You’re welcome, happy to help. Thanks as well for leaving me a lovely comment.

Thank you! 😊

You're welcome and thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment 😊

R. Duroucher thank you for a lovely comment. Please share the video if you can. Thanks again!

Hi Ellen, you’re most welcome! I’m happy that my video helped you ☺️

Thank you ☺️ I also have a video on a singer 66.

You’re welcome ☺️

Thank you Esperanza ☺️

Hi Sylvie, you’re welcome! I’m happy that my video helps you. I made these videos to be found by those needing them ❤️ Thanks as well for leaving a nice comment!

Hi Melinda, you’re welcome ☺️ and thanks for leaving a comment.

Hi Onnolee, you’re welcome. I’m happy that my video helped you ☺️. I have other videos on old sewing machines, hope you watch them, too. For example, I have videos on how to backstitch with hand crank sewing machines, and also how to sew dart without leaving thread tails. Thank you for watching and for leaving me a comment! ❤️

You’re welcome, I’m happy it helped you ❤️

You’re welcome! It’s a cute machine with big muscles 💪☺️

Hi Wanda, you’re welcome. Thank you for watching ☺️

It was actually faster when I was doing it in the old days haha, I haven’t done it since until this video so it’s so slow. I thought I’d show this in case someone didn’t have access to modern machines or overlocker. French seam is an option though but it’s good to know this can be done 😊

Thank you ☺️

You’re welcome ☺️

Hello Ann! My pleasure, I’m very happy that this video helps you and hopefully, the new generation of old sewing machines users. I learned those 2 techniques from my two neighbours who often come to our house to use my mom’s (two) singer 15 treadle sewing machines. They worked in a Tailor shop then. Although our singer 15 has the reverse function, they still used this technique - I think because our right hand is often close to the presser foot lifter during sewing and so using this technique will save them a bit of time. I doubt there were portable overlockers/sergers 50 years ago so this backstitch technique is the same technique we use to overlock, back then. Btw, I was 15 when I learned to sew from watching my neighbours sew, and I could zigzag very fast then, hence I said practice will produce speed ☺️ Thank you for taking the time to leave me a lovely comment, and good morning from Melbourne - ❤️ Sal xx P.S. I also have other videos about vintage/antique sewing machines. You might be interested to see how to do backstitch on a hand-crank sewing machine. I did a video on that for a viewer’s request. I have an upcoming video about using the old Ruffler. I did a video on a ruffler on the modern Singer for my friend, but I wasn’t quite happy about it so I am making a new Ruffler video soon. xx

You're welcome 😊 I have to give credit to my tailor neighbor for that method as I learned it from her. In fact, I learned how to sew from watching her sew. I was 15 then. I can zigzag very neatly and very fast then, but eventually lost that skill when we, as time went by, acquired modern sewing machines with zigzag capabilities. Anyway, I'm happy that my video is helpful now. And btw, I also made videos about how to backstitch using a hand crank sewing machine and also how to sew dart without leaving thread tail in one of the videos. You are welcome to watch it, too, if you have time. And thank you for watching and taking the time to leave a comment 😊.

Yes, it takes practice to do this zigzag, but in the old days I only have that option or to slip stitch the raw edges. I didn’t like to slip stitch because it will take forever hehe. Apparently, they did the slip stitch with Chanel jackets in the old days. Seen someone review a vintage Chanel jacket recently. Not sure if they do that still. I have industrial and home overlockers now so I’m not fast and neat with my old zigzag method n anymore ☺️

Happy to know you have your mom's sewing machine. These old machines are excellent machines. I have several videos on some vintage and antique singer sewing machines. I hope they help you.

You are welcome (nema na čemu)

You're welcome!

haha, thank you! 😄

@@learntosewwithmrsg my thread keeps breaking when i zig zag on my singer 99. just trying to darn some wool socks. am i lifting the foot too high or something?

@@dirkchurlish4074 I only lift the presser foot just enough so it allows the fabric to be moved forward. It allows to 'free motion' when we lift the presser foot a bit as the feed dog goes lower. I recommend to practice darning with cotton fabric first. You can also lower your upper thread tension, pretty much like when doing free motion embroidery. Please let me know if these help.

I forgot to mention to use a small embroidery hoop to keep your darning area taut, especially when darning socks. If still doesn’t work, use a water soluble stabiliser on top of the area to be darned. Not everyone have water soluble embroidery stabiliser and small hoop lying around in their house though, so I hope you can get it done just with a little practice and by lowering upper thread tension a bit.

@@learntosewwithmrsg hmm, thank you!

You’re welcome. Thanks for watching ☺️

Si de verdad, gracias!

