# The Domestic Lady has arrived...WOW Photo heavy!



## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Here she is, been told she is about 150 years old, these were made beginning in 1863'ish according to my reading. The lady says she can date the machine from different things, when her Mom got it 80 years ago and whom it came from but I found things that give it some history... She is not perfect but absolutely beautiful! I was told she had silver on the drawers, they are heavy pieces and very nice plus shiny! This is the one I found with no picture I bought for $40 without seeing, send my hubby on a ferry to go get her!!!

An 1891 bible with a few tiny cards dated the same year. There is even a child's helper...

Came with so many attachments compared to the others I have gotten! I am gauging that on my other machines, this is the oldest one I have every had. The original felted bobbin holder etc is still in the drawer!

This is the case open, my 14 yr old had to hold it open from behind, missing something back there I will need to remedy. The lady said she used a stick cut to the size, not me. I will get something figured out..want to be extra gentle.

The iron is like new, I am still cleaning that, need to use a tooth brush just to get that dust out of the crevices there. There is a wood support that allows the machine to sit in the cabinet, this is broken. I can repair it carefully with wood glue and clamps. This was attempted before but not very well and they made it worse by putting extra holes in that piece. I will have to get a replacement off of another one someday...I can always look and look on different sites and ebay.  I would like to have it intact to use. Otherwise I will have my son cut new wood for this. I have wiped down the machine, the wheel turns like butter on the cabinet.  I will get to work on her tomorrow to see what I can do before my friend, the sewing machine repair guy gets over here....Oh I am so happy with my Christmas present! Behind her is a Christmas wood train. 

Being held open my my son:










The way she has to sit til I can make up something to keep her open:










The broken piece that does not allow her to be in the case:










The machine herself is a little faded on the lettering but, this seems pretty predictable for her age.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

A bible found in the drawer:










Little cards in the bible dated 1891:










Here is one bag of attachments..have to go through them yet.










Here is more attachments with the extra bobbins. I did not find needles, so will have to get those. 










I think each drawer is worth what she cost!


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

That is a beautiful cabinet


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

Wonderful purchase! Aren't you glad you took the risk?


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Beautiful!! You are going to enjoy her.


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## Pearl B (Sep 27, 2008)

Beautiful!! Thanks for posting, I love things from the past, especially sewing machines. I always wonder how many clothes they have been used to make.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

What a score, hope you are able to find everything you need! A very beautiful functional piece of history...


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

That's really nice. The wood cabinet is very handsome.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Pearl B said:


> Beautiful!! Thanks for posting, I love things from the past, especially sewing machines. I always wonder how many clothes they have been used to make.


I had to post her...You are so welcome, I am very happy! Patty told me she learned to sew on this Domestic. She said when they stopped sewing on her, the kids used to run the pedal without the machine in it..sounds like it could be risky but you should see how smooth the wheel turns in the cabinet...perfectly! So maybe this was not the worst thing? 
Gosh I know, wish there were more treasures with her but for $40, I find myself to be blessed beyond! She went through every war working away...it is hard to believe someone did not remove that heavy silver on the drawers during the depression!



lorichristie said:


> What a score, hope you are able to find everything you need! A very beautiful functional piece of history...


Thank you Lori, gosh I can't get over it...yep I did have a cry over her! I admit it...



AngieM2 said:


> That's really nice. The wood cabinet is very handsome.


The cabinet went beyond my expectations, the machine is typical for this age, the Domestics used very little in decor, these are decals like Singer used but they did a Holland style flower, you can see it faintly. I read about them, a work horse that sews through leather, canvass etc..just what I need!



Ruby said:


> That is a beautiful cabinet


Thank you! I could not help wishing the machine matched better but this is what Domestic did, lightly decorated black machines, not fancy like the Singers. They spared nothing to make their cabinets fancy, hand carving, solid silver accents on those drawers and the wood is thick and solid through out! It becomes a piece of your furniture, a beautiful focal point. Many pics I see folks put doilies on them with family photos! Each drawer opens so smoothly, no warping anywhere! Domestic did two copies of Singer designs, the Spinx was one of these, but not til the 1920's and then they were taken over by the White Sewing Machine company. 



Belfrybat said:


> Wonderful purchase! Aren't you glad you took the risk?


I have done this twice now and yes I am~ I did something similar once on a solid mohagany Tea Table with an ok pic. turned out to be gorgeous and the price was....$40? That was 3 years ago and I had this unusual urge that I just had to have it? The price on those at the time for one in the condition it was in was around $300.

