Theresa - Industrial Singer 96-10 1922 

Teresa DeCarlo began sewing in a Chicago garment factory in the 1950s when she was 20. Before long her bosses gave her this 1922 industrial Singer sewing machine and an equally delightful blind hemmer, and kicked her out of the factory, saying she was wasting her valuable sewing skills on their rather mundane products. She began making wedding dresses and continued this business into her 90s. The iron thread pass-through has a groove worn in it from the miles of thread that slipped through on the way to another bride's beautiful dress. When Teresa completed her time here and went to her eternal reward, her daughter donated the machines to the St. Martha's Guild. We send her pictures of the projects that have run quickly under that presser foot and back to the altar.  This machine is frighteningly fast, with a knee lifter and a tasty bobbin winder that always makes me want to watch it do its thing, but since it only loads up while you're stitching other things, I don't get to enjoy that show very often.