Complete Guide to Treadle Sewing Machines

As a sewing machine repair person for over twenty five years, I’ve seen almost every problem that can happen with your home sewing machine. I’ve seen people so frustrated with their new found treadle sewing machine that they were ready to set it aside for looks only, just because they couldn’t figure out how to use or operate it. Normally the old treadles no longer have instruction books with them, therefore it’s up to the owner to try to figure things out. Even a basic thing like putting on a new belt is an impossible task when you don’t know where to begin and what steps to take to get it in the right position and secured properly. If you stop and think about it, the treadle machine is the machine all sewing machines of today were modeled after. The electric motor was added to take the place of the foot power of the treadle machines. The shuttle was changed from the bullet style to the present style of a small round flat shuttle directly under the feed dog and needle bar. I’ve had many requests to try to locate an instruction manual for treadle sewing machines, to no avail. After years of request after request for information on treadle sewing machines, I was finally talked into writing a book of general instruction for the treadle machine. Keep in mind that there are many different styles, brands and manufacturers of treadle sewing machines, and some are made in other countries. With that in mind, I could not include each of them specifically and cover the small differences they each may have, therefore this book is written in a “generic” style so that the information could be applied to any treadle machine.