I just have to share my new vintage treasures.
I found this circa 1958 Singer 403A at my local Savers a few weeks back. It came with the wrong power cord and foot pedal, and was very dirty. But the price couldn't be beat.
Yes, seriously it was $7.99!! I had to take her home. She's missing a few parts but a quick search online brought me to a few websites with replacements. I was able to clean up her exterior with good old fashioned rubbing alcohol but I haven't gotten to the inner workings yet. Truth be told, I'm a little intimidated. But I plan on doing the best I can to get her running again and if worse comes to worse, I'll take her to a professional.
I found this beauty about a week ago at the same Savers. I knew right away what it was when I saw it and thought it would be perfect for my little Singer.
Check it out! The front drops down for free arm exposure. How neat is that? I've never seen a cabinet like this before. I was able to find two others (
here &
here) with the exact same cabinet online, and
one with a very similar cabinet. But there's no markings on it anywhere,
so I have no idea who made it and what machine it was originally designed for. (Update 3/17/15: this desk was designed by Singer for their Athena 2000 model back in 1976!)
There's a bit of repair work to be done on some of the trim and there's a piece missing on the top (it's supposed to conceal the machine when not in use) but other than that it's a great little work table.
And of course the price can't be beat! :) Funny thing is that the day I bought it they were running a half off sale on grey ticket items. I had no idea when I took it to the register, so I paid $7.50 for it! I can't wait to get it fixed and painted. It's going to be so nice having this extra storage and a spot for my 403A.
After I brought home the sewing machine, I began researching this particular little Singer. Come to find out, it's a really great little work horse! Seriously, Google it and there's a few blogs with the history and reviews of it. It's really an amazing little machine that was one of the first to have a lot of the features we see on machines from today.
Like I said there's a few websites that sell replacement parts for it but on eBay I found this box with the manual and a ton of accessories.
It came with 8 CAM discs and a ton of presser feet. I scored this auction for $15.50 plus shipping. So far, my most expensive purchase but so worth it. I look forward to getting this machine up and running to try out all the presser feet and CAM discs.
Congratulations on two great finds! :) I love vintage sewing machines. And the table is going to be wonderful!. The vintage sewing machines are built so well and are pretty. About 3 or 4 years ago I got my first vintage sewing machine, a Singer Featherweight 221. I was smitten. Later my husband surprised me with a singer 301, sister machine to Featherweight. Their parts are compatible which is a big plus (i.e., bobbins, bobbin winder, foot pedals.) I'm not sure if other vintage singer parts are compatible/interchangeable with you're machine or not but maybe? I use both of these machines to make all of my quilts.
ReplyDeleteFeatherweights are so pretty! I have no more room in my house so this is it, no more machines. Otherwise I'd probably buy one. The Singer 403 is part of the slant shank series of machines. The CAM discs and presser feet are interchangeable among the whole series (400s, 500s and I think some 600s). Which is awesome since you can find tons of things on sites like Etsy and eBay. :) I just bought some of the missing parts online from Sew Classic, which specializes in older machines (including your Featherweight and 301).
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