If your electrical cord is fabric-covered, be super-careful because the fabric cord cover is likely to be brittle and frail. Needles aren't always easy to find since W and G is gone, and you have to be very careful with the end of your seams: I speak from sad experience. W and G accessories are durable and I particularly love the hemmers and tuck-marker, which latter imprints straight lines in fabric so you can make perfect tucks at any thickness you like. I can sew very, very slowly 1/8 or less from the edge of fabric around steep curves without hurting a motor or ending up with any shaky stitches at all. The stitches never wander, and the machine is ease itself to thread. It will go through many layers of stiff, heavy duty fabric at once or through lawn and silk voile, the stitches are precise, and can be sewn in ultr-tiny stitch lengths.
I love it dearly and it'll be with me life-long. A little experimenting revealed that Mara 30 thread yields the most attractive stitch, at least with the needle she has now (additional needles can be found on Etsy and eBay-she also came with a few originals).Īh, you have a W and G! I've been sewing on a 1911 Wilcox and Gibbes domestic sewing treadle machine since 2005. Here is what the chainstitch looks like from the underside (from the top it looks like an ordinary lockstitch). The motor and carrying case probably date back to the 1940s or early 50's, but based on the serial number on the machine itself (A557815) I believe she dates back to around 1907. I suspect this was a service that Willcox & Gibbs offered to owners of treadle models who wanted something more portable.
This particular machine had been motorized (with a belt and a floor pedal) and mounted in a case. You can view and hear an early test here (this was before the oiling but you can see how smooth she sews). I knew the machine ran when I tested it at the apartment, but it wasn't until I brought it home and threaded it correctly that I realized she also sewed perfectly. I made my friend an offer (less than a Bernina but more than a Singer) which she happily accepted and the rest is, as they say, history.
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