Mom's Sewing Machine

While I was at my mom's last week, I took a good look at her sewing machine.  Mom's machine is a Kenmore with a built-in cabinet, circa about 1963 or '64 - she doesn't remember exactly when she got it, but it was either just before or just after I was born.  The top of the table opens out, and then you swing the sewing machine up from underneath.  Mom told me she and my dad paid $150 for this machine back then - a lot of money for a young couple!  But she felt it had paid for itself many times over the years.

I have so many wonderful memories of this machine.  My first sewing machine experience was in my 7th grade Home Ec. class, but I liked it so much that I continued to sew on this machine afterwards, with Mom's help.  Throughout junior high and high school, and on into college, I sewed my own clothes on this machine. Later when Mom and my brother got me my own sewing machine as a gift, they got me a Kenmore.  It was so easy to use because everything was in the same place and worked the same as Mom's machine.  However, Mom's machine is ALL metal - it takes some muscle to lift it up out of that cabinet!

We had fun looking at the stitch cams and the attachments.  This machine uses round "cams" for the different decorative zigzag stitches.  There's a different stitch for the front and back of the cam.  I'm not really sure how these work but the edges are like cogs, and each one is different - like a key.

I only ever used the plain zigzag, which is in the machine (you can see it in the second photo).  But Mom said she did use a couple of these more decorative stitches.

Another thing I never used was the fancy attachments that came with the machine - in fact, I'm not sure I ever knew she had them!  And even if I did know, back then I wouldn't have known what they were used for.  I was really impressed with the assortment of feet that came with the machine - some of these I don't even have on my newer machines, but wish I did!  I took pictures of all of them:

Not only a narrow hem foot, but:

1/4" hem foot,

3/8" hem foot,

5/8" hem foot and

7/8" hem foot!  Jealous!!

Bias binding attacher!

Gathering foot.

Straight stitch foot.

Edgestitcher.  Not sure how this one works!

Ruffler!!

Quilting guide.

One attachment I did use was the buttonholer.  I like this one because it has such great grip on the back:

I used the zipper foot a lot too, but forgot to take a picture of it.  I much prefer the Kenmore zipper foot to the ones that come with the Janome.

All the cams and presser feet fit neatly into a little box for storage:

Along with the instruction manual:

And the manual is full of cute illustrations and chatty text, a la 1960s:

Fun with attachments!

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to do was dump out the coffee can where Mom kept all her old buttons and look at each one.  Getting out her sewing machine and all its pieces was the grown-up equivalent!

Did any of you grow up with an adult who sewed?  Do you have fond memories or stories about the machine you grew up with or learned on?