{"id":108,"date":"2025-03-16T19:26:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T02:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/?p=108"},"modified":"2025-03-16T19:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T02:26:22","slug":"i-added-a-new-friend-to-my-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/?p=108","title":{"rendered":"I added a new friend to my home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

this is a Wheeler & Wilson No. 91<\/a><\/sup> treadle sewing machine from 1905. I was looking for light fixtures at one of our regional architectural salvage stores2<\/a><\/sup> and this machine was just sitting there all folded up in its table waiting for me…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the unpolished front of the Wheeler & Wilson 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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dusted and gently gone over with a coat of sewing machine oil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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dirty back of the sewing machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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cleaned and polished back of the sewing machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wasn’t exactly in the market for a treadle machine (I mean I wasn’t not<\/em> but it was very much an “I’m not willing to pay the prices that are usually asked for machines that might not be in very good condition” sort of situation) but seeing that the mechanisms appeared to still function and<\/em> it came with six(!) replacement bobbins and a whole assortment of original feet, for less than $100 USD3<\/a><\/sup>, well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it turns out that replacement leather belts for treadle machines are a thing you can easily obtain from sewing and vacuum stores (one place I called could get me one with a day’s notice, the other had them on the shelf ready to buy), so after buying a belt and cutting it to fit & adding copious amounts of oil at all the manual-indicated locations4<\/a><\/sup> I have one fully-outfitted machine that works quite well. I still need to give the oak cabinet some love, but it’s doing great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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sewing machine reinstalled in its oak cabinet with a new leather treadle belt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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all tucked away in the table<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

once I got everything set up and oiled, threaded properly, and adjusted the upper tension, I tested the stitch length adjuster at all the whole-number increments from 0-6 (it’s a continuous scale, so I could get other lengths as well). doing pretty well! I’m really looking forward to doing some slow projects on this new machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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stitch lengths from 0 (shortest) to 6 (longest)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
  1. I’m still not sure how to tell if it’s a No. 9 (regular) or D9 but I am very certain that 9 is involved \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. architectural salvage rules. anything from used furniture to light fixtures to tile and flooring and lumber. if you’re in the greater Seattle area try Ballard Reuse<\/a>, Earthwise Architectural Salvage<\/a>, or Second Use<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. with an unmarked discount, $71 after tax \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. \"\" \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    this is a Wheeler & Wilson No. 9 treadle sewing machine from 1905. I was looking for light fixtures at one of our regional architectural salvage stores and this machine was just sitting there all folded up in its table waiting for me… I wasn’t exactly in the market for a treadle machine (I mean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"I'm still not sure how to tell if it's a No. 9 (regular) or D9 but I am very certain that 9 is involved\",\"id\":\"b18363de-80cc-4eda-b8ec-33fec5198582\"},{\"content\":\"architectural salvage rules. anything from used furniture to light fixtures to tile and flooring and lumber. if you're in the greater Seattle area try Ballard Reuse<\/a>, Earthwise Architectural Salvage<\/a>, or Second Use<\/a>\",\"id\":\"a3f9b616-829e-4a77-a5d0-a358f2da0989\"},{\"content\":\"with an unmarked discount, $71 after tax\",\"id\":\"6eb8fa85-7910-4d27-8362-62f503385bca\"},{\"content\":\"\\\"\\\"\",\"id\":\"55abc38f-11f6-40a7-b626-b1087227d91c\"}]"},"categories":[10,27],"tags":[32,31],"class_list":{"0":"post-108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-fiber-arts","7":"category-sewing","8":"tag-i-love-treadles-im-excited","9":"tag-sewing-machine","10":"h-entry","11":"hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaslug.garden\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}