I've been away from this thread for far too long. Did I ever tell you that I had a woman (a neighbour, actually) who signed up to my beginners' course, in February, with her nan's old hand-crank Singer? It was the most lovely thing. Every time she started to sew, everyone else stopped to listen to the gentle tickety-tickety-tick sound of her machine. I swear it was good for the soul.Starry wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2020 8:48 pm When we were going through my great aunts things, we found her sewing machine. Every outfit for special occasions was made on that machine. She made wedding dresses, confirmation outfits, communion dresses, the lot.
It still works. So now I have it, plus all her old sewing stash. Now I just have to figure out what to make.
I've had to stop my sewing classes for the foreseeable. Can't do social-distancing in our small shop, with customers in and out and, anyway, there's the amount of time in a confined space. One of the main selling points was that I ran day-long classes, so people got loads done in a relatively short space of time. Can't do that now.
ETA I have my mum's old 1952 hand-crank Singer. She refers to the external motor as "the electric accelerator". She couldn't afford it back then. I think it cost £6 extra! The old 1950 treadle machine in my shop window still has its original invoice, £29 16s 4d. That would have represented more than a month's wages to the average 'man in the street'.