My Singer 301 has a baby

I think I've blogged before about my sewing machine. I use a totally wonderful Singer 301 sewing machine. There's tons of info on this kind of machine available if you're interested in the full history, but in brief, the 301 was "born" in 1951/1952 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. It's a slant arm machine, meaning the needle is at an angle instead of straight up and down. This makes it easier to see what you're sewing, and it's also super strong - - that little angle in the needle let's you sew through some crazy thick material and layers.

By today's standards, there's nothing fancy about this machine. It's not particularly pretty, it doesn't have fancy stitches, and it's certainly not computerized like most modern machines. But, I have to tell you, I love it and I can't imagine sewing on another machine.

So you can imagine my UTTER JOY when I rounded a corner last night at the mammoth vintage/antique store only to discover that my 301 had a baby! A metal children's toy made to look just like my real machine. And it works - with a little hand crank, this baby will sew a chain stitch. What a toy!

Of course, it had to come home with me. It would have felt criminal to leave it there.
It seems I have a little collection starting  . . .

Happy Stitching!

Kelly