For the past month or so I’ve been really wanting a sewing machine. Really, really wanting a sewing machine… and for all the machine’s I looked at online, at Walmart, on Amazon, the perfect machine I knew, would be metal.. old… resembling the Singer I learned on with my mother. I looked them up online, researched all the latest models and stalked Craigslist for the latest offers in my area, but I just couldn’t find what I wanted within my budget. I finally decided about a week ago to put up a wanted ad, $35 – any model, as long as it is working, please send a picture or model number. If I can’t get what I want in my budget, I might as well start cheap and work up, right?
It took a few days, but sure enough, I got a call from an older woman saying she had a machine for me. She was moving soon and had no more room for it, but it worked alright. It was a “zig-zag”, a “mercury” a.. . she even put material in it and ran a few stitches to prove it worked. I told her I had to wait for a friend with a truck, but definitely would be there Saturday to pick it up. The anticipation built up all week, I knew it had to be a vintage machine. But I couldn’t imagine or Google the beauty I’d score.
It’s cabinet is gorgeous and it’s sturdy. It came with the original instruction book as well as all the presser foots, needles (including twin needles) and all accessories. Whaaaaat the hell? Twin needles? Zig Zag? Darning????
It even has a knee pedal instead of the standard foot one. It looks like an arch under the table that you just push with your thigh. Talk about a deal!! I’ve made the manual into a pdf to share with people (for a small price). It seems these manuals are extremely hard to come by, so I figured putting one more in digital form would be good for everyone as well as myself in case I lose the original.
Download the Manual I Scanned: Morse Super Deluxe Zig Zag #5401:
With the manual, I figured out how to run the various stitch options on the sewing machine! The dial only moves clockwise and has a big click to it, all metal parts, natural. Works great!
Some more great links:
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