An Antique? Maybe one day!

When travelling, one of my favourite past times is searching out local junk (antique sounds a bit posh) shops. France is full of them and there is a huge one in Villedieu les Poeles in Normandie, which we visit a lot. Many visits result in no purchase whatsoever but then, occasionally, a gem is uncovered.

My Gem….

This is an old Singer treadle post-arm sewing machine. It’s in need of some TLC but I could see the potential, so I negotiated a knock down price and the lovely piece of machinery gets manhandled into the back of the car.

A Special Machine

Back in the UK, I am now in the process of finding a restorer to fix it for me and bring it back into working order. I thought it would be an interesting addition to my design studio since it’s a specialist machine for stitching leather.

The long ‘arm’, rather than a ‘flat bed’ for sewing on, means that you can easily stitch around corners (vital when making shoes and bags). The foot (the bit that holds down the material you are stitching) can also be turned through 180 degrees so you can stitch forwards as well as to the left or the right. Magic! The fact that this antique machine is a treadle one, means that when it’s fixed, I’ll be able to stitch things slowly. You mustn’t make any mistakes when stitching leather as every wrong stitch makes a hole which doesn’t go away!

This kind of machine still exists in a modern electrical design in factories all over the world but I’m very pleased with my junk purchase…..soon to be renovated and promoted to antique status 🙂

Have you got one of these or did you buy a piece of junk which you have renovated? I’d love to hear how the renovation went!