An electric Singer 99 or 66 model will have almost no value. Right away, you can know a lot based on the model number. If you have difficulty, see my post in this blog titled "Dates of Manufacture."Īlso, if your machine is not a Singer, a lot of what I'm going to say here will not apply.
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So, how to tell the value of your old machine? First thing would be to discover the model number. But in 35+ years of dealing with thousands and thousands of sewing machines I can say that I have only encountered a mere handful of true collectibles.įollowing is a very generalized discussion that may be of some assistance. I'm sure there are still a few truly valuable machines waiting to be discovered. A good resource for information along these lines is "The Invention and Development of the Sewing Machine" Smithsonian Institute Press, or Carter Bays excellent book "The Encylopedia of Early American & Antique Sewing Machines". And almost all the truly collectible "oddball" models have already been destroyed or snapped up by collectors. The sewing machine was also a tool made to be used, and so they typically were not set aside and preserved with a view to any future collectibility. They were made by the millions in factories all over the world. The sewing machine was one of the most popular products of an industrialized age of mass-production. Let me first say that the vast majority of old sewing machines have minimal value. Industrial machines are a whole different ball game. Also please note that this article applies only to household type machines.
Or sometimes people are looking to buy an old machine. This is one of holy grail machines for darning and repair and on average sell on eBay for $500 – $1000.The second most common question I am asked is "what is this old sewing machine worth?" I get calls and e-mails every day from folks who have inherited grandma's old machine, or who were cleaning out a house and found a machine, or who picked up a machine at an auction or flea market. Vintage darning machine for repairing and “reweaving” denim. These are super rare and I’ve only seen two working models: at Rising Sun and Samurai Jeans in Japan.
Most chain stitched hems unraveled quickly when broken, so most garment manufactures switched to lockstitch machines like the Union Special 63900 instead, and did not reorder chain stitched hemming machines. Since most denim was now open end, the trend leaned towards fast, cheap, and lower quality denim. Moving with consumer trends, many companies modernized their machines in the 1980’s so most of the 43200G’s ended up again in China, Japan, and Pakistan etc. It’s something that goes hand in hand with learning about vintage garments – you need to understand the machines that made them if you want your own garments to look as good.
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That said, if I had a studio full of modern machines I would most likely not get the same type of attention, so it certainly helps collecting older machines. Yes, they are difficult to maintain and some parts no longer exist but generally they are better as they are products of a time when everything was generally made better. There is always a nice story with old machines, and they look way better than their modern counter parts. This is mainly because they make beautiful stitches or imperfections when they sew. Most denim heads like me, tend to hunt down the older machines. We list the sewing machines used on pocket bags of every Endrime jean, something we were the first to do with 100% transparency. After ten years working as a designer for some of the world’s best denim companies, I decided when it came to my own brand, Endrime, I would buy the best machines I could (after doing some research), and take my time hunting them down slowly. Most trained designers can sew, we are taught pattern cutting, draping and tailoring.
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