Showerthought: my grandpa's old trick for keeping a straight stitch on a treadle machine

I was trying to sew a canvas bag on my 1920s Singer 66 and kept getting skipped stitches, which was driving me nuts. My grandpa, who was a tailor in Milwaukee, always said to rub a bar of Ivory soap on the thread spool before you start, just a couple of passes. Tried it last week and it worked perfectly, the thread feeds smooth as butter now. Anyone else have weird old-school fixes for vintage sewing machines?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesroberts17d ago

Seriously, is skipping stitches that big of a deal?

alexk6016d ago

Ever tried to wear a shirt with half the seams gone?

taylor.sean16d ago

That Ivory soap trick is GENIUS, my grandma did the same thing with her old White Rotary. Makes total sense because it lubes up the thread just enough. Honestly @alexk60, skipped stitches are a huge deal, they totally wreck the seam strength over time. Another weird fix from my family is using a tiny bit of beeswax on the thread when working with really heavy fabric like denim. It just coats it and stops all that friction in the tension discs. Those old machines need a little extra help sometimes.