My Sewing Machine

For my second post I’ll introduce y’all to my sewing machine. I use it  for all my creations. It’s a Sears Kenmore 1560 mechanical sewing machine. It was given to me by my sister who has a newer machine and didn’t want the hassle of caring for an older machine. Older machines require regular maintenance  and upkeep to keep them running. I am pretty mechanical and can easily keep it in good running condition. You can read an article I wrote about my new sewing machine and how to buy a new one if you need one.

Quilting

After having the machine for a while and making a few basic projects, my interest in quilting began. A quick google search revealed that this vintage sewing machine could do free motion quilting. Therefore, all I had to do was drop the feed dogs and change to a darning foot.

First of all, I didn’t have a darning foot for the machine so I had to track one down. There were several online, but I didn’t know what I was looking for so I was leery to order it without seeing it. I found a sewing shop that does sales and repairs in a nearby town and stopped in. The lady helped me figure out what I needed and I bought a darning foot. It turns out my Kenmore 1560 has a short shank and the universal short shank darning foot fit perfectly.

First Repair

Feed dogs, feed dogs, what (and where) are the feed dogs? After finding them I tried to flip the switch to lower them. It wouldn’t budge. Another search but this time on youtube. There is not much available for this machine on youtube. I finally found a machine similar to the Kenmore and learned a little about how to free the stuck feed dogs.

The bottom cover came off easily with a few screws. While the feed dog mechanism was fairly easy to find, there wasn’t much room to work. Once I was able to narrow down which parts were supposed to move and which ones didn’t, I was in business. But, I still didn’t know how to free motion quilt yet.

Most importantly, everything is now ready to start sewing my first quilt. I have the squares cut out and ready to be stitched together. I will post more when I get to sewing. Don’t forget to share and subscribe!

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