Vintage Sewing Machines

My mother picked up sewing in her younger years and we had an old Singer sewing machine for a long time. I recall seeing her wipe the dust off the machine occasionally to amend pieces of clothing. She said she used it alot more before she had us. Watching her, I was always thrilled at the pedaling and at the turning of the wheel. I would stand next to her, pestering to turn the wheel. To pacify me, she would let me turn it once and get me to buzz off. 

When I entered my teenage years, I was always trying to furnish/decorate the house. But that young and amateur head of mine was adamant that a vintage sewing machine could not fit into the modern look of our apartment (yeah, I was into that look then...). Eventually, we got rid of the machine.

As I got older though, I started to appreciate all things vintage and till now, I can't get enough of it. One day, I came across a picture of a vintage sewing machine sitting prettily in a house. From then on, the image stuck in my head. I thought of that old sewing machine of ours and wondered why in the world I wanted to sever relations with it. Ah, the foolishness of youth!

The workspace on the left is made for me! Look at the huge "S"!

To satisfy my satisfaction with pre-loved items, I talked a girl friend (that's what are friends for) into spending a Saturday afternoon at Salvation Army with me. Then I saw it! A vintage sewing machine! I decided right that moment I was going to get it. We both didn't drive. But I wanted it so bad that we went onto the main road and looked out for larger than usual taxis. We were in luck. Then, the both of us lugged the machine from the taxi into the lift and to my apartment. I'm proud of our accomplishment! Of course my mum wondered what in the world was going in her fickle daughter's head when she saw the machine. But I didn't care. I was grinning for a long time. 

I am loving the vintage sewing machines in the images above! Either as a decorative piece or as the heart of the sewing studio. These are too pretty!!

[images from left to right, top to bottom, from the Flickr photostreams of: joontoons, JerusalemTheArtsyMomma, Catslye, keightyj, danny mansmith, Rogue & Wench, dream7184, artsmith_satx]