meganL just watch out that you don't get one for the slant shank machines. There are also high shank industrial machines, and their parts won't work for you either. They all look very similar, but you won't be able to make them fit.
Fortunately most of the time what you find is for short shank types, as there are so many more of those.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Megan Lynch (she/her) • • •Steve
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •jaseg
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben reshared this.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to jaseg • • •AI6YR Ben reshared this.
Abraxas3d W5NYV
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben reshared this.
@stevewfolds
in reply to Abraxas3d W5NYV • • •Neighbor bought a used industrial machine to sew tents. The cast arm is ~80cm.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to @stevewfolds • • •@stevewfolds
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to @stevewfolds • • •jaseg
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •M.S. Bellows, Jr.
in reply to Abraxas3d W5NYV • • •InarticulateQuilter
in reply to M.S. Bellows, Jr. • • •@msbellows not being pedantic, but its Joanns and they aren’t taking online orders anymore. If she ordered online from a Joanne’s Fabrics, it might be a scam site that popped up after the closing announcement
@abraxas3d @ai6yr @jaseg @thewoodbinewitch
M.S. Bellows, Jr.
in reply to InarticulateQuilter • • •@inarticulatequilter @abraxas3d @jaseg @thewoodbinewitch
?? joann.com/c/sale/
GeekMomProjects
in reply to M.S. Bellows, Jr. • • •MsMerope
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@jaseg
or like many of us living in cramped apartments, we've no room for a sewing machine.
Not that I really know how to use one. Straight line sewing is okay so long as I don't have to change the bobbin 😱
Zephyr Leif Renner
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Zephyr Leif Renner • • •Zephyr Leif Renner
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Zephyr Leif Renner • • •Singer 15-88 treadle with walking foot attached
YouTubeZephyr Leif Renner
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Comparing Sewing Machine Feeding Mechanisms
SailriteAI6YR Ben
in reply to Zephyr Leif Renner • • •Zephyr Leif Renner
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Jo
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Queer Like The Slur
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Queer Like The Slur
in reply to Queer Like The Slur • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Queer Like The Slur • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Queer Like The Slur • • •Ekaitz Zarraga 👹
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben reshared this.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Ekaitz Zarraga 👹 • • •Hikarii
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Hikarii • • •Alandthra
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Did a run in the truck just last week for my mom.
Picked up multiple heavy duty machines with tables/cabinets for use in her guild.
And just for the record, sewing machines are mechanical marvels.
AI6YR Ben reshared this.
jaseg
in reply to Peter • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to jaseg • • •Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •I agree, but it's not only clothing. I'd say fast fashion just one facet of the disposable culture we've decided should apply to everything. Clothing just jumps out to us because of the accessibility of sewing. It's something "everyone" once knew how to do. Now , not so much.
Modern engines aren't repairable the way older ones were.
Jeans are still a layer of denim. (Well, mostly anyway.😉)
@jaseg
AI6YR Ben reshared this.
Urzl
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Clothing manufacture still can't be effectively automated so we send it overseas where the hard labor can be hidden from consumers.
In the USA, it's mostly just the aesthetics of slavery that we dislike.
ClaraBlackInk
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •I don't want to blame it all on the Boomers for many reasons BUT that generation often rejected their parents' Depression skills in favor of class distinctions ("the educated don't flip burgers or mend clothes" or "grocery work is for the under 18").
My father, his younger sister and one of my maternal aunts continued sewing but no one else in either family did.
I had doll clothes my grandma made and the sewing detail was divine.
*Edited to fix a word
ClaraBlackInk
in reply to ClaraBlackInk • • •@jaseg @phpete I think there is an important conversation to be had about how the Boomer mindset was "I never want to have to do this thing that I associate with deprivation or a lack of social rank".
My grandparents Depression skills and mindset were such a delight to be around because they could make and do anything....or so it seemed to me.