Sorry I don’t understand your question. Will the zigzag work for stretchy fabric? Depends. Most stretchy fabrics do not need zigzag or neatening of the raw edges if they don’t fray. To sew a knit fabric together?Some use small zigzag so that the stitches do not break when the fabric stretches when worn. Modern machines have that small zigzag. With these vintage machines, that stitch is not available. I would stretch the fabric a bit when sewing so the stitches are not tight and will give it a little give but this technique does not guarantee that the stitches won’t break. I hope this answers your questions.

@@learntosewwithmrsg i know i worded it a bit strangely, i don't think my english is good enough to word it correctly unfortunately 😅 but that advice does help!! thank you so much for taking the time to answer me

@@damlakaratekin5016 you're welcome and I'm happy that my reply helped.

yes! let me know how it goes when you try it.

Heavy duty materials…it depends. This can sew and hem denim jeans, just use a jeans needle. Can sew canvas bags and the likes. But this machine is not for heavy duty sewing. There are vintage maybe even antique machines that are like the modern industrial machines. I have one, but I removed the very old industrial motor for safety reasons and just installed it on a treadle table. It’s a Singer 31K15. I’m sure there are other models. I hope to make a video on this machine soon.

I have shown it on the video. I lift the presser foot very slightly so I can pull the fabric towards me and that allow me to sew backwards to the back stitch and immediately put the presser foot down right after it sew the backstitch so I can sew forward. I showed it in the video, if you watched it.

That's alright. You don't need to do that if that's what you prefer. I did however learned this technique from our neighbour when I was very young. She is a tailor working in a tailoring shop then. I learned how to sew from her when I was 15, and that's long ago, I'm 67 now. We didn't have overlockers/sergers then. I made mine and my clients clothes then using this technique. With this machine, it would be very hard to lower feed dogs to backstitch at the beginning, put it up again to start sewing forward, and then put the feed dogs down again to backstitch again each time. I could not even find where to lower feed dogs or how to do it with these machines. So I just did what the tailors of old do and share it to others who can then choose to do it or not. By the way, my machine was not harmed all those years that I have been sewing everyday, 6 days a week, for clients. I was quite a successful dressmaker back then. Nowadays we have overlockers readily available so one can choose to do this technique or not. Still helpful for those without overlockers, rather than slip stitching the edges of fabric to prevent from fraying, like they do before my time. But thank you for letting us know what you think. Btw, I still haven't found a way to lower the feed dogs on my singer 66 and 99. I checked the singer website and these machines can lower feed dogs. I tried to find where it can be lowered but no success. I can lower feed dogs on my singer 15 but still not what I'll do just to backstitch. I would appreciate it if you can comment here on how to lower the feed dogs with these 2 models, if you know how. Thanks!

@@learntosewwithmrsg The feed dogs cannot be lowered on the old Singer 66 and 99 sewing machines. Therefore Singer provided a cover plate for the feed dogs to be used for darning and free motion sewing. It was included with the purchase together with additional presser feet etc. Unfortunately, the box of attachments do not always come with the machine when purchasing it second hand. I have found that setting the stitch length to zero also works together with a darning presser foot, so I would consider that a more reliable method of darning to make sure the stitches are formed correctly. I understand why lifting the presser foot slightly and pulling the fabric against the feed dog motion is tempting as it takes more time to tie a knot on the back of the fabric. Opening the upper thread tension discs while sewing should not be presented as a best practice. I would recommend any new users of old Singer sewing machines to download the manual. They are very well written and it is a free download. I have been sewing for all my life just like you and brought many old machines back to life. These old Singer sewing machines are much better than most of the new machines so I hope you all enjoy using them. Adding a serger will make a really good combo. Happy sewing!

@@user-bf1bm4ye8o thanks for this info. I have to check again because I have read long ago from the old sewing machine website that the feed dog can be lowered with these 2 models. I checked underneath the machines to find where to do it, but I couldn't move the feed dogs down. I'll let you know when I find that info at the singer website again.

The presser foot lifter

@@learntosewwithmrsg hvala do neba najbolji ste.

@@jasnadubravcic4772 thank you as well ☺

Lift the presser foot lifter just slightly, just enough so that you can freely pull the fabric towards you at the same time, and that's how it sew the backstitch. What it does is similar to doing free motion embroidery when the feed dog is down. But in this case the feed dog is engaged, but lifting the presser foot lifter a little bit allows us to "free motion" in a sense. I copy paste your comment in google translate so that I can understand what you wrote in Croatian :)

Podizač stopice samo malo podignite, tek toliko da u isto vrijeme možete slobodno povući tkaninu prema sebi i tako sašiti stražnji bod. Ono što radi slično je izvođenju vezenja slobodnim pokretima kada je mehanizam za uvlačenje spušten. Ali u ovom slučaju je pokretač uključen, ali malo podizanje podizača stopice omogućuje nam "slobodno kretanje" na neki način.

thank you for explaining it very well 😊

You’re welcome. I learned sewing from a tailor, she was my neighbour. I was 15 years old then.