Grandma's sewing machine

This sewing machine dates to 1918. I know, because I still have the original manual. It belonged to my grandmother, my mother, and now me. Grandma was married in 1920, and she sewed all her own clothes on this machine. My mother and father were married in 1944, and about that time Grandma got one of those new-fangled electric machines and passed this on to my mother. I learned to sew on this machine, and used it to make all of my own clothes until I graduated from high school. My high school graduation gift was a "new-fangled" electric machine. In my family, sewing machines were considered a necessity. Grandmother and mother sewed all of their own clothes. Back in those days you saved a lot of money by making your own clothes. I continued the tradition until my daughters were young and I discovered that I could buy clothes and cheaply as I could make them. Mom got a new electric machine when I got mine, but she continued to use this machine for heavy duty work until shortly before she passed away. I don't use it anymore, but it has a special place in my house and in my heart.

 

There are more pictures in my photostream. The Free company was a predecessor of the Singer company.

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