My grandma worked 2-3 jobs (gig work) and still made uniforms for her kids' team activities. As well as all the other stuff.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to ClaraBlackInk • • •eswillwalker
in reply to ClaraBlackInk • • •@clarablackink @jaseg @phpete
This boomer learned to sew on a machine that her mother used only for repairs. Every one of my public school female classmates was required to take sewing and cooking (the boys got to take wood, metal, or auto shop - I was not allowed to take wood shop, which I dearly wanted to do). Cooking never took for me, but I love sewing. So do many in my generation (even some of the boys 😀.
Please don’t make generational assumptions without good data.
ClaraBlackInk
in reply to eswillwalker • • •@ELS
I think if you read my comment you'd see that it was less about not being taught the skills than rejecting them in favor of consumerist solutions. And, I mentioned that some of my boomer age relatives kept the skills going.
There's a knee jerk reaction to respond to the feeling of ageism but it's more about economic trends within an age group than it is a critique on that age group's skills.
Marketing via the boomers' parents' generation played a big role...
@ai6yr @jaseg @phpete
AI6YR Ben
in reply to ClaraBlackInk • • •Erin
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Erin • • •Peter
in reply to Erin • • •@Art_By_Erin
This is a separate, but related, issue.
The things people tried to teach me that I simply wasn't interested in when they made the effort could fill volumes.
And frankly, it happens now that I'm an adult too (just thankfully less often).
@ai6yr @jaseg
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Peter • • •Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Yeah, younger me did NOT click with Higher Ed.
Older me understands the many ways in which that was my fault, but once again the conversation is branching where it needn't.
For the record, thanks for teaching - in spite of how it may seem, your efforts are appreciated by many.
@Art_By_Erin @jaseg
womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to womble • • •@womble @jaseg @phpete "more macho" 🙄
Although, I have gone down that path myself (looking at making my own ultralight backpacking gear) and I see that this new sewing machine will enable a bunch of projects which were verboten earlier (due to the prohibition on using tough materials in the spouse's machine).
Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@womble @jaseg
jaseg
in reply to womble • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to jaseg • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@jaseg @womble @phpete Hmm, maybe I should make a dual laptop bag, that actually has been bugging me. And speaking of which, I have a laptop bag with a tear in it (the spouse said "there's no way I can sew anything like that on my machine") 💡
I guess I have another project for this new machine!!!
jaseg
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •womble
in reply to jaseg • • •jaseg
in reply to womble • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to jaseg • • •Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@jaseg @womble
womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to womble • • •@womble @jaseg @phpete
When you're planning an urban (shopping) assault on the local mall and need to feel manly.
AI6YR Ben reshared this.
:thilo:
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@womble @jaseg @phpete
My inner cynic is a bit disappointed there's no "this side to enemy" version.
AI6YR Ben reshared this.
Mark Ingalls
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@womble @jaseg
womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Paul_IPv6
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@womble @jaseg @phpete
"be sure to remove any live munitions before inserting baby"
me_valentijn
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •I guess that's one way to stop a bullet 😐
MightyBigCar
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@womble @jaseg @phpete hah! That's ain't no tactical baby! Tactical babies are anodized black, have more sharp jagged pointy bits than a half-dozen Klingon bat'leths, and can be used as a cudgel for self defense.
Or is that tactical flashlights? It's easy to confuse the two.
Peter
in reply to MightyBigCar • • •@mightybigcar
You forgot that every surface should be "laser etched" with a ruler or something.
The tacticlip comes to mind...
@ai6yr @womble @jaseg
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Peter • • •@phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg How about a titanium EDC defensive... ruler? 🤔
(I attribute this to AliExpress marketing anything to Americans)
W6KME
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Dan Ports
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben reshared this.
Nine Oh Real
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •I got some metal chopsticks for defensive reasons in my backpack. (As our "interesting" weapon laws even forbid most folding knives.)
@phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Nine Oh Real • • •@mythlfrythtyg @phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg
Mugger: "GIVE ME YOUR MONEY"
Me: "WAIT! I have to eat some sushi! Let me pull out my chopsticks!"
me_valentijn
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@mythlfrythtyg @phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg
That's why you're supposed to wear the EDC metal chopsticks in your hair*
*May require a tactical man bun 😔
AI6YR Ben reshared this.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to me_valentijn • • •jaseg
in reply to me_valentijn • • •@me_valentijn @mythlfrythtyg
Apparently that’s literally what women used to do with hat pins:
youtu.be/Pml3n6kNPmM
The Illegal Weapon Every Woman Carried: The Hatpin's Criminal Legacy 📍
YouTubeAI6YR Ben
in reply to jaseg • • •@jaseg @me_valentijn @mythlfrythtyg And, with that, we go full circle to the start of this thread:
Look, it's a Singer 201 sewing machine! 🤪
(obviously there for show, because they are really heavy and it would suck to get that off that shelf... but I know I could get that one running again in a pinch).
Nine Oh Real
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Ok, I´m aware my actual way of carrying those Ti-Sticks is not ideal for very dynamic situations but as I´m not a person that´s running around downtown too often... Still alive.
(note to myself: design a way to carry that stuff on my belt)
@phpete @mightybigcar @womble @jaseg
Frank Bennett
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •m.youtube.com/watch?v=smmnfFfJ…
I Wasted $1000 On A "Tactical Stroller"
YouTubeAI6YR Ben
in reply to Frank Bennett • • •Weird Socks
in reply to MightyBigCar • • •Do they make a tactical pacifier?
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Weird Socks • • •MsMerope
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •I bet those are more shower gift items than anything - we got something like that in a diaper bag for our Capt. as a gift when his wife had their kiddos
Jim Hubbell, Un-paniced
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Also back in the day, I sprained my knee in 9th grade PE and had to be on crutches for a while. Dad got out an olive drab rucksack for me to carry my books in at school.
My German teacher saw an opportunity to increase my friendship with a certain girl in the class (now my wife of 52 years) and encouraged her to carry my books. She did but refused to touch that ugly rucksack.
Peter
in reply to Jim Hubbell, Un-paniced • • •@dougfir
High School through 52 years?
Once again the lack of a 'hat tip' emoji frustrates me.
Kudos to you both.
@ai6yr @womble @jaseg
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Peter • • •Becky
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@womble @jaseg @phpete I've always thought the urge to use camoflauge-flavored fabrics on everything was one of the first indicators that we were headed towards fascism.
I mean, I still think that, but I used to, too.
Jim Hubbell, Un-paniced
in reply to womble • • •Back in the 60s, when us boys were getting old enough we could go on family backpacking trips, Dad bought a parachute from the Army-Navy surplus store to make stuff sacks and other useful items. I still have some of those.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Jim Hubbell, Un-paniced • • •Jim Hubbell, Un-paniced
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •They are easy. Also cheap which was more the point because money was tight back then.
womble
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •@jaseg @phpete modern machines are cheap too. These old Singers (and the 201 was top of the range for a while) were paid for over years. You needed one in your house as a status symbol.
The Singer 15 patent expired during WW2 and the designs were given to Japan as part of the help in rebuilding their industry. They quickly made a few improvements and flooded the market with cheaper 15 clones in various colours.
The sewing machine industry was already struggling by then.
AI6YR Ben reshared this.
Frank Bennett
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •AI6YR Ben
in reply to Frank Bennett • • •@fgbjr @jaseg @phpete I think Japan has raised many of these things to an art form, and provide more respect for the art than other cultures. i.e. thousands of hours spent to perfect your technique on something -- ie, look at the effort put into food preparation, ikebana, calligraphy, bonsai, etc. -- thousands of hours of very manual, non-automated things -- which is very different from the (default) approach in the U.S. to many things. (which tends to automation and where it seems to me we default to "quick" results without willingness to spend the time becoming an expert).
