Patty's Great-Grandmother's Davis Rotary

When Leon and I started collecting machines, I asked my brother if he might

have our Grandmother's old Singer. He said there was a treadle machine at his house but he didn't know anything about it. When we showed up to collect it, I realized it wasn't the Singer I expected, but one that had belonged to my late sister-in-law Patty. I called her sister Aleta to learn more.  Aleta was delighted to find it! The machine had belonged to their great-grandmother. She thought it had been lost.

Leon and I decided to restore the machine for Aleta. It would need the electric motor removed, the foot treadle replaced, a new belt, and a few other things. Leon immediately began cleaning and oiling it.

The machine is a Davis Rotary from about 1919. It came with bobbins, and a few odds and ends in the drawers. The manual was still there! (I immediately scanned it.) It was an expensive machine in its day. It has a chain lift that raises the machine when the lid is lifted. As the machine comes up, a panel folds back to allow room for the seamstress to put her feet on the treadle. Each drawer has a keyed lock and there is ornate scrollwork around the drawer pulls.

Learning to use the machine was a challenge. First, I discovered that it uses a needle called a Davis long that is no longer made. However, I was able to buy online an equivalent Boye needle that worked. Next was threading the machine. The tensioner didn't work like any of my Singers and the illustrations in the manual didn't quite match this model. I did a bunch of head scratching.  After a bit of trial and error, it would sew, but was the tension off! Together Leon and I struggled to get that set. 

Before we gave the machine to Aleta, we made four videos demonstrating the Davis. I will attach them as soon as I figure out how. :)

What do the Merry Cranks crank?

We are the Merry Cranks. We demonstrate  (foot cranked) bicycles, particularly the

replica pennyfarthing,  and hand crank sewing machines. We keep our eyes open for other low-tech materials that we might like to demonstrate. I found a popcorn popper at at  thrift shop the other day and Leon immediately went, "It's a hand crank!"

Our adventures began with bicycles. Leon is an avid collector of older bikes. Two of his prizes are the replica pennyfarthing and an 1890s lady's bike with wooden rims and wooden hand grips. We call her the Grand Dame. We enjoyed taking the pennyfarthing to living history events where children could see it, and maybe get their pictures taken sitting on it. Parents ask questions about why the bike had the big wheel and how it was used. Leon hasn't been stumped by a question yet!

Living history events mean period garb. That is no problem. I like to to sew. Sewing brought a maintenance problem. The Singer Featherweight I inherited from my Mom started skipping stitches.  I tried to fix it and made things worse. Leon...? He knew nothing about sewing machines, and he sure didn't want to ruin my mother's heirloom, but I persisted. He read the owner's manual and watched a few You Tube videos. VOILA! He fixed my machine and he was hooked. We started collecting older sewing machines as well as bicycles.

Our first "gig" demonstrating sewing machines was Earth Day at the Kansas History Museum.  My granddaughter was recruited to help us because we knew we would be demonstrating to kids in classroom quantities. We didn't realize 1600 students would visit that day! I had prepared 2000 pairs of fabric squares for the students to use as they sewed a seam on one of our three hand crank machines. When the day was done, only three scraps of fabric remained. Some students had visited more than once! 

We have the demonstrations down to a science now. You might find us at any event in eastern Kansas showing both sewing machines and bicycles. If it is a large venue, like the musuem, we still do small scraps of fabric. If we visit a more leisurely event we take 4x6" inch pieces of fabric that can be turned into Treasure Bags. We have seen repeat visitors who have confided to us that they still have their treasure bags. Keep an eye out. You might see us.