Stagecoach Road Vintage Sewing Machine

03/19/2026

I'm excited for the event this Saturday at the museum.

Not only will there be a demonstration on how lye soap was made, but also a live sewing demonstration.

The delightful hosts of the Used2Sew podcast will be demonstrating how to actually sew on a vintage treadle sewing machine in the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum, situated in Old Town Florence Oregon.

Of course, being the knowledgeable team that they are, there will be lots of information about the White Rotary sewing machine, its workings and its history, and about people-powered sewing and how things were done back then, all of which will be recorded as a Used2Sew podcast.

If you've been listening to the podcast, here's your chance to see them live and put faces to the voices. This Saturday, Noon to 4:00.

Here's where to hear the podcast, all about vintage sewing and vintage sewing machines:

https://www.used2sew.com/

It's entertaining, educational, and lots of fun.

03/19/2026

How many machines are in progress in our shop right now? Seems like a lot.

Half of them are our own machines that get worked on when your machines are done. Of those, a couple have me a little stumped (temporarily) as I puzzle out how they made things in the Civil War era. Replacement springs, etc, have to be fabricated, once the type, shape, and tension are right, which means a lot of trial and error.

The machines sent to us for restoration are either actively in progress or waiting for the new paint to cure before we begin reassembly, so the paint has time to harden before we handle her.

Having the parts carefully stowed and labeled is critical. While many parts can be sourced online, some just can't be found, or at least it's a long wait for them to become available, so losing a part could severely disrupt an otherwise straightforward restoration.

03/15/2026

When we restore a machine for a client, or when we sell one of our restored machines, we make a video for the recipient; first, to show that everything is working perfectly, and also to present to the insurer in the rare instance of damage during transit. The main reason, though, is for the sake of the new user.

Learning an unfamiliar sewing machine can be daunting, most especially for a new sewer. So many little things to trip up the uninitiated, like, for instance, threading the needle backwards, or missing the check spring when threading, or a dozen other little things that can leave the sewn sample snarled and stitch-skipped, and cause a person to throw their hands in the air and cry out in frustration, "I can't sew!".

So with your new machine you get a video that shows you how to wind the bobbin, how to thread the machine, and how to set all of the various controls, so that you can sit down and sew without pulling any hair.

This is the tutorial for Jason and his son, made on their own new Florence Rotary treadle machine. The'll provide their own treadle stand.

We also post the video on YouTube to help other owners of the same machine get started.

in this video, see how to thread her up, how to wind the bobbin, and how to use all her settings.We are Stagecoach Road Vintage Sewing Machine Restoration, a...

03/14/2026

Here's the soldering station in the shop. A fan above vents to the outdoors.

It's often necessary to rewire a motor or even a whole system, and of course, there are foot controls and power cords to make or adapt.

03/13/2026

In the shop at Stagecoach Road this morning

03/13/2026

Here's the final test and tutorial for Summer's Singer 404 sewing machine. See how to thread the machine, how to wind the bobbin, and how to use all the various controls.

https://youtu.be/3hhLtnst4QM?si=jUDUXAKYr6c86ZhC

We are Stagecoach Road Vintage Sewing Machine Restoration and we've been restoring worthy sewing machines since the 1990s. We're very good at it and we can restore yours.

SRVSew@gmail.com

03/12/2026

This morning in the shop.

03/11/2026

So much more than just a pretty sewing machine, this Aldens De Luxe is another beauty from mid-century Japan.

I've been waiting for a break in the queue to slip her back in, and while the paint was drying on one and before I was mentally prepared for the delicate job of rebuilding a broken shade for a Pfaff gooseneck light (daunting, but I've done it before), I found a couple of hours to finish this one.

She was mostly done, but was pushed aside for the beloved machine (a memento of a loved one, gone on) sent to us from far away, for restoration.

It took a while to track down the cause of breaking needles (about 1/16" below optimum needle bar height) but once that adjustment was made, she sews like nobody's business.

She has a cam door on the top but the likelihood of having exactly the right stitch pattern cam set in the warehouse was not good. Fortunately, I'd recently gone through the bins of accessory sets, and separated out all of the cam sets to one bin, so not as daunting a task as it could have been.

I found several sets that looked close, roughly 1/2" center hole with a close-in guide pin hole, and took them back to the shop but no luck. A little more digging turned up treasure, a full set of 20 lovely maroon stitch pattern cams that perfectly fit, and that create some nice mid-century decorative stitching.

So all of this blab was just to say that she's ready for you, and you can see her here:

Stagecoachroadsewing.com

We'll make a tutorial video for you on your new Aldens De Luxe.

03/11/2026

Today in the shop at Stagecoach Road

03/04/2026

Part 3
(Continued from below)

Another nice machine is this Wheeler and Wilson cabinet model, awaiting processing.

The lye soap making and treadle sewing demonstrations will take place on Saturday, March 21, Noon to 4:00.

The presenters of the treadle sewing machine demonstration will be TR Kelly and Aradia Farmer, the delightful personalities of the Used2Sew podcast, about everything Vintage Sewing Machine.

They'll be recording the demonstration, too, for a future podcast.

You may also have heard TR's wonderful Sewing Machine Song, a song about a treadle sewing machine that will bring tears to your eyes, and there's a rumor that she may bring a guitar.

The event will take place at the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum in Florence Oregon's Old Town. There are lots of nice places to eat and shop, and a nice waterfront walk along the river.

If you haven't yet listened to the podcast, check out www.used2sew.com. I've been restoring sewing machines since the 20th Century, and I alway learn new things from them. They're smart, funny, and informed.