Singer 115 help

[u/RaeW92]

I recently inherited a Singer 115 treadle machine that is in excellent condition! This machine is beautiful and spent decades in my husband’s grandma’s basement before we brought it home. I’ve never learned to use any kind of sewing machine but I’m trying to learn to use this one. It definitely works and I have successfully sewn some practice stitches. But I’m having trouble really getting the hang of it and having some issues I can’t figure out how to fix..

I’m hoping to find some folks who use one who can help me! I’ve found some videos of people restoring old machines like mine, or demonstrating how to do a few basic things, but I can’t find videos of using it or how to troubleshoot issues. Anyone out there?

[u/fincodontidae]

Hi! I have a 115 I've restored, it's my daily driver. What issues are you having, is there something specific you're wanting to know?

It looks to be in good condition btw! Mine also has the Tiffany decals :)

[u/RaeW92 → u/fincodontidae]

Hello! Okay so it seems to work normally if I hand crank it, but if I use the treadle, it almost seems like it’s feeding the material the wrong way?! It gets all tangled up. All the mechanics work on their own. The treadle and belt move and the needle goes up and down without material, but once I put something there and try to sew, it goes haywire.

[u/fincodontidae → u/RaeW92]

When you treadle, is the hand crank spinning towards you, or away from you? These older models can't go backwards at all, or they get tangled up.  When learning, it's easy to accidentally make the handwheel spin away from you- the wrong direction. It must always spin counter clockwise, towards the user.

The easiest way to prevent that from happening is to start the machine by turning the hand wheel and letting your feet find the rhythm on the treadle. Practice doing it slowly at first, and then as you gain experience you'll learn to give the hand wheel a quick flick tonget going. Eventually you'll get to know your machine well enought to start it with just treadling!

[u/RockerKitten5 → u/RaeW92]

To avoid that you can start by turning the hand wheel with your hand to ensure it turns in the correct direction. The direction the flywheel spins when you start treadling will change based on which side of the flywheel the crank pin loop starts on.

[u/alwen → u/RaeW92]

It sounds like the hand wheel may be turning the wrong direction. Singers almost all need to have the hand wheel turning over and towards you, or counter-clockwise if you look at the wheel end-on.

Learning to treadle is a definite skill. If you look at your manual, they usually suggest putting the machine in bobbin-winding mode by loosening the clutch knob, so the needle doesn't move, and just practicing treadling and starting the handwheel moving towards you.

[u/elianrae → u/RaeW92]

yeah so the mechanism that forms a stitch needs to always spin in a particular direction. The treadle, however, is capable of running the machine in either direction just due to the nature of how it works.

If you run the machine the wrong way, the fabric will feed backwards (fine) but the stitch mechanism will also run backwards, which is what causes the tangle.

the main part of getting used to treadling is getting a feel for the timing that keeps the machine running in the right direction.

leave the machine unthreaded to practice

I found it helpful to look at the big flywheel to the right of the treadle. There's a rod that connects it to the treadle. When the far end of the treadle pedal goes up, it pushes that rod. When if goes down, it pulls it.

To keep the wheel spinning towards you, you need the rod to go up when it's away from you (pushes the wheel towards you), and then down when it's closer to you (pulls the wheel towards you)

[u/TangleOfWires → u/RaeW92]

I always start by hand turning the sewing machine wheel towards me, to start the machine spinning in the correct direction, then I match the treadle to the spin on the down stroke.

[u/DottiMatrix]

I recently rehabbed a 115. Yours is in great condition!

What issues are you having?

It is an unusual machine so there aren't many tutorials about it. A real collector's machine. It has some crossover with a Singer 15 (tension in front) but is a rotary hook (like a 201).

Don't lose the bobbin case, it's unique and rare. Bobbins are regular Style L, like the Singer 319.

Don't dismantle the bobbin winder completely as the big spring in the rear is unique to the 115 (wound opposite to a Singer 66) and can break if you think it's a 66 winder (ask me how I know....)

Wayne has a page on it on his website here: https://tallysew.com/sewing-machines/singer-sewing-machines/singer-115/

[u/Key-Tower-1835]

What a beauty, I learned how to sew on a Singer treadle, I got one from my sister in law but have to do a little work on it. I am glad I read the comments about the fly wheel, I totally forgot about that. Once you figure it out, it’s about the best sewing machine going. I love antique pieces. I hope to get mine up and going.