I bought an “incredible sweater machine” (as seen on TV) on the FB marketplace, because I read that it was an easy beginner’s machine. These were being produced in the 1990s, and production stopped in England in 2015. It is a very basic setup, but I wanted it to make custom pieces for my youngest, who has a hard time with off-the-rack clothing.

I decided to use the Singer treadle table to set up the machine because the solid wood top was the right thickness and the narrow depth looked like the tables in the demonstration videos. Someone kindly transferred the VHS to YouTube, so I was able to watch it (90s flashback, wow).

Reading the manual and watching the video helped me get started quite quickly. I made the first square in about a half hour, including backstitching the live edges.

I later did weave in the ends, but was quite impressed with how well the simple machine works.

And how did I not know about backstitching the final row of knitting?!? I need to try it with ribbing next. So stretchy and neat.