When Ann gave me this Willcox & Gibbs industrial it came with some good stuff; there were several needles (industrial machine needles are different from home machine needles) a spare belt (no servos here its belt driven), a few rather scary looking watch-those-fingers feet (see right, [...]]]>

Left: Bernina foot, 20mm wide. Right: Willcox & Gibbs foot, 8mm wide

When Ann gave me this Willcox & Gibbs industrial it came with some good stuff; there were several needles (industrial machine needles are different from home machine needles) a spare belt (no servos here its belt driven), a few rather scary looking watch-those-fingers feet (see right, the regular one is just 8mm wide), a special wrench and the thread stand.  However, one crucial thing missing was a manual, and as every sewer knows a used sewing machine needs its manual as much as a used car does.  And one thing I could not seem to figure out with this old beauty was how to change the stitch length. 

It had been set at 8 stitches per inch when I got it and for the life of me I could not get it to reset.  Now mind you, this is not a complicated machine, its entirely mechanical; it does only a lockstitch and can’t even go in reverse.    It really has no external features other than a small box built into the front for oil and a silver button below a tiny window that notes the stitch lengths per inch.  So how hard could it be to change the stitch length?  Well, without a manual for guidance it really was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  First  I tried to figure it out on my own and got nowhere.   Then I called the guys at Reliable Sewing Machine who serviced it; Bill read me the stitch length instructions over the phone but  it made no sense at all.  Then I called Ann, thinking I could ask her for the number of the woman who gave her the machine, but she called me back and said, “Phyl, I wish I could but she’s dead!”  So much for that idea.

Finally I get on the Internet,  start googling and up comes 301,000  hits for Willcox & Gibbs.  I learned a lot.   The company was in business from 1857 to 1973 as a sewing  machine manufacturer.   They had several showrooms in the US and Europe, in Boston they were at 363 Boylston Street, a tony address even today.  In 1973 they sold the sewing machine business to  Pfaff;  but they still exist as Rexel Inc. a company that distributes lighting and electrical components.  Most of what I found  for information about their sewing machines pertained to their highly collectible Victorian era machines or  were links to used sergers from the 70′s that are still sold in the secondary market.  Finally, after trolling through 7 pages of hits I found a promising PDF from a Smithsonian on-line collection of industrial trade literature.   There was quite a bit of Willcox & Gibbs material and one file was labeled “Manual for high speed industrial lockstitch machine”.  I opened up the PDF and sure enough the machine looks like a simpler version of my industrial!   And its almost  identical too, the only thing it doesn’t have is the auto-lubricating box on the front.   Here is the instruction for changing the stitch length:

The silver reset button and the window with the stitch length number are to the left of the wheel. The box below holds oil.

“TO CHANGE THE STITCH – Turn Hand Wheel and press Button until it snaps in.  Then for a shorter stitch (higher number) turn top of  Hand Wheel toward you; for a longer stitch (lower number) turn it from you until in either case the sititch number desired is shown in recess above.  Then release Button.”

 Did you get all that?  There is a pop quiz at the end…

After two tries  and much grunting I figured it out.  There is a indeed a “Button”, there is a  indeed a “recess” and the wheel did turn and the stitch length number did change.  Then I ran some fabric through – viola – 34 stitches per inch!  I learned a few other things  too; my machine is mucholder than I thought, the Smithsonian manual is dated 1928 so that makes it approximately 81 years old.  It runs at 4200 stitches per minute; my 2002 Bernina 180 does 880 per minute.  The table and the motor are newer than the head; the motor is General Electric, the transmitter is Consew and the table is labeled Singer on the treadle.   But it still works.  The only strange thing about it is the smell; when it heats up my sewing room fills with the odor of old sewing machine oil.

So I can finish up my coat now; although the buttonholes will need to wait until my Bernina comes back from the shop.

A few months ago Ann got a call from a seamstress who was retiring and she wanted to get rid of her industrial machine, so Ann picked it up for me (thanks Ann!)  Turns out its a Willcox & Gibbs, and well-regarded company that made machines from 1868 to 1973.   After I got it [...]]]>

Willcox & Gibbs Industrial

A few months ago Ann got a call from a seamstress who was retiring and she wanted to get rid of her industrial machine, so Ann picked it up for me (thanks Ann!)  Turns out its a Willcox & Gibbs, and well-regarded company that made machines from 1868 to 1973.   After I got it home I took it to Reliable Sewing Machine in Randolph, Mass. They sell and service industrial machines and incredibly they were the original dealer back when this machine was new in 1940′s; you can see their name and old Boston address on the front of the table!   The guys at Reliable told me this model was really popular for sewing blouses because it sews a nice flat seam on silky fabrics.

There is one big caveat though in terms of how long I can use it; Reliable warned me that parts for this machine are no longer available, so when the timing belt goes the party is over, hence her being named Cinderella.   Fortunately I can still get needles so I figure I might as well enjoy it as long as I can.  It did come with a few feet too and Reliable can retro fit a regular foot to make it non-stick for leather, this machine will sew upholstery grade leather like its batiste cotton and that’s one reason I decided to take it.  Reliable actually had a manual for this machine, so I have a threading diagram.  I may need to head back down there to see if they will let me photocopy the whole thing so I know how to oil it.  I also can’t quite figure out how to change the stitch length.   This is a really simple machine; it does only a basic lockstitch and it does not even go in reverse; however, like all industrials it has a huge motor and this baby is fast; it easily runs at 3,000-4,000 stitches a minute.   At full speed the needle is a blur and the feet are small for precise production sewing; this is definitely the kind of machine that will sew your finger to the table.

Here in Massachusetts we were hit with a whopper snowstorm this weekend, so I thought I’d get started on the Rucci dress.  However, that plan was sidelined when I unpacked the Christmas tree skirt and discovered that sometime over the summer $150 worth of  ball fringe trim from G Street Fabrics  had been chewed off of it [...]]]>

Here in Massachusetts we were hit with a whopper snowstorm this weekend, so I thought I’d get started on the Rucci dress.  However, that plan was sidelined when I unpacked the Christmas tree skirt and discovered that sometime over the summer $150 worth of  ball fringe trim from G Street Fabrics  had been chewed off of it by garage mice and used for nesting material.

Time for a new tree skirt.

I had some rich burgundy home dec velvet in my stash, and some great silver silk dupioni for a  binding.  The embroidery module of my Bernina 180E had not been used in a while, and I had this cool modernist snowflake design that would look just great on the velvet in various shades of silvery-grey threads.  And guess what happened?  Well, my ancient (2001) Bernina 180E Artlink software is not compatible with any of the five computers we have in this house.  I didn’t want to shell out $500+ to Bernina for their true editing software because I don’t use the embroidery module all that much, and who the heck knows if it would even work on a Bernina machine from 2001 and a 2007 PC running Vista.  Intense frustration ensued.

So what did I do?  Go onto Ebay and bid on an Dell laptop running Windows ’98 so I can match it up with my 8 year old 180E and its Jurassic era Artlink software.  And sure enough – Ebay has plenty of once $1,000+ laptops for less than $60.  Hopefully I’ll get the snowflakes embroidered in time to  stow away the tree skirt till next Christmas.  Wish me luck with the laptop I’m bidding on.  If I ever sell this Bernina, which as an embroidery machine is depreciating faster than anything GM ever built; I’ll need to include a working laptop with it because no one would ever be able to use the embroidery module without a computer of similiar vintage.  And did I tell you that the sole connection from the sewing machine to the PC is a serial port???  I’d better not lose any of the cables either…