Joan

As part of my patriotic duty to use less power over the winter, I have bought another vintage sewing machine. At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated sewing room. It's a big room, with space for my books, machines etc, and a large table for cutting out and pattern drafting. I love it, but there's no denying that it takes some heating in the winter. The steep increase in energy costs, and the possibility of power shortages, has led me to plan a different way of working over the colder months: batch up jobs which do need the large space, but convert the smaller and cosier spare bedroom into a winter sewing room.

The original plan was to have my hand crank machine in there, on a table. But there was no getting round that fact that Tilda, my treadle, is now my favourite machine. (As an aside, I feel ridiculously guilty about this, it's like admitting to having a favourite child!) I like having both hands free to guide the fabric, and I especially like having such a large flat area flush with the machine bed.

Tilda - so much work space

Moving Tilda upstairs wasn't an option. My house is a mix of old and new, and the stairs are in the old part, and narrow. Tilda is large and heavy, and even if I could get her upstairs, she would take up too much space in her new home. I was resigned to the hand crank option, until I spotted this in a local auction. For a mere £10, she was mine.

Balanced on wood offcuts while I'm working on her

According to the January 1933 Singer catalogue, this is a New Enclosed Cabinet No. 46.

The cabinet shown closed, and in use

I don't know when Singer first started making enclosed cabinets, but the July 1932 catalogue shows a slightly different version, albeit also called a No. 46.

The 1932 version of the No. 46 cabinet

Clearly, Singer decided to remodel it along more 'moderne' lines. On a practical note, the door is now the full height of the cabinet, and when open it acts as a support for the extension flap.

The enclosed cabinet was more expensive than the five-drawer cabinet table (Tilda). According to the June 1933 price list, the list price was £23 10s 0d in 1933 as opposed to Tilda's £19 5s 0d. Various discounts were available, and for the cheapest option of cash purchase the price was £18 16s 0d. (Tilda was £15 8s 0d cash.)

The two versions of the No. 46 cabinet seem the same apart from the door design. Both have the "fitted tray and commodious drawer" inside. I don’t know what Singer thought their customers were sewing, but I doubt if it is commodious enough for, as the brochures suggest, "unfinished work".

For very small work, but you can lock it away

What it does have is this, stamped on the back of the drawer.

The manufacture date of the cabinet

Clearly the previous owner didn't think that the storage space was sufficient, either, as Joan has had a DIY upgrade.

An extra box, and a set of small drawers

The large box definitely needs some work. The inside is dirty and rough, and one of the wooden strips which holds the tray in place is missing.

Needs cleaning,re-lining, and a new support

The underside of the tray shows that originally it was something else entirely, and far older than 1934.

A box for an 1890 birthday present

The big advantage of this machine, for me, is its size. Whereas Tilda is 16" by 34" (41cm by 86½ cm) when closed up, this machine is only 16¾" by 22⅜" (42½ cm by 57cm), little more than the size of the treadle mechanism.

The treadle mechanism is much the same as Tilda's

The machine itself is Tilda's ever-so-slightly older sibling. Joan is number Y9067719, and Tilda is number Y9103427. According to this website, both are part of the 50,000 66K machines made between November 1933 and September 1934.

Partway through cleaning

Although she looks in reasonable condition, she was very grubby in places, with a slightly sticky film of nicotine all over. Nice. I used the skills I learned on Maud to clean her up, but a few areas are so gummed up that they defeated me, for now. Despite this, she produces a really lovely stitch and I'm looking forward to finishing off the last little bits of restoration, getting her set up upstairs, and using her.