Treadle Sewing Machines: Clean and Use an Iron Lady by Donna Kohler

Table of Contents

Gain the confidence to get your treadle sewing machine in working order to glide as they should! You will learn about the following: types of mechanisms, cleaning without destroying the gold decals, oiling and lubricating, tension and pressure, installing a leather belt, needles, threading, how to treadle, free motion quilting and embroidery. There is a resource page listing helpful sites.

From the author:

My grandmother taught me to sew on her Singer treadle when I was a little girl. In 1965 a sewing machine shop teacher taught me to service my new zig-zag electric machine. She taught me how to take the race assembly apart and to clean and oil a machine and most importantly, to have no fear adjusting tensions, both on the upper thread and bobbin case. In 1999, Dick Wightman's email list, Treadle On, helped me get over being embarrassed to say I had not used an electric machine since 1993, only a treadle. Ray White taught me the mechanical basic rules that apply to all sewing machines and how to observe the subtleties. Budd and Roy, the sewing machine guys at Budd's Sewing Center, had more than 100 years combined experience in the industry, my collection of machines expanded from my visits to them.

In 2004 I was a guest on the HGTV Simply Quilts Show with Alex Anderson. I took three treadle sewing machines. The show aired a few times and also on the DIY channel and I was featured in a few quilt magazines after that.

For years I have said, "Treadles are like classic cars, take them for a Sunday drive."