Posted 2 years ago
pamelad
(1 item)
I came across this sewing machine cabinet, as I have a few vintage machines that could use better cabinets. I have no idea what machine it would have been made for because it takes one larger than any of the ones I own. The opening is 19.5" wide by 7.25" deep. The part that holds the machine has a lever that lifts the machine up and lowers it into the cabinet. The cut-out on the left top is for storage. The openings are both metal push buttons and the front piece swings upward, as normal cabinets do. If anyone could help me figure out what machine would fit in this nice stand, I would be so grateful. Again, the opening is aprox 19.5" wide by 7.25" deep. This may be off a small fraction of the inches, but the best I could read on my tape measure. Thank You
Hi, pamelad. :-)
Those are some interesting dimensions. Not so much the 7.25 inches, but the 19.5 inches.
The beds of most full size vintage sewing machines are about 14.5 inches wide and even the oversized ones are only about 16.5 inches wide:
https://vintagesewingmachinesblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/size-matters-machine-size-arm-length-and-harp-space/
One outlier would be the Singer model 301 long bed:
*snip*
Length Long Bed: 6" + 13" = 19 inches (Fits Sewing Table with 19" x 7" opening)
*snip*
https://www.singer301.com/technical/default.html
Hi again, pamelad.
I'm still trying to make sense of your mystery sewing machine cabinet desk stand.
First, let me show you what the Singer Card Table no. 314 referenced at the Singer model 301 website looks like:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer-sewing-machine-card-table-number-314.html
You can see that, like your mystery furniture, it has a cut out that you could remove to insert the sewing machine head. If you wanted to use the table for some other purpose, you could remove the portable 301 long bed and put the insert back into the table.
I don't know whether Singer ever made a cabinet/table like yours.
Yours could have been made by an after market vendor, e.g.:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/89298005087468946/
https://www.countrylanefurniture.com/sewing-cabinets
https://www.chestnutridgesewing.com/cabinets-furniture
https://cottagecraftworks.com/amish-furniture-sewing-machine-deluxe-cabinet
What puzzles me about yours is that extra cutout in front of the one meant to accommodate the sewing machine head.
That looks almost like it was meant to accommodate a sewing machine that would be laid on its side as in a more traditional drop head style cabinet, yet I don't see any mounting hardware for the hinges that would normally be present in that kind of installation, e.g.:
https://thevalleywoodworker.blogspot.com/2015/09/swapping-sewing-machine-in-cabinets.html
I do see a couple of plugs in the wood, but I don't know the distance between them.
Perhaps your cabinet was designed to accommodate more than one make/model of sewing machine head?
Here's a cabinet table apparently made by Singer that looks a lot like yours:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/236450-singer-sewing-table
This one doesn't have the additional cut out on the side for accessories, but it does accommodate a drop head machine, in this case perhaps a Singer Touch & Sew Deluxe Zig-Zag Model 750 ( I can't quite make out the model number information from the pictures in the CW post).
It seems also to have had an option for an extension leaf for the bed to be used as a portable:
https://sewingandcrafts.net/singer-touch-and-sew-750-review/
First, thank you for all this information. I am feeling that maybe the 301 would be right for this table. The front cut out does tilt forward for the machine to lay down in the cabinet. The part that the machine would set into has a metal tab that releases to lay it down, and to pull it up, you use the tab to pull it up past the clips on the sides and they lock the machine into place for using it. I can't add more pictures, so I can try getting one of the undersides and replace one of the pictures above.
pamelad, You're welcome. Thank YOU for coming back to explain further. :-)
Yes, more pictures would be great.
Since there is a limit of four pictures per post, you can either delete a couple of the current pictures (my recommendation on that would be the current first and fourth pictures) and then add new pictures.
Or, you could just create another post. The two posts can be linked to each other in their comments sections. I could do that for you.
