Some of my earliest memories are of playing with my grandmother’s old treadle sewing machine. The smooth interplay of the gears fascinated me and I loved how a slight change in pressure would reverse their direction.
This small fascination has stayed with me over time. But, beyond the mechanisms, old sewing tables never really appealed to me as pieces of furniture— the ubiquitous stacked drawers always make them feel bulky and their decorative metal frames often seem fussy.
This is why I was so drawn to the simple lines of this treadle sewing machine’s frame when I saw it for sale at a nearby Salvation Army. Much of the piece was in disrepair—laminate peeling off the drawers, panels hanging together by just a few screws, filth gunking up the machine, treadle gears rusted in places. However, the table top was in great shape and had a lovely glow, as did the table’s $50 price tag.
Online research provided proper geekery: the piece is a Wheeler & Wilson No. 9, made sometime between 1897-1905 in Bridgeport, CT. It was advertised as “The only perfect sewing machine for family use.” After the company was bought by Singer, these same machines continued to be built under that brand for another decade.
The restoration has actually gone much better then I’d hoped. The machine is now in running shape and looks beautiful. The wooden body is solid and has a warm finish that better matches the table top. The best improvement has been the removal of the drawers, which gives the table a kind of Frank Lloyd Wright feel.
The end result is pretty sweet for $50: a 100 year old table made from warm, aged wood and metal that also manages to have a very slick, modern feel...and just happens to be a fully functional sewing machine. Thrift store gold.More pictures of this sewing machine can be found on my flickr page.
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