Singer Attachments and Feet

Singer Attachment Boxes / Tins

The first pictured box has a Godzilla finish on it. Unfortunately the attachments are rusty. I will clean them eventually. There are plenty of projects ahead of them. I have a Singer 66 model machine with Godzilla finish on it, making them a matching duo. The green Singer tin is one I got in Germany. There are not attachments in it, but it is Singer so it is a great collector’s item for me.

German Singer Attachments

Talk about a deluxe set! This is a padded leather-like case with blue velvet lining. Everything in the set is pristine and shiny. It includes Seam guide, Under braider, Bias cutting guide, Stylus, Screwdriver, Ruffler, Imitation hemstitcher, Tucker, Feller foot, Quilting foot, Bias binder and Shirring plate. These are attachments above and beyond what would normally come with your machine. If you have never tried any of these, you should. They work quite well and are absolutely amazing technology for that day and time – without computers.

Singer # 86294

This is a rare darning foot, Singer # 86294. I found it in a box of attachments and it hasn’t been cleaned and oiled yet. I can’t find much information on this foot. I believe it was probably the predecessor of the Singer darning foot # 121094. With the foot pictured, you remove the needle clamp and replace it with this foot. It also requires a feed dog cover and removal of the normal presser foot. I can’t wait to try it out.

Singer Stocking Darner # 35776

The Singer Stocking Darner # 35776 is something not many people would use now days. We live in a throw away society and don’t darn our socks anymore. However, if you are a collector like me, this is another treasure. It will work on any lockstitch machine. It does require a feed dog cover and a darning foot. It has a heavy duty spring that holds the sock in place. The sock is rolled and the 6 arms fold down to keep the bulk of the sock out of the way of darning. There is also a Singer flat-work darner. It is larger and oblong. That is another item that I am searching for.

Singer Darning and Embroidery Attachment #160719

The Singer Darning and Embroidery Attachment #160719 is for class 15 and 221 Singer machines. The set includes a throat-plate cover, embroidery foot and a special (longer) screw for holding the foot on. You hoop your fabric with a high-quality, tight-gripping embroidery hoop. With practice, you can free-motion beautiful things. Before embroidery machines were available for home use, I took a free-motion embroidery class. You can “paint” a beautiful thread picture, monogram, cover up boo-boos and all sorts of things with free motion. This is quite a pricey attachment to purchase now. I was lucky, this is another attachment my dear Mother gave me. The instruction book states you will need the #160720 attachment to use for Singer models 66, 99 and 201.

Hand Operated Singer Pinking Attachment

Singer made a pinking attachment to fit on low shank sewing machines. Before sergers and machines capable of overcasting, you needed a way to finish your raw edges in order for them not to ravel. Hand pinking shears will do the job, but your hand can surely tire from using the shears. To use this pinking attachment simply put it in place of your regular presser foot and it will pink effortlessly. There are lots of attractive ways to use pinked edges such as vinyl table cloths. Pinking also works in place of grading your seams to reduce bulk, pink instead of clipping curves and I’m sure you can find other ways to make a pinker useful.

Vintage Singer Pinking Attachment

Singer Trim Clip Attachment 161585

This is a rare attachment. I understand it was originally made for Featherweights between 1959 – 1962 and there weren’t all that many made. However, it will fit many other machines including slant needle machines. In the pictures, it is mounted on my Singer 301.

Too bad they don’t make these anymore. It takes some frustration out of sewing. Before you begin sewing, you secure the threads in the spring from the back It holds the thread very securely. This means your needle isn’t going to come unthreaded. Also, no more thread bird-nests or snarls. You cut the thread with the little blade that is in front of the spring. Upon cutting the thread, the spring holds onto the ends of the thread and you are ready to stitch again. No reaching for the scissors or having to use both hands to cut the thread with the cutter on the presser bar.

Per the original packaging: Cuts and holds bobbin and needle threads.
When starting seams: holds thread ends, prevents needle from unthreading, prevents thread snarls and saves thread.
When ending seams: cuts threads, holds thread ends and saves time and motion.

Also per the original packaging:
To attach – loosen presser foot thumb screw, slip Trim-Clip in behind the screw and tighten.
To Use – end stitching with take-up lever at its highest point. Draw the work back and to the left. Pass threads around back of spring. Draw the work forward to cut threads. Threads are now held in proper position for starting to sew.

This is an awesome attachment to use. I wish I had one for every machine I use.

Singer 35505 black-side

Next I have a Singer 35505 black-side, two-thread embroidery attachment. It is missing the arms that fit onto the back of the attachment to hold spools of thread. I can still make it work, and who knows, maybe someday I will find that missing piece. My Mother had it in a sewing drawer for years and told me to go through everything and take what I wanted. I didn’t know what it was until a few years later. It makes a beautiful decorative stitch. You thread your machine as you normally would and replace the presser foot with the embroidery attachment. It is then threaded with whatever decorative threads you prefer. The decorative threads comes from the back, through the loop in the center and one piece threads through one loop arm and the 2nd piece threads through the other arm. The loop arms move outward and inward. When they cross each other putting your decorative thread in the center, your needle comes down and makes a stitch. This attaches the decorative embroidery to your fabric. For this sample I used 6 strands of regular embroidery floss in each of the 2 sides. I also used the longest stitch length. It made a prettier stitch. What an ingenious attachment. There is also a Singer single thread attachment which I am still searching for.

Attachments/Feet with original packaging

I really like collecting Singer attachments and feet. However, I love when I find them in the original packaging. A couple of them even have the original cellophane intact. Pictured here are:

—A quilter for a low shank machine. This is for geometrically patterned quilting. It has on open foot and the arm is a spacing guide. This enables you to quilt evenly spaced rows without marking them.
—A feed cover plate especially for the Singer Featherweight 221. It can also be used on a 201, 301 15-91, 15-88, 66 and 99 Singer machines. This covers the feed dogs to enable you to quilt designs, embroider and darn.
—A quilter and underbraider for class 301 machines. The quilter is the same as the one mentioned above except it is for a slant needle machine. The underbraider allows you to add braid to fabric without basting it. You simply mark the backside of the fabric and sew from the backside. The underbraider is underneath the fabric and loaded with braid for embellishing. As you stitch on the wrong side of the fabric, the braid is sewn to the right side of the fabric.
—A bias gauge for cutting bias strips or straight if you prefer. The gauge attaches to the tip of your scissors and allows you to cut even strips without measuring and marking. You simply move the slide to the width you want, place the fabric edge in the slot and cut your strips. Thank goodness we have rotary cutters these days!