FYI, I'm getting ready to go forth into the Real World for a bit, so please don't get frustrated if I don't respond immediately.
Hi again, pamelad. :-)
I did some more looking around and found another similar sewing table (I usually don't like using links for things that are on sale, because they have a way of disappearing, but in this case, I take what I can get):
https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/68247103
It has the same general style with the faux drawer fronts, and the cut out panels in the top with the push buttons. It houses a Bernina 1000 and comes with an insert to accommodate that make/model.
The real find? One of the picture shows a sticker with the maker's name: Delta Sewing Furniture.
I found a picture of another similar Delta sewing table (note that it comes with something described as a "Universal L-Filler":
https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/delta-237.php
Here is a sewing table mechanism patent filed by a Delta Wood Products, Inc. (which might not be the same mechanism as in yours, but it suggests that some incarnation of Delta Sewing Furniture might still have been around in 1986/1987):
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4690466/en
It seems possible that Singer contracted with Delta to provide sewing cabinets/tables at some point, because their long-time sewing machine cabinet factory closed in 1955:
https://orangebeanindiana.com/2019/06/12/south-bends-singer-sewing-machine-company/
That would have been during the 'lifetime' of the Singer model 301 (1951-1957):
https://www.singer301.com/dating/default.html
The 301 website has a 1960 brochure of cabinets but it doesn't show your table:
https://www.singer301.com/cabinet/default.html
So it seems quite possible that yours (which seems like an update on the Monterey) came along after 1960. Like the Monterey, yours wouldn't have needed the special machine cradle and hardware, because it has a built in platorm to support the machine head.
However, it might need something similar to the Univeral L-Filler for largely cosmetic reasons.
Welp, every time I think I've uncovered everything about this topic, I find that I haven't. >8-0
It turns out that Delta Sewing Furniture/Delta Wood Products, Inc. wasn't the only sewing furniture concern in Trumann, AR.
Singer had a plant there:
https://www.kait8.com/2021/07/08/city-pushes-get-old-singer-mill-national-register-historic-places/
https://www.arkansas.com/trumann/attractions-culture/old-community-house
https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/AR-01-PO2
I found a near twin of your cabinet:
*snip*
Selling Singer sewing machine in factory stand with chair.
*snip*
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/503941597877147/
For the record, the model of the Singer sewing machine in that cabinet is a 6105. It looks like the vintage of the Singer 6105 is 1979:
https://www.manualsdir.com/manuals/719596/singer-6105.html?page=2
https://sewing.patternreview.com/review/machine/4214
I think you can see that there's quite a gap between the end of the machine bed and the left hand side of the cabinet hole, so it seems a bit doubtful to me that the sewing machine and cabinet were originally paired.
The only difference I can see between this cabinet and yours is the little platform that supports the sewing machine seems to be finished with a wood grain veneer to make it look like the rest of the cabinet.
I think I've taken this about as far as I can.
It's been an interesting trip, because previously, Trumann, Arkansas; and Pickens, South Carolina hadn't really been on my radar as Singer sites. (I'm not going to burden you with all the other tidbits I've uncovered.)
I suppose that you could contact the Facebook user who has that near twin table to see whether there are any labels or marks on it to indicate its origins. I myself don't have a Facebook account.
I'm vacillating on this issue, but I also suppose that the Singer model 6105 could have been originally sold with that table. Sewing cabinet/table makers might have decided to design them to be compatible with as many different models as possible.
Thus, the opening was wide enough to accommodate a Singer model 301 long bed, but nothing would stop anybody from putting any smaller portable machine in there. The front cut out panel could accomodate a drop head configuration.
It's worth noting that Singer might have been thinking about making tables that could accomodate/convert portables as early as 1913:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/204932-my-favourite-singer
Also note the information about these Singer card tables:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/311-313_table.html
I don't know what kind of vintage sewing machines you have that you might be considering installing in this cabinet, but it seems to me like you have quite a bit of latitude.