Does the needle go up and down? Do the feed dogs under the needle move back and forth? Is there a bobbin and bobbin case underneath the needle plate? Are there any obvious missing parts? Best Vintage Straight Stitch Sewing MachinesĮarly sewing machines only sewed in a straight line. Metal gears and parts don't wear out as fast as plastic ones. Is it surprisingly heavy? That means it's probably all metal inside. In my post on How to Start Sewing for Free, I mentioned these guideline for checking out a vintage sewing machine: General Guidelines for Evaluating Vintage Sewing Machines Resources for Restoring Vintage Sewing Machines Here are a few of my overview posts on vintage sewing machines: My Other Posts on Vintage Sewing Machines I'm also going to go over other bloggers' recommendations, so you'll get a well-rounded idea of what people look for in a vintage sewing machine.ĭisclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a percentage if you make a purchase using these links. However, I definitely have some preferences and recommendations, especially for different categories of machines, such as straight stitch, zigzag, treadle, industrial, toy, and sewing leather. Still, it's something that people keep asking about, so I thought I'd take a stab at it.

I’ve written a few overview posts on vintage sewing machines, but not one that specifically deals with the best vintage sewing machine because, honestly, I'm not sure there's one best machine to get. In this post, I’ll cover some of the best vintage sewing machines out there.

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