Singer 237: SOLD!

 

Thrift stores can be quite an experience.  The often fascinating items for sale, the people, the dust, the smells and the occasional screaming bargains that can be found make for some of the best shopping experiences you'll ever have.

Sewing machines of wide variety, age, quality, and condition can often be found at such stores as many former owners find the tax write-off more attractive than the prospects of either dumping or of trying to sell an appliance that now appeals to, at best, a niche.  I've found some nice ones and purchased a few of them, found many that are either of very low quality or beyond restoration, and a few I've dismissed only to later realize I was too stupid to recognize a treasure.  In short, if you're reading these words, you likely love vintage sewing machines.  Thrift stores are for you.

Several months ago while perusing the aisles of one such store, I found three Singers on a shelf, all being photographed by a man pointing a cell phone camera at each one in turn.  (The store was having a 50% off sale the next day and he may have been taking stock of what he planned to buy.)  I waited with utmost nonchalance, pretending to be deeply fascinated by a salad shooter and when he finally put his phone away, shoving one behind the other two (more modern plastic Singers in poor condition) and standing up to leave, I pounced.  Just looking at the case and feeling the weight (about 33 lbs.), I knew this was a Thrift Store Find; taking off the lid, I admired its excellent condition and after plugging it into the testing station and hearing it run, I ran -- off to the cash register to pay my $9.99 less 20% because my mom and her senior discount happened to be with me.  The photographer stood near the register and watched me as I made my purchase, perhaps hoping I might change my mind.  This is a reminder to you that thrift stores are places where you must make quick decisions.

This particular machine is one of the better (but not the best) thrift store purchases I've made.  The Singer 237 Fashion Mate Model 237 M-A was manufactured in Monza, Italy in the mid-1960s.

Clad in a beige/cream two-tone, the 237 is one Singer's last machines with all-metal innards.  The exterior is mostly metal, a glossy beige splatter-finish with metal hand wheel and mostly metal knobs and levers.  Plastic is the face plate, the cap, the nose cover, the pressure knob, feed dog knob cladding, spool pin, clutch wheel, etc.  It is an attractive design that reflects its simple operation: nothing more than straight and zig-zag stitches with adjustable width and length.  The adjustable needle position (L, C, R) makes the machine more versatile and flexible, an extra feature not always found on machines of this era.  The 237 is a low-shank machine and takes standard 15x1 needles.

There are two versions of the 237.  One feature on my machine sets it apart from its 237 sibling: feed dog drop.  (The other is a numbered pressure dial on my machine's version rather than a button.)  Being able to drop the dogs makes a machine much more versatile as this allows for free-motion sewing, certain kinds of embroidery, spot darning, very thin/fine fabric, etc.  It also allows for running the machine with the presser foot lowered but without fabric.  (You should never run your machine with the feed dogs up and the presser foot down while there is no material between the two.  This can damage either or both.)  So, while $8.00 would still have been an absolute steal for the 237 model without this important feature, I'm glad mine is the higher-end model.

To be honest, I didn't have particularly high hopes for the 237 when I began sewing with it; rather, I expected a decent, competent, ordinary machine.  However, it sews beautifully.  The length lever has a screw that locks it at the selected length; this is greatly appreciated as the lever itself is very sensitive and I am able to produce the tiniest stitches on the 237.  If reverse is desired, I simply pull the lever all the way up.  I can then return to the previous length by pulling it back down to the locked position.  The longest stitch is long but not unusually so, adequate for basting.

But it is in the zig-zag stitch where the 237 really shines.  The width lever is a slider and the motion is satisfyingly stiff, meaning I can select anywhere between none and the widest stitch and an errant touch of the lever won't change my selection.  The stitches are some of the best zig-zags I've been able to produce on any machine, are perfectly balanced from top and bobbin threads, and the motion of the needle bar is quiet.  The needle bar responds to changes in the width extremely smoothly, yet as I've explained, the lever position is held firmly.  Singer engineered the tactile motions of these levers, width and length, just right.

As good as it is overall, there are two knobs that slightly cheapen the 237: clutch and pressure.  Both work but these are knobs that not only feel as though they're clad in plastic, they feel thoroughly plastic, outside and in.  Being used to the all-metal push-button pressure controls found on Kenmores of the same era, for example, it is the pressure knob that is most incongruous with the rest of this rather good 237.  A numbered dial, the selection must be made according to the numbers; the knob slides into each number with a cheap-feeling, lightweight motion that only has resistance at the numbers themselves.  The clutch is fine and works perfectly well, although I certainly miss the heaviness of the stainless and chrome clutch wheels I'm used to on other makes and models of this era.  Additionally, this is not Singer's smoothest running machine nor its quietest.

I'm new to the world of sewing and in my limited experience, I'm not what anyone would consider a fan of Singer machines except for a few models.  However, a lesser machine such as the 237 is a reminder that Singer was once the largest and most widely respected sewing machine manufacturer in the world and had a multitude of great products to back up its well-earned reputation (and still does based upon the sheer number of vintage Singers still sewing today).  From what I have observed, by the time the 237 was made Singer had begun a long decline.  However, there is so much that is good here that I can wholeheartedly recommend the 237, particularly if a simple, inexpensive, beautiful zig-zag is what you need.

Update:  Yes, I have sold this machine.  I wasn't using it at all, not even running it.  So I oiled it, gave it the once-over cleaning (and found a thread nest I had missed earlier, wound tightly around the motor shaft between the pulley and the housing), ran it to make sure it worked perfectly, then listed it.  I had a firm buyer within hours and a young boy can now alter his own denim (as his father explained).  Win-win.