I had this strong feeling to look at Treadles on CL again some days ago, not sure why, have not done that in a year. I made a deal with myself, no joke. I said if I can find one of these for $50, I will buy it as this was my budget for a a gift for me from my family. This said, I went onto CL and in five minutes I found it! She had it under a listing for household items as I did a search for Treadles. In one ad it was $50 and one it was $40. When I called her and she said $40 but she could not email me pics, she did not know how. I told her I had to be honest and saw it listed also for $50. She explained it was listed wrong by her son, it was $40 she wanted? What? Ok so I had to ask this lady to hold this machine for me til Wed. Her home sold and she signed papers on Monday! So the new owners of that home were due to sign papers but she did not know when. It turns out, she finds out Monday afternoon that they will sign theirs on Thursday. Some things are meant to be. It only took me 20 years to do this! It never seemed when I had the inclination that the cash was there..this time I made myself a deal and that deal was kept.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Molly Mckee said:


> Beautiful!! You are going to enjoy her.


Thanks Molly,
I am thrilled and so impressed with the quality of this cabinet and the smooth turning of the wheel on the cabinet and the machine both!


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Molly Mckee said:


> Beautiful!! You are going to enjoy her.


Thanks Molly,
I am thrilled and so impressed with the quality of this cabinet and the smooth turning of the wheel on the cabinet and the machine both! The iron frame looks like new, not a dent, even a trace of rust, I think that is in the best shape of all! Even hubby was impressed and his Mom never sewed.

Incidentally, the Ferry Captain wanted to charge a freight fee for her! He did not see what was under the quilt I sent to cover her up for the trip... When hubby uncovered her to get her off the ferry, the Captains eyes got huge, asked him where he got it and was astounded when hubby said CL and how much, so he told him $40 no wait $45!!!! The guy looked sheepish but he had demanded $5 for transporting her before and had to be talked into it...he did not even know what she was! Boy did he feel bad afterward! He shook hubbys hand and told him what a good job he had done...LOL Funny stuff!


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## Jaclynne (May 14, 2002)

The drawers alone are beautiful! 

Jackie


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Jaclynne said:


> The drawers alone are beautiful!
> 
> Jackie


Thank you Jackie...I love the drawers and I think it is real silver pieces on them? It sure looks like it and the lady told me it was! I just read that they did a form of silver plating, not like we know it. These are thick sheets of silver laid over and bent around a piece of stainless steel below. I was able to see this when I took a drawer out. The pulls look silver and they are thin enough, they may be. The machine itself does have a few needs before I can mount her into the cabinet. The attachments in those drawers are so cool I have to post them! I did not know this age machine did all this! 

A ruffler set This will ruffle fabric.
An underbraider set It makes that cool upraised braiding you see on hankies!
An embroidery set to do machine embroidery!
Quilting feet

Plus others I am still identifying..and all came with the machine originally! They have a tiny cut out star on each one! Each says New Domestic...I have to find a manual online. A tiny newspaper clipping from 1920 Chicago Tribune was in the bible. In very faint writing, there are two birth announcements 1872 and 1873 with the names and a lock of baby hair inside from a baby born 1895, the writing to correspond with the births are in the back of the little bible. There is a last entry of the last born and their death in 1926 which corresponds to when Patty's Mom was given the machine! So only one family owned this machine until Patty's Mom and she kept all these things intact for Patty who then included them for me! I told her I admired these types of things and that it has a permanent home...she believed me as she included these treasures!


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## HorseMom (Jul 31, 2005)

Beautiful! Im a little jealous, lol. I'm still waiting dor my good deal ;-)
Heidi


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

HorseMom said:


> Beautiful! Im a little jealous, lol. I'm still waiting dor my good deal ;-)
> Heidi


After about 20 years of wanting one, I set a budget with myself before I even looked at CL of that low $50, imagine my shock to find one in five minutes? It was only because she did not post pictures that I even got it. Last year at the same time of year, I found the most incredible cabinet I have ever seen. It looked like it belonged in a museum..much more ornate then mine... It was $200 and I could not swing it at the time. When you least expect something, it can literally land right in your lap! Keep looking Heidi!!!! The machine itself is not so pretty but she is one tough one and will do whatever I want so I will look past the fade and totally give both TLC.  Meanwhile I am getting help from a lovely lady on HT in finding the part for my 1913 Singer electric..now she is fancy but in a much plainer cabinet???? LOL All those designs were decals anyway....


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## PonderosaQ (Jan 12, 2004)

What a truly wonderful Christmas gift you have there. I am sure you will enjoy her functionality and beauty for many years.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Wow, she's just gorgeous, congratulations on a killer find!


