Essex Sewing Machines

[Kishtu]

Hey ladies - wonder if anyone knows anything about these little beauties.

I've got a Mark 1 model with carrying case and I'm wondering whether to sell it or keep it as part of my utility housewife re-enactment persona.
I think it's intact - to be honest I haven't looked properly since it was given to me by its original owner - I've had a read round on the Essex website and downloaded the destructions, sorry, instructions, but I'm in two minds.....

has anyone ever used one of these little chaps, and is it worth keeping?

 

[kiwilrdg]

I would keep it, but I am a textile hoarder.
Old sewing machines do not get the prices they should (in the US at least).


I do not have an Essex but my little singer is lots of fun.
A chain stitch machine is handy for lots of stuff. It can even be used to do some period embroidery (common in Asian, middle East and occupied areas).
Be sure to tie the end off when you do a seam.

Hope you don't mind input from a guy, but since we are talking power tools (hand powered) I felt I could speak up.

 

[Kishtu]

Mind??? good lord no I don't mind at all, lovely to hear from you!

I'm also a textile hoarder - that's why I was in two minds, there are only so many sewing machines you can squirrel away ;-)
Didn't know that about the seams!

I'll mention the idea of sewing machines as power tools to Him Indoors. It might encourage him not to view them with fear and suspicion....

 

[kiwilrdg]

Chain stitches are fun because the whole seam can be pulled out by pulling the thread on one side if it is not tied off. This can be a disaster because it is not good for a whole garment to fall apart when a cat finds the wrong hanging thread. It is really good if you are making a muslin mockup to change a pattern because you can pull out seams real quick.

It is also real fast for repairs because there is no bobbin to fill when you change thread colors.

 

[Kishtu]

Ha, so you have problem-paws too, then?

I'm thinking I may have done the little fella a disservice by writing it off as a children's sewing machine. It's odd how many sites call it a "toy" but I don't think that was ever how it was marketed. It certainly doesn't sound like a plaything, it sounds like a very useable piece of kit.

 

[kiwilrdg]

It does have limits, but it is less of a toy than most of the low-cost plastic sewing machines on the market today.

If I did not have my treddle machine I would use mine more. It is easier to use a cabinet machine. A small machine is easier than getting out a larger portable and is fine for repairs.

I think people calling it a toy are people who have not used one, or had a use for one. Too many people thing that a small, specialized tool is always a toy. I am a spinner and I have seen drop spindles called toy tops by archeologists several times.

 

[Kishtu]

More fool them, then. I do Anglo-Saxon re-enactment and use a drop spindle quite a lot and someone was asking me at an event recently how early they could get their granddaughter to start spinning. My son is 2 and the only thing stopping him using my drop spindle is the size - it's just that bit too big for him. Were I to make him a smaller version he could easily use it. His thing at the moment is trying to tablet-weave mummy's hair but that's by the by....

I think I will have to take it down and give it a go. I seem to remember many, many years ago having a plastic version of the Essex that did a very basic chain stitch. That would be late 1970s, I think....

 

[kiwilrdg]

My son is 2 and the only thing stopping him using my drop spindle is the size

Keep the same whorl, shorten the shaft and put a big cup hook on the end. He will want the whorl momentum. The coordination in his fingers may be fine for the fiber but the gross motor skills for reaching out and starting the whorl will be harder for him. A cup hook is easier than slipping a loop onto the groove (or small hook) on the shaft.

I have started many kids spinning with a CD, a pencil, duct tape, and a cup hook.

 

[Kishtu]

Really? That young??

There I was thinking I had the youngest drop-spinner in history. Pah.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I have started kids as yound as 4, but they had not watched people spinning. I am sure a 2 year old that has watched spinning could pick it up easier because a lot of the learning curve in learning to spin is really unlearning misconceptions about spinning.

 

[Kishtu]

Just to try and keep vaguely on topic, he can use a sewing machine (under supervision, I hasten to add) so maybe the Essex would be a good one for him to have a learning session on!