- Feb 5, 2002
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Giselle Williams didn’t know how to sew. But she did have a family heirloom sitting around the house—her great-great-grandmother’s Singer sewing machine—and wondered if it could be put to use to help others during the pandemic.
It all began when the COVID-19 pandemic brought Giselle’s Colorado hairstyling business to a halt in Arvada. She noticed the growing army of sequestered mask-makers and decided to put her free time to good use—but she never learned how to sew and thought she didn’t have a sewing machine.
That’s when she remembered the 100-year-old treadle machine. It is so old that it doesn’t even use electricity. Instead, the 1922 Singer Model 66 “Red Eye” is powered mechanically by a foot pedal pushed up and down by the operator’s foot. It was being used as a piece of decorative furniture in her guest room.
After decades spent idle, it definitely needed some work, so Giselle’s husband Darin set his mind to restoring it. After many YouTube videos, a good cleaning, fresh lubrication, and a new leather drive belt, the couple had a functioning sewing machine. Then Darin got to work teaching Giselle to sew.
As young boy, Darin spent summers with his grandmother who was a seamstress and learned to sew by sewing hand puppets with her fabric scraps. He used his skills and taught Giselle how to thread the machine, wind the bobbin, and sew a straight stitch.
Continued below.
Couple Restores 100-Year-Old Sewing Machine–And Learns To Sew–So They Can Donate Face Masks to the Needy
Giselle Williams didn’t know how to sew. But she did have a family heirloom sitting around the house—her great-great-grandmother’s Singer sewing machine—and wondered if it could be put to use to help others during the pandemic.
It all began when the COVID-19 pandemic brought Giselle’s Colorado hairstyling business to a halt in Arvada. She noticed the growing army of sequestered mask-makers and decided to put her free time to good use—but she never learned how to sew and thought she didn’t have a sewing machine.
That’s when she remembered the 100-year-old treadle machine. It is so old that it doesn’t even use electricity. Instead, the 1922 Singer Model 66 “Red Eye” is powered mechanically by a foot pedal pushed up and down by the operator’s foot. It was being used as a piece of decorative furniture in her guest room.
After decades spent idle, it definitely needed some work, so Giselle’s husband Darin set his mind to restoring it. After many YouTube videos, a good cleaning, fresh lubrication, and a new leather drive belt, the couple had a functioning sewing machine. Then Darin got to work teaching Giselle to sew.
As young boy, Darin spent summers with his grandmother who was a seamstress and learned to sew by sewing hand puppets with her fabric scraps. He used his skills and taught Giselle how to thread the machine, wind the bobbin, and sew a straight stitch.
Continued below.
Couple Restores 100-Year-Old Sewing Machine–And Learns To Sew–So They Can Donate Face Masks to the Needy