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## wagvan (Jan 29, 2011)

Copying and pasting my post from S&EP:

Oh my! She is gorgeous! Congrats! 

I also have a treadle that I am redoing. Here is the blog about it: http://dorisandlindaslegacy.blogspot.com/

I just got a new Franklin scarab in almost pristine condition for free off of Craigslist. I got it so I could have a useable treadle until I get Scott's ggrandmas in good working condition, which will take me a little while. The lady I got it from had a more modern Singer treadled as well as her serger and some old treadles. She uses what they are calling vegan belt, but it is hollow urethane belt that has little connectors. Personally, I could care less if it is vegan, but it doesn't stretch (You have to adjust a leather belt multiple times until it gets fully stretched out) and is a lot more grippy so the wheel wont slip which is also a good thing and from all reports, does not wear out. (I'm sure it eventually will, but the reports are from people who use their treadles all the time. http://mushycat.com/wiki/index.php?n=Treadles.VeganBelt The price seems to have gone up from this post, though.

Also here is the link about treadling a serger: http://mushycat.com/wiki/index.php?n=Treadles.SergerConversion The lady I visited had got a serger with a broken motor and done it herself and it worked awesome!

Also, some groups you might want to get on:
http://www.treadleon.net/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintage_treadlesewingmachines/
http://ismacs.net/home.html

A great resource for refurbishing old human powered Singers. (Yours is what they call a Singer 27/127 clone.): http://www.tfsr.org/publications/technical_information/sewing_machine_manual/

And your machine, my Minnesota new model A and my Franklin were all made by Domestic and badged for Sears and Roebucks. http://www.ismacs.net/sears/sears.html And here is some Domestic info: http://www.ismacs.net/domestic/home.html

And it is awesome that you have a sewing machine tech willing to work on it for free, but for anyone else (and for you if TSHTF or this guy moves away) the best part about these and other old sewing machines (I am particularly fond of the pre-plastic gear Singers) they are completely self serviceable, sew like a dream and the parts almost never wear out.

And for fun and inspiration, here is a lady free motion quilting with her treadle: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkXJxVQHiJI"]You Tube[/ame] ​ 

Also a couple more favorite links:
http://blog.sew-classic.com/
http://vssmb.blogspot.com/


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## wagvan (Jan 29, 2011)

I can't quite tell in the pics what is broken. Can you elaborate? Is it the wood or the hinges? 

This is the mechanism that should do the lifting. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Antique...788?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d075aa8ec

I can get under mine and show you pics of how it should work. You might as well fix it right.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

PonderosaQ said:


> What a truly wonderful Christmas gift you have there. I am sure you will enjoy her functionality and beauty for many years.


Thank you, she just looks stunning in my dining room! The fact the case is so striking is of course a big plus while I get to work on the two issues with the machine, I do have time and our friend will come out and help. 



CJ said:


> Wow, she's just gorgeous, congratulations on a killer find!


Thank you! I am so happy with her!



wagvan said:


> I can't quite tell in the pics what is broken. Can you elaborate? Is it the wood or the hinges?
> 
> The wood behind one of the pins is broken, no hinges are broken, pins are intact. The breaks are in three places on the framing wood support piece only I have the pic of above, they even put electrical tape on it which covers one break! I thought that was kind of funny so I left that on there for the picture. When put into the cabinet to check, there is something underneath that is missing to support the left end but the right end is supported by the cabinet edge. So that is one more thing to ask my friend.
> 
> ...


I would so appreciate that! If it looks the same in other respects, photos would be so very helpful! Please do? Awesome, appreciate any help to see how to do this.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

wagvan said:


> Copying and pasting my post from S&EP:
> 
> Oh my! She is gorgeous! Congrats!
> 
> ...


*Thanks for all this you posted, what fun and for the video! Once I get her back together and running...this is going to be great!*


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## buslady (Feb 14, 2008)

Fifty-four years ago, my husband would drive to Waverly MO to buy me ice cream in the middle of the night. We were expecting our first child, and Waverly had an all night truck stop that had ice cream and dill pickles. This has nothing to do with the beautiful sewing machine, but we might have been in the same town at the same time.


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## Island of Blueb (Sep 20, 2005)

Whoa! That is so beautiful!


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Island of Blueb said:


> Whoa! That is so beautiful!


Thank you! I was just told by my son in law that his friend is going to fix or cut me out a new one of the framing piece! He has a special scanning machine that will duplicate it perfectly if he cant repair it. Now I will look for a replacement bottom piece.  That is the only issue with the sewing machine, but this part is bolted on with a single bolt which is intact. She will be worth the trouble!


