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| Singer:192 (Sewing Machine) | | Viewed 584 time(s) |
1 more reviews for this machine | Review rated Very Helpful by 13 people | | Reviewed by: | Peter in NYC | 
 | About Peter in NYC | | NY USA | | Member since: 6/9/09 | | Reviews written: 20 | | Sewing skills:Advanced Beginner | | Favored by: 30 people | | sewing machines reviewed: 4 | | Bio: more... |
| | Posted on: | 10/14/09 7:40 AM | | Approx price paid: | $33.81 | | Had this machine for: | 3 weeks | | Recommended? | Yes | Features
- Drop-In bobbin
- Adjustable Presser Foot Pressure
| | What Peter in NYC likes about this machine
If you've ready any of my other reviews (of sewing machines or patterns) you know I am predisposed toward all things vintage. The mere fact that items manufactured decades ago are still available and of use today (as opposed to off-gassing in a landfill) speaks to the quality of their manufacture and design.
Old sewing machines tend to be simple to maintain, easy to use, and relatively cheap. Very little will go wrong with them. They are also strong. Sellers of old machines, particularly on eBay I have noticed, have made a fetish of a machine's ability to sew through leather. I'm not sure why this is so important, but it certainly raises a machine's price. All my vintage machines can handle leather with ease.
But enough about leather.
I found my Singer 192k -- which, btw, is more commonly known by the name printed on its side: "Spartan" -- on eBay. It's a 3/4 machine -- just like a featherweight! -- but it's NO featherweight. This machine is heavy (maybe 20 lbs?) and all metal. Because the seller was nearby, shipping was cheap(ish), and I got the whole thing for less than $40.
Based on research I have done, the Spartan is IDENTICAL to a 99K with a few minor exceptions: it doesn't have a lamp, it was sold with only a straight-stitch foot, and it came encased in a plastic box, as opposed to something fancier. I have noticed that 99K's on eBay go for a lot more money; Spartan's can be had for cheap -- often less than $25!
The Spartans were manufactured in the early Sixties (that's 1960s) in Clydebank, Scotland (Great Britain). They are short-shank, come with a drop-in bobbin, and have a typical stitch length lever -- clearly numbered -- with back tack.
My Spartan arrived intact though she needed to be oiled and came loaded with the wrong size bobbin (Class 15 instead of 66) -- whoops! Luckily I noticed this right away and happened to have some Singer bobbins lying around (early sign of a sew-obsessive). The 99K manual is available in PDF form FREE online so I used that to find her lubrication points and get her bobbin threaded. Within minutes, she was humming along beautifully and I immediately thought of this.
That's her in a nutshell!
The Spartan feels different than my other machines do. She's stripped down and simple. Her motor is on the outside and her belt is easily accessible. She's powerful, but it's not that Rolls Royce-feel I get from my Pfaff 139. This is more like a punchy little VW -- small, reliant, strong....Casey Jr.!
Now back to leather: the Spartan stitches as beautifully through multiple layers of upholstery leather (I tried 4) as she does through fine fabric. Like every mechanical machine I own, the correct tension setting of both the bobbin thread and the upper thread results in a beautiful, balanced stitch, perfect above and below. She can handle my rather thick Coats & Clark denim topstitching thread without a problem.
Perhaps because she's a straight stitch machine, her ability to handle curves is exceptional. She's smoother on turns than any of my zig zaggers and I can't wait to use her to topstitch back pocket designs on denim jeans. This was an unexpected and delightful surprise. I don't have to stop with the needle down and CAREFULLY rotate my sewing every few stitches.
So there you have it: a lovely little solid machine that does it all, available at a great price. What more can you ask?
But there IS more!
I had been using a Kenmore buttonholer attachment with my 158.1212 Kenmore for all my buttonholes. This quasi-contemporary attachment (c. 1980s) relies on the machine's zig zag settings to stitch the width of the buttonhole as it circles the template.
For about $10, I bought an old Singer buttonholer -- the ones that come in those pea green space-age plastic pods -- 7 metal templates included, designed back in the day of straight stitch-only machines. The buttonholer itself creates the zig zag motion by moving the fabric side to side. Sounds complicated but it works great. I hooked it up to my Spartan, and voila! -- perfect buttonholes that are as good as, if not prettier than, those made by my Kenmore. Here's a recent one:
Singer Buttonhole
Love it!
These Singer buttonholers come with a screw-on plate to cover the feed dogs (make sure that's included if you buy a used one and your feed dogs don't drop. The Spartans' feed dogs do not drop, as far as I can tell.). The Kenmore feed dog cover plate, btw, does NOT screw on and always feels a little precarious to me, adding to the stress of creating my buttonholes with it.
What Peter in NYC does not like about this machine
Hmmm....let's see. My Spartan did not come in a case, and the screw head on which her front end rests on my sewing table is rather rough, and has gouged the table's laminate a bit, though one can hardly blame the machine for that.
That's it!
I have pictures of my Spartan here:
Spartan pics
And if you want to see me singing the virtues of vintage machines, check out this Threadbangers link. I don't show up till 2:17, but it's a pretty interesting segment!
http://www.threadbanger.com/ispydiy/episode/ISPY_20090930
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| Reader Comments | | johnr55 | 10/14/09 | Great review-thanks! | | * * * | | dbsewer | 10/14/09 | Thank you for a thorough and excellent review. This looks like a wonderful machine, and how cute is she? Makes me want to go out and buy one. You're lucky to be in a city with such a rich offering of vintage items. | | * * * | | Lil Flo | 10/14/09 | She is a beauty. You seem to have a lot of luck finding great vingage machines. I really enjoy reading about them. Thanks so much for sharing. | | * * * | | jilly cooper | 10/14/09 | I have a 99k which I saved from landfill, or being melted down then into scrap metal. I love your machine. | | * * * | | Mufffet | 10/14/09 | Thanks for the good review! | | * * * | | nancy2001 | 10/14/09 | Looks like a terrific machine. | | * * * | | Nancywin | 10/15/09 | Great information on this machine. Have you tried the "add a link to your review" button? It will make those web addresses link straight through. | | * * * | | zanylady | 10/15/09 | Great review. I too have several Spartans. One is the little black one like yours and sews like a dream. The other is a green model in a sewing table. I haven't gotten around to getting it running yet. Too many other projects.
If I am not mistaken, Spartan was a British co. that was bought out by Singer and the machines were than called Singer Spartan, I assume to familiarize buyers with the fact that it was not a singer co.
| | * * * | | Peter in NYC | 10/15/09 | Here's what I found online:
"In 1884 yet another new factory was opened (by Singer) at Kilbowie, Clydebank on a 46 acre site. The floor area was nearly one million square feet and seven thousand workers were employed producing on average 13,000 machines a week. Not only was the Kilbowie factory larger than any of Singer's American plants it was the largest sewing machine factory in the World, finally closing in 1980."
I don't know that Singer bought out a UK sewing machine company named Spartan, but if you have any info about it, let me know. | | * * * | | poplin | 10/17/09 | Thanks for the great review, Peter in NYC! I love the look of the Spartans... been heavily contemplating one. | | * * * | | lunar321 | 10/21/09 | question- could you then use the buttonholer to create a zig zag straight stitch? or is it asking too much to have a beautiful machine *and* have it work well with jersey knits/tshirt material.
btw. excellent review. totally helped me with my decision! | | * * * | | Peter in NYC | 10/21/09 | There is a separate Greist zig zag attachment that can be purchased -- you'll find them on eBay. You can't use the buttonholer because it works only with buttonhole-shaped templates. | | * * * | | johnr55 | 10/24/09 | You are quite impressive on video, especially since you're wearing your knowledge. Do you feel like a Spartan when you're sewing on your Spartan? Macho machine. Sounds like you're getting as hooked on machines as I am! Every one has its own personality when they're vintage. I like to think about who might've used them before. Just think-at some time, someone had your Spartan brand new and probably sacrificed to get it. Back then, they took care of their machines and didn't dump them every few years to get more toys on a newer model. They were made to last. Great video! | | * * * | | jzy_gail | 10/25/09 | Per Needlebar, Singer is the originating manufacturer of the Spartan, which was so named because it was, essentially, a stripped down version of the 99--came with fewer accessories and the plastic case, rather than the bentwood case. | | * * * |
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