Singer 201K

EH428830 Manufactured 10 September 1952

According to Alex Askaroff “finest sewing machines ever made, the incomparable Singer 201”

I acquired this machine in January 2022, it is now November 2024 and after purchasing a book by Alex Askaroff I decided to grab one of my 201s out of storage to check one out.

When I started to collect machines, I grabbed anything local and within my budget, many machines I could find for $50 or less. This was one of those machines. I have a few other 201s in storage as here in Australia they can be found easily, but soon after acquiring these my collection took another route, namely my Japanese Machines. I may have 4 in storage, all that I collected in early 2022. So now it is time to dig out some of those oldies to see what I have.

Last month I purchased a book online and as I worked my way through reading it, I knew I had to grab one of my 201s out from storage. The one I found and have worked on is pictured below. It has the paperclip decals, which are still in pretty nice shape.

The book I am reading is called “A perfect stitch, The extraordinary Singer 201 Jubilee Sewing Machine.” by Alex Askaroff. I highly recommend it if you are interested in the 201 as well as other interesting Singer history and information.

The 201 is a much sought after machine in many parts of the world due to its quality of straight stitch. They are however very common here in Australia and just fall into that category of “unwanted vintage sewing machine”, which is such a pity.

The machine below, originally came in a non treadle table and it is fitted with an electric Singer motor that looks surprisingly like a Wernard motor, with light attached. The motor and light still work well and the brushes are hardly worn. Mind you the light does get very hot very quickly. If I wanted to use this machine on a regular basis, I would replace the globe with a modern one.

As the table was beyond repair and was recycled years ago, I have now put the machine in a base that came with a Pinnock machine from the late 50s to early 60s.

The shellac on this machine is pretty bad and flaking. I oiled her up, inside and out. Had the electrics checked and sewed a test swatch, she purred like a kitten. I have not even touched the tension. I will need to do a fair bit more cleaning to get her presentable and stitching to her best capability, but I am very happy that this machine is as nice as it is. With a wonderful stitch.

I also found a treadle I had put away that appears to also be in good condition, except the spoked hand wheel is showing a lot of corrosion, so I hope to give that one a bit of TLC soon.

The manual for the Singer 201 can be found on the ISMACS site. I have also copied it to my google drive account , so if you would like a free copy the manual can be downloaded for free from here.

Singer 201k EF507015

Manufactured 11 October 1949. As you can see this machine is a treadle and the spoked wheel is corroded. The machine turns over well and I hope to get this one cleaned up soon.