The Singer Sewhandy Model 20: History, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting 

Thank you for your interesting video. I have my Sewhandy which I received for Christmas, 1957. It is the beige-tan color. It is in a green and white case which has a mount for the machine so that it does not have to be clamped to a table. My memories of using this machine are that it was a nightmare. I don't think I ever was able to sew a seam, much less actually sew anything usable. The thread always got tangled up in a mess, and each time I just gave up and put it away. I am surprised that my mother did not dispose of the machine, but I found it while cleaning out her house. Adults who sew on a normal machine are able to guide the fabric with two hands while using electricity or feet on a treadle to power the machine. A child who was learning with this machine had to use her dominant hand to turn the crank, leaving only one hand to guide the fabric. Using this machine was not a pleasant experience. Fortunately I inherited my grandmother's electric Singer a couple of years later. Then I was able to begin to practice, learn, and spend many, many enjoyable hours and years sewing.

This is such a wonderful deep dive! Just the comparison of these children's sewing machine to today's "mini toy" machine, the difference in quality is so clear. Thank you so much for showing us these lovely machines!

Okay - I think I can help with a couple of things here. The thread nipper spring not raising to release the thread is a very common problem. The Adjusters Manual says that it should get raised up by about 1/32" and "if necessary, reshape contact finger of nipper so correct opening is obtained". On some machines it may need to be bent down a bit. But if it is too far down the handwheel gets a bit jerky to turn so only bend that finger down as far as you need to and no more. I've also seen that nipper part that has the contact finger installed upside-down or back-to-front on some machines (like that first one you showed us in the second part of your vid) so it is definitely worth checking that it is on the right way if it doesn't work properly. :-) I recommend using smooth-jawed pliers (or two of them) to reshape/bend the contact finger or any other metal so it doesn't get any rough spots on it. I get my hubby to do that because, while it can be done by hand, I'm not very strong in the wrist and his strength gives him extra-fine control to bend things just so - and not bend the things that are just fine how they are. If we can we get a scrap of leather to place between the plier jaws and the metal too. If you don't have smooth-jawed pliers (and even if you do) a scrap of leather to protect the metal from "toothed plier jaws" is very helpful. I'd love to help you some more and I have some more tips but they take a while to write and it would be easier to email you and then perhaps you could do a follow-up vid showing what you did, how you did it and how it turned out if any of my tips help. :-) But the other comment I wrote to you didn't "stick" - likely because I mentioned my w** site and RU-vid probably thought it was an unwanted tinned meat product. I'm not sure how to overcome that so please comment back and let me know if you'd welcome details about how to reach me. Kind regards... Megan

Your speaking voice is so pleasant. I have lots to learn about my 'little one'. Thank you.

Thank you for the phobia warning! Really enjoying your history lesson :)

Love everything about this video, the history and use, all rolled into on. Many thanks for your work!

I use sewing machine oil and cotton balls/swabs to clean my machines....it's gentle and gets alot of rust off. Was recommend by a restorer.

You have a very soothing voice that reminds me of NPR’s Terry Gross. I had a child’s sewing machine in the early 60s and I keep searching for it online. What I remember is a wooden base. I keep hoping I I see one that I recognize. I remember my mom’s Singer she bought around 1950, and it was gray colored. I enjoyed your video.

Sweet machines! The broken one really deserves to be restored!

A product called Blue Creeper will help you remove the broken needle as well as both rusty screws. Somebody dropped this little beauty off the table it was supposed to be clamped to.

This was a really great video!!! I was so excited to see a video on this line of machines I squealed. About your looper not catching on your 20-10 - if no one has mentioned this yet, it is most likely a timing problem with the mechanism, especially since you mentioned it _just_ misses the thread. I used to work in a jeans factory, sewing on industrial chainstitch machines, and the loopers, while beefier, are almost identical. A looper going out of time happened to at least one person on the floor every single day, it tends to happen as a result of a threadjam causing the looper to skate just a lil as the resulting nest of thread drags against the looper. In good news, its not nearly as involved to fix as a timing issue on a lockstitch machine - The looper will generally have a single set screw that keeps the looper in place. It may be stuck due to crud, so if it's frozen, hit it with some penetrating oil spray like locktite and check again a day later. Once you loosen that set screw, the looper will spin freely on it's axis, and you can correct the timing by spinning the looper into position so that the hook passes just over the eye of the needle just before the needles lowest point in its cