I have recently moved my craft supplies into a new space. I did have everything in one side of a master closet with a small work bench. I’m not sure how I fit it all in that space, as it now fills a regular bedroom. No pictures yet, I’m still sorting and evaluating, but I have setup three folding tables, and decided I had room for a fourth. Before I could go buy another folding table, I spot a working treadle sewing machine for sale for $50. Hm. I’ve actually wanted one of these for a long time, but either didn’t have the car space, or the floor space, or the money (restored sewing machines can be pricey). But at that moment I had the space, and I had the cash. I bought it and my husband helped me fetch it. There is a reason it was reasonably priced. It was stored in a feed room in a barn. Yup. But the wheel turns. The owner bought it from the original owner a few years back (I’ll let you do the math here in a moment), but didn’t get around to using it. It had a bag of parts that went with it, and I’m still counting the wasp nests that hitched a ride. It is living in the garage until I can do a basic clean.

I found the serial number and looked it up. This machine is a model 27 and on May 1, 1907, 70,000 machines were allotted. So it is 116 years old and I am the third owner. Hm. It definitely needs some TLC and oil. My plan is not to restore it to new, I rather like patina and that it shows its age, but I will remove the rust, stabilize what I can, and see if I can get it functioning well. This should keep me occupied as the kids head off to school. Oh, and I’ll post updates of course.