Sewing machine - why would I want more than 16 stitches?

[Jameshow]

Sounds like that needs looking at. A modern Singer or a classic one? Mine's slightly younger than this one, but a little older than me

Mechanically there's not much to mine so servicing it is pretty straightforward.

New one.

I need to take to a engineer.

 

[Vantage]

I've been lusting after an old 1940s singer for years. I've yet to hear of anyone disputing that their stitch quality is better than even the very best top end modern computerised machines.
It'd be nice to own a piece of history too. Not to mention, the older ones are gorgeous.

 

[Jameshow]

I've been lusting after an old 1940s singer for years. I've yet to hear of anyone disputing that their stitch quality is better than even the very best top end modern computerised machines.
It'd be nice to own a piece of history too. Not to mention, the older ones are gorgeous.

You sorted your ebike motor out yet??

 

[Vantage]

Ah yes. There was nowt wrong with it. Just got knocked. Stuffed a load of new grease in there anyway just in case.

 

[Reynard]

@Reynard Listening to you I don't need a new machine at all!

I've also got a 1904ish Frister & Rossman, but I've never even tried threading that. It's just a pretty ornament - £2 from a market; not as much of a bargain as your Singer

Depends what you want to sew, I guess... With the old Singers, the "extras" are done by the way of different foot attachments - I have one for auto hem and one for buttonholes, and a couple of others. Maybe worth poking around on the 'bay for a looksee?

I actually learned to sew on an 1898 hand-crank Hexagon with a shuttle bobbin rather than a spool. They do sew surprisingly well, particularly on heavier fabrics, though you can only go forwards and you're limited to one size of stitch.. Downside is that you can't get much thread on the shuttle, so on larger projects, you always seem to be winding thread...

 

[colly]

Daughter has basic singer and it's started to struggle to sew two thickness of cotton without snapping the thread.

That sounds like a thread tension issue, assuming nothing has been damaged inside leaving a sharp edge to snag the thread . I also get that sometimes on my machine where a stray thread has wrapped itself around a shaft. It's difficult to detect or see so you may need to dismantle things a bit. The clearances and tolerances are extraordinarily fine.