1910 Singer Attachments

Tucker

Ruffler

Binder

I thought I would show you all pictures of the attachments that came with my 1910 Singer. It was quite interesting to see the difference in what were considered standard attachments one hundred years ago and what comes with a machine today. Photo one is a "tucker", photo two is a "ruffler", and photo three is a "binder" for putting binding on a dress etc. It also came with a quilting foot, a hemming foot, and of course just a standard sewing foot. With my modern Bernina, I have a buttonhole foot, a zipper foot, a blind hem foot, and your standard sewing foot. Each foot is reflective of the methods of construction for the time as well as the styles of the day. One hundred years ago women's and children's clothing included multiple types of trims, ruffles, tucks, and other embellishments that would have been a must. However, a zig-zag stich still wasn't possible so buttonholes were worked by hand, and zippers wouldn't see popularity for another thirty-seven years. Today's sewers would be lost without an automatic buttonhole feature, not to mention the ability to sew on a button with their machines, and zippers have become an indespensable closure in the majority of garments. We can credit Elias Howe for both the invention of the sewing machine as well as the zipper in 1851, but the closure idea was a little before its time. B.F. Goodrich was responsible for giving us the name zipper for use on galoshes, but it still didn't become a popular closure until the 1930's when it was marketed for use on children's garments and men's trousers. Such a different world from the automated one we live in now, simply reflected in the common women's tools of the day. I'm anticipating being able to use these "new" attachments, taking a step back in time.