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## happyjunker (Mar 22, 2009)

Awesome you will be able to get it fixed. I'm sure you are so excited! The cabinet is gorgeous! It makes me want to pop my treadle machine up and give it a try for the first time!


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

happyjunker said:


> Awesome you will be able to get it fixed. I'm sure you are so excited! The cabinet is gorgeous! It makes me want to pop my treadle machine up and give it a try for the first time!


Thank you, I feel very lucky. It is hard to believe a person would part with this after learning to sew on her. Patty just felt her new home had no more room? I am thrilled with her and she is permanent decor plus will be useful once repaired. Oh do use yours, how fun! Then tell us how it was? I put a doubled towel on top of this cabinet and used a plastic sewing machine to make a lap quilt last weekend, oh just kept wanting to use that pedal....It is the perfect height for me for the sewing surface also.


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

I have this same model!!! We are treadle twins!!! Unfortunately yours has a nicer cabinet and more of the gold lettering left. There are patent years on it. There are several on mine, but the most recent was 1883 or so. How did you figure it went back to the 1860's. I'm fixing the leather belt this weekend and hope to be sewing with it soon! We will have to compare notes!!!


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Mid Tn Mama said:


> I have this same model!!! We are treadle twins!!! Unfortunately yours has a nicer cabinet and more of the gold lettering left. There are patent years on it. There are several on mine, but the most recent was 1883 or so. How did you figure it went back to the 1860's. I'm fixing the leather belt this weekend and hope to be sewing with it soon! We will have to compare notes!!!


Oh please please please send me pictures of yours? I need pictures to find the few things she needs. I bet your cabinet is just as beautiful as this one! Can you open the front of your cabinet and take a picture of the mechanism that holds yours closed? I have what looks like a brass ring on the inside right but the closing part is just missing. I would love to also have you take a picture of what the machine looks like mounted but from underneath. Is that wood frame I got and posted the pic above with the bolt things, the only part I need to mount the machine back in with? Is there any other pieces below that support it from underneath? The iron stand is perfect as if new, were these tough or what? Are you talking about the gold New Domestic name on the front of the cabinet? She has little gold on the machine left, pretty faded. I found when I went on a website exactly how old this one is after being told otherwise, you have to look through my several posts to see though...LOL She is an 1891 machine and the patent dates on her slide plate has the last date being 1876. Her serial number is 1540758 which is how I looked her up. My belt is the kind that had connectors. I have a few things to do before mine can be used. I turned her wheel and the machine runs perfectly. I also pumped the pedal with smooth movement of the wheel on it...so once I get what I need, I believe I will be fine.

Pictures please send to [email protected] Oh I can't wait!


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

On a lovely persons recommendation, I joined the Treadle On website. I put an ad up to find a couple things including the needles. As it turned out, I was able to trade plants for needles and another shuttle. As I was learning about treadles, I found out that my machine did not need a new piece, the base of the machine was bolted to what is referred to as an oil pan. She does not need that part to run at all! While I wait to get that wood frame piece to my son in laws wood worker to repair to allow me to install her into that cabinet....I finally got those needles in the mail and the extra shuttle which took an unexpected month..slow mail for sure.... So tonight, I put her on the table without the oil pan under her as I was told to just take it off and try her out. Then I installed the needle, thinking why did they change things so much? My goodness, I looked up how to thread her, then put fabric to sew and turned her wheel by hand...the shuttle swung back and forth wonderfully and she sews beautifully with nice even stitches! I found out how to use the one dial to control the stitch length and how to use the bobbin winder on Youtube. This one on the youtube video is just a few years older than mine and is a Singer but goodness, the mechanisms are about the same. I thought I would share this for those who would want to learn that might to know. My bobbin winder attachment is identical to the one on this Singer. She threads a little differently to sew than this one. My decals on my machine are not as ornate and are more faded than this Singer. My case has oiled up beautifully though... the New Domestic may show some age but she is a work horse of quality! 

This is how to wind the bobbin of a Treadle machine, this one is an 1889 Singer with a Fiddle Base. This helped me learn how to do mine.  The lady in the video restores old treadle cabinets. I am glad I did not have to do more than clean and oil mine. I learned some cool things from her website though, worth going to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=GOu4-CG8RMU&feature=endscreen


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Thanks for the update!

Silly me, I thought I'd be done with machines, but every time I look around, I find another one that I can't seem to live without.

Now I'm looking to find a vibrating shuttle model (that is what singer calls this type). I'm going to stay with a Singer, and they kept making that type after they switched to the osculating model. Though the more recent models usually came with motors, when I get one it will be going in a treadle cabinet (if I get the cabinet - should know later today!).


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