Singer 99 Handcrank Conversion and a Picture

I converted the Singer 99 from electric to hand crank.
Here's the conversion:

I ordered the hand crank, spoked wheel, etc. from Cindy at Stitches in Time in Lake City, MN.  She gives absolutely fantastic service!  (I love ordering bobbins from her because I know they will fit my machines and work perfectly--because she tests every batch she receives--unlike any fabric store.)

The conversion took less than 10 minutes--and that's with *no* instructions.  I just removed the motor and the original hand wheel, and then I installed the new one.  Honestly, it was so easy that my mind is still boggled!  I've spent longer trying to adjust the thread tension than it took me to convert the machine!--The needlebar was set so low that the feed dogs had begun to wear on the bottom of the presser foot.

This machine is one more reminder that the "sewing police" think they know more than they really know; I think they usually speak from lack of experience and assume that what works on one or two machines is true for all.

I am so excited that I now have a quiet little machine that I can pick up and take anywhere (that "anywhere" includes outside--when we get real spring weather). I'm debating asking someone to tell me how to get the housing for the machine light apart so that I can rewire it, just in case I want to use the little lamp that was on the machine.  It was wired into the motor--obviously the motor is off and no longer needed.  (It was making a funny rattle noise anyway.)

I do love people powered sewing machines!  (My friend Harriet reminded me that she and this little machine share the same birth year--the year my dad graduated from high school.)

Next, a picture for Aunt Katherine.  Sweet Teen has had this dress for several years--we've watched it get shorter as she's gotten taller.  (I offered to get some taffeta to lengthen a plaid dress from last year [I think], but she decided to wear this one.)