I watched *exactly one* episode of The Kardashians (and must have lost a significant number of brain cells, swore never to do that again) and the premise of part of that that was they were attending a martial arts class, and were expecting to get a black belt in one single session (and being upset they couldn't get a belt in one class) 😬
Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Yup.
And many ...americanized?... martial arts studios recognize this. It took my youngest many "one free class"es before wet doing a place that wasn't dangling a black belt in front of her as a carrot to try and get me to sign something.
@fgbjr @jaseg
wizardry variants lori
in reply to jaseg • • •I do think to be fair that with the current state of the internet, it's becoming harder and harder to LEARN these skills. You'd think it'd be easier, because there's so much info online. But between the AI slop and constant churn of influencer videos on platforms and search engines that want to show you profitable results over relevant ones...even if a young person (or old person!) now wanted to learn to repair these, they're going to end up stuck in the swamp learning to do it. I've become a big advocate for skill sharing meetups and stuff like that because God, even if you just want to know how to sew a hole closed on a shirt you find ten thousand YouTube shorts that are overly complicated or assume you know how to sew some already, which does nothing for someone who has never threaded a needle before. I'd hate to try to learn to use a sewing machine online now, thank god my mom taught me as a kid.
That's not to say that we don't have a culture that throws things away instead of fixing them, we absolutely do, but as someone who does want to learn to repair a lot of things
... show moreI do think to be fair that with the current state of the internet, it's becoming harder and harder to LEARN these skills. You'd think it'd be easier, because there's so much info online. But between the AI slop and constant churn of influencer videos on platforms and search engines that want to show you profitable results over relevant ones...even if a young person (or old person!) now wanted to learn to repair these, they're going to end up stuck in the swamp learning to do it. I've become a big advocate for skill sharing meetups and stuff like that because God, even if you just want to know how to sew a hole closed on a shirt you find ten thousand YouTube shorts that are overly complicated or assume you know how to sew some already, which does nothing for someone who has never threaded a needle before. I'd hate to try to learn to use a sewing machine online now, thank god my mom taught me as a kid.
That's not to say that we don't have a culture that throws things away instead of fixing them, we absolutely do, but as someone who does want to learn to repair a lot of things I don't already know how to repair, it's such a cesspit. Your best bet is to buy books, especially old books or else you still hit the AI slop (though depending on what you want to repair old may not be an option).
jaseg
in reply to wizardry variants lori • • •@kib @phpete I made a similar experience when I learned to sew a few years ago. I found most online resources not particularly useful, and ended up figuring out a bunch of stuff from first principles.
What definitely didn’t help was that my sewing machine is some oddball design made by a long-defunct Italian manufacturer that isn’t that close to any of the larger manu designs.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to jaseg • • •Peter
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •The worse everything gets, the more YouTube becomes a gem - provided you know how to sift through it.
Our library is part of a fabulous county wide system, but the local branch is tiny & reference books aren't handled the same as fiction with regards to access. 🫤
@jaseg @kib
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Peter • • •Muro deGrizeco
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Used to live next to a family of tailors, in suburban California. They'd roll up their garage door in the morning, then work on clothes all day. Indian garments, I think...
They def used their sewing machines.
Anne Ominous
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •oh my goodness the replies to this post!
i have never seen machines like this on the Chicago craigslist for so cheap... whenever i do they're over $100.
i think someone in Evanston also buys old ones, refurbishes them, and then resells them along with 1 'lesson' for about $250
heres another -- prolly works, but it's not ten bucks, for sure.
AI6YR Ben
in reply to Anne Ominous • • •Anne Ominous
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •yeah, the LA area has always struck me as a place full of people who love "the latest"
i think in the midwest, you have way more people who define 'cool' in a very different way. you should see our hipsters lmao they are kinda disgusting with their ridiculous moustaches and high-waisted pants but i bet many of them are using one of these old machines while wearing a monocle
😩 😂
eswillwalker
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Juxtapose
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Radio Free Trumpistan likes this.
Loafer
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Robin
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •Koen Hufkens, PhD
in reply to AI6YR Ben • • •