By a wonderful coincidence, a near-mint example of the Singer 15 popped up on Leboncoin1 just as i was finishing restoring my Singer 99K. A perk of buying it from (the daughter of) the original owner is that i know that it was purchased in the 1950s to replace a treadle machine, before being itself supplanted by a Pfaff Varimatic 949 at the end of the 1980s and spending the last forty years in the back of a closet.
There are a few gaps in the machine’s history, however, because it wasn’t made in one of Singer’s main factories. The machines produced in the smaller plants of St. Johns (Québec), Bridgeport (Connecticut) and Anderson (South Carolina) can’t be dated as accurately as the ones manufactured in the global hubs of Elizabeth (New Jersey) and Clydebank (Scotland), but at least, you can narrow it down to a few years. The same can’t be said of the machines made in other factories, which didn’t keep precise records or destroyed them when they closed their doors.
That’s the case of the French factory at Bonnières-sur-Seine, which produced millions of machines from its opening in 1935 until its closure in 1986, including my own. Even though i won’t be a journalist for much longer, i couldn’t help but fall down the rabbit hole and learn everything that i could to date my machine. Since it uses an “11 o’clock” bobbin case, rather than the more common “1 o’clock” one, it must be one of six models. It’s definitely not a 15–75 nor a 15–125, which have a more angular design.
It can’t be a 15-91 either, because it doesn’t have a so-called “potted” motor, mounted high up on the back of the machine. The 15-88 was a treadle and the 15-89 was hand-cranked, which leaves the 15-90 as the only option. This would make it a 15B90, with a B for “Bonnières”, produced no earlier than 1951 and no later than 1955. I’m inclined to believe it’s a fairly early model, as it sports the “eyes and trefoils” decals that were phased out in the 1950s, and its 110 V motor has a very low serial number.
Speaking of the motor, its capacitors had leaked all over the machine, but it was surprisingly easy to remove the residue and it didn’t leave any marks. I don’t trust a 70-year-old converter to step down the 220 V current we use in France to the 110 V the motor expects, so i replaced it with a cute little powerhouse from La Canilla. I’ll have to desolder the lamp’s terminals before i can reinstall it, which will give me a chance to strip down the original motor and install it on my Singer 99K.
Since it was stored in its original bentwood box, the machine stayed in almost perfect shape, with only a few needle scratches showing that it was well loved. It only needed a good wipe-down, a new needle and a few drops of fresh oil to go back to duty. I thought the Friday Pattern Company’s Ilford jacket would be the perfect project to put the Singer’s 15 legendary strength to the test. After buying the heaviest cotton twill i could find at my local haberdashery, installing a robust 110/18 needle and threading a sturdy polyester thread, i was off to the races.
The pattern would have been easy to sew even if i’d gone with the placketed sleeves instead of the boxy ones. The instructions are clear and concise, and i found the video tutorials very helpful. To make things even better, our new Singer 14SH644 serger arrived just in time to make seam finishing a breeze. The initial threading was as painful as everybody says it is, but it was worth it. It’s an incredible piece of machinery and the perfect complement to a straight stitch machine. It’s so fast that i’d have been able to finish the jacket in a day if i’d wanted to.
Because i already own longer jackets, i decided not to alter the length of the pattern… and it was a mistake. I hate hate hate short jackets. I had to bodge an extension, which took no more than an hour, but felt like an abject failure the whole time. In a flash of inspiration, i top-stitched close to the seam of the new panel and, funnily enough, it makes it look like it was intentional. I’ll take that as a (half-)win.
I realized it was my first time sewing a proper collar. Not only was it easier than i thought, but it was even fun! It allowed me to learn to sew without any other reference than the foot itself, since the needle plate lacks any markings. It would have been easier to hem the cuffs with a free-arm machine, but the feed dogs gripped the fabric so tightly that it was just a matter of turning the sleeve at the right speed. Turns out, the clicking sound of the oscillating bobbin makes for the perfect metronome.
The Friday Pattern Company made only one mistake, in my opinion, which is not properly patterning the pockets. A pocket that’s supposed to be “large” on a size M is going to be comically small on a size 4XL — guess how i found out. I took it as an opportunity to have some fun: i put a flap on one of the breast pockets, two applied pencil slots on the other, and sewed inside pockets for my phone and public transport pass.
Instead of removing them, i covered the tiny hand-warmer pockets with adequately sized ones, which means i have nesting pockets. It’s less crazy than it sounds: i have an old Scottevest with pockets inside of pockets inside of pockets. At least my hands won’t have to fight with my keys or wallet for pocket real estate.
Since I rarely button up my coats, i opted for snap caps instead… and had a hell of a time installing them. I guess it was cosmic retaliation for cutting corners. Here’s my promise to the gods: i’ll sew buttonholes by hand on my next jacket.
All in all, i’m well chuffed with the result. I’m already planning to make another (modified) Ilford out of needlecord corduroy for the winter. The Singer 15B90 performed like a champ, chewing through eight layers of heavy cloth like it was muslin. The new motor is tremendously powerful, but the pedal is perfectly adjusted, so i could sew as quickly or as slowly as i wanted. I’m really happy to be able to continue the story of this machine for a few more decades — and i have no doubt that it’ll outlive me!
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