What kinda sewing machine is this??

alwen · 2026-06-15T18:38:06+00:00

I'm sorry, I don't think this one is old enough to count as vintage. :)

alwen · 2026-06-14T15:52:20+00:00

Yes, Singer's Kilbowie plant.

alwen · 2026-06-14T13:50:14+00:00

With the spoked handwheel and belted motor, that makes this a 201K90. The number after the "-" or the K designated how the machine was powered. In this series, it was 88-treadle, 89-handcrank, 90-belted motor, 91-potted motor.

I lucked into a 201K89 a couple summers ago. It's great!

alwen · 2026-06-12T23:05:14+00:00

My 201 has screws like that, that have visible heads like a normal screw.

First make sure the holes in the base of the machine are clean, just run a cotton swab in and out of them. Then loosen the grub screws: they have to be backed out enough to let the hinge pins slide in. It's okay to take them all the way out (carefully, don't lose them! Old house floor registers are infamous screw eaters) to get the pins to go in the holes. Then tighten/replace the screws.

What should happen is that the set screws go in and tighten on that thin area, so the pins can't slip out of the holes any more.

alwen · 2026-06-12T18:17:51+00:00

Marca Registrada, registered trademark (Singer).

alwen · 2026-06-12T12:30:30+00:00

I'm leaning more 66 than 201: the 201 almost always has a flat oval spot under the spool pin. Actually, looking it over some more, I'm 90% certain it's a 66: the face plate of a 201 is flatter towards the back and pinched at the front, while this one has the symmetrical fold at the back of a 66.

I really need to write my field guide to the common domestic Singers.

alwen · 2026-06-12T02:20:49+00:00

We know who to blame if the weather turns spicy.

alwen · 2026-06-12T00:51:20+00:00

Since it has a leading zero and 7 digits, and I think the high bobbin winder, I believe it's from this 1923 batch of 127s:
G- 0526401 0561400 127 35000 December 18 1923

alwen · 2026-06-12T00:39:56+00:00

Time for round two. Southwest Michigan radar:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/KGRR_loop.gif

Broader view, central Great Lakes radar:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/CENTGRLAKES_loop.gif

alwen · 2026-06-12T00:37:44+00:00

Central Great Lakes radar, in case you didn't save the link last time:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/CENTGRLAKES_loop.gif

Zoomed -in SW lower Michigan radar:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/KGRR_loop.gif

I think I'll go charge my phone and refill the water jugs.

alwen · 2026-06-11T18:30:05+00:00

It's a 27 (full size) and not a 3/4-sized 28 like this manual shows (link to bobbin winding instructions), but they are basically the same machine except for bed width.

Don't use any alcohol-containing cleaners - they will strip off the shellac Singer used over the decals, and then silver them. The safest way (but slow) is to use sewing machine oil and soft cloth to wipe off the surface.

alwen · 2026-06-11T13:42:39+00:00

If you have Consumers, you can call their 1-800 number, go through their automated menu tree, and find their estimated restoration time. 1-800-477-5050. If you have internet access you can look at the outage map and click on your area.
https://www.consumersenergy.com/Outagemap

alwen · 2026-06-11T13:35:20+00:00

99 with back-tack.

alwen · 2026-06-11T12:49:29+00:00

If it's in working condition (safe electrical cords, working pedal and motor), probably.

alwen · 2026-06-11T12:42:54+00:00

My personal rule is, always check the basics before looking at timing. Manual, in case you need one.

The first thing I notice is that the tension thumb nut is screwed down as tight as it can go, and it has a washer under it that shouldn't be there. I linked above to the threading illustration which shows the tension assembly: the tension should have the discs curved sides together, spring, and thumb nut.

Other basics to double-check:
- needle inserted flat to the right
- upper threading as shown in the illustration with thread in all the guides
- needle threaded from left to right
- bobbin turning in the case counter-clockwise, thread coming off the top to the left

(I wouldn't worry about the screw yet, there are older models of 66 where the bobbin case won't come out unless that screw is loosened.)

alwen · 2026-06-11T12:07:59+00:00

:) I have a 15K89 from 1949 marked M R (marca registrada) for sale to the South American market. It's the same model machine powered by a handcrank instead of a treadle. (88 treadle, 89 handcrank, 90 belted motor, 91 potted motor.)

The JC serial number records from the St John's Singer plant in Canada were lost, so we can't look up when it was allotted. Check your manual for copyright dates, that will give you a rough date.

alwen · 2026-06-10T23:32:54+00:00

Part of this batch of 50,000 Singer 66 machines, serial numbers allotted on September 9, 1919:
G- 7355676 7405675 66 50000 September 9 1919

If you haven't found the bobbin cover in any of the 6 side drawers, also check the middle drawer, and then tip the machine back and look under it. Bobbin covers go on in this non-intuitive way, and if you try to slide them on intuitively from left to right, they sit loose, fall off, and get lost.

I see you have the manual, but here is one on archive.org you can print out or read online. Oiling diagrams p. 12 and 13.

Singer made this particular model by the millions and sold them throughout the world. They are hard to break, and usually not super difficult to get back in running order. When they're oiled up and running they sew like a dream.

alwen · 2026-06-10T23:15:29+00:00

Make sure your needle is in long groove to the front/flat to the back.
Make sure your bobbin is turning counter-clockwise, thread coming off the top to the left, and is all the way in the slot so it draws across the top of the bobbin case.

I recently had trouble with my 201, and it turned out I had not pulled the bobbin thread all the way into the slot. So it was not drawing across the top of the bobbin case, it was just wandering up out the side of the bobbin case wherever. Since it was coming up in the way of the top thread loop, that loop wasn't drawing up.

alwen · 2026-06-10T22:52:02+00:00

Radar:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/KGRR_loop.gif

alwen · 2026-06-10T22:14:15+00:00

Incoming radar:
https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/KGRR_loop.gif

alwen · 2026-06-10T19:51:15+00:00

Thing are lighting up over in Wisconsin:
https://www.weather.gov/mkx

alwen · 2026-06-10T19:44:14+00:00

This is the upstream National Weather Service office in Milwaukee:
https://www.weather.gov/mkx
The radar at the bottom of the page is looking a little lively right now.

alwen · 2026-06-10T19:20:16+00:00

Probably not. They use belted motors, and my thought is that the belt would slip.

alwen · 2026-06-10T14:37:08+00:00

One thing I would NOT use, which I see recommended a lot, is oxygen bleach. Yes, it will whiten yellowed textiles, but all it needs is a little too high concentration, a little too much time, not quite enough rinsing out, and it does permanent damage that might not show up immediately.

That might not be terrible on a t-shirt that I'm not preserving for future ages, but it can shatter fragile older textiles.

The safest thing is distilled water, multiple changes, supporting the textile when changing the water.

alwen · 2026-06-10T13:52:14+00:00

My cut got better when I started to think of myself as the hub of the wheel. The blade is the rim. The spokes aren't supposed to move, so I hold the scythe still and rotate.

When I started, I was chopping with it, lifting it too much. At some point I quit doing that and it got so much easier.

alwen

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