This evening I’ve been getting to know Miss Florence Jane. I also mentioned her on the e-mail list TreadleOn — lots of great information there!  Anyway, it was suggested that I look closer at her serial #.  So, a bright light and magnifying glass were brought out.  That’s not a “C”, but a badly struck “G”.  Miss Florence Jane is 96!

I bought a belt and oil today. Finally got the belt on, but at first it was slipping.  So, I oiled her.   For the most part she treadles well.  I made a video which you can see HERE of me treadling with no thread.

However, the minute I thread her forget it. The belt slips.  That video is HERE.  I think it’s because the top thread tension is too tight — but even if it is, it makes a nice stitch (when hand cranked).

Top Thread

Bobbin Thread

So, I guess I have more research to do before I start piecing.

Miss Florence Jane, named after my great-grandmother, was brought into my sewing room today.  The first two pictures are from a few years ago, sitting in my brother’s house.  It’s taken me nearly three years to make room for her in my sewing area.

Last night we took her out of the cabinet so we could easily transport the machine and cabinet in my truck.  Turns out with the back seat folded down we could leave the cabinet up right.

Once we got her into the house today the first thing I did was remove the motor.  The wiring is badly cracked and I’m looking forward to treadling on her.

I think that may have been the easy part.

Then I pulled out the manual – it’s from May 1916 – to figure out how to thread the machine.

It’s probably not the first thing I should have done, but I managed to pull the needle out and it ‘felt funny’, so I wanted to see how it was supposed to go into the machine.  Flat side of the needle to the right.  I don’t remember that from when I last sewed on this machine.  But then again it has been 32 years.

Anyway, before it goes back in the cabinet I need to clean it up a bit.

It’s a bit gunky underneath, and I’m sure she could use a bit of oil.

The cabinet top is rough – Potted Plant Disease.  The decals are all worn off.  But that’s because she was used!  No telling what was made on this machine when she was young, but in her later life my momma made clothes for her mother and our family each summer.  My guess is she was only used the 3 to 6 weeks we visited my grandmother each summer.

Mary — she’s wearing the spool doily you made me.

Now to order a belt, clean her up and get her back in the cabinet so I can sew on her.

The last two evenings I’ve spent getting my hands dirty getting Miss Florence Jane up and running.  Tonight I decided to wind a bobbin.  That was a 4 or 5 hour job.

See that round part circled in the middle of the picture?  That is part of the bobbin winder.  Before I could wind a bobbin I needed to repair the winder.  I thought I retained how the parts went together, but my memory is faulty, adding at least a couple of hours to the project.

I found this website which has a lot of information.  Enough that I could put the machine back together.  It’s still not right — I was only able to wind 1/2 of a bobbin, but it was enough to get me started.  There is still a squeak I haven’t been able to get rid of, but the most annoying thing is the clutch keeps slipping.  No wonder Momma wouldn’t let me release the clutch on her old sewing machine.  Now that it’s been released it slips.

I’ve made an adjustment, so we’ll see how well it takes the next time I sit to treadle.  I think I’ll use my office chair instead of the old dining chair.  My office chair sits higher.

Oh, the block?  It’s Bonnie Hunter’s Scrappy Trips. The fabric is from a Connecting Threads strip set – I can’t remember which one, except there are lots of different fabric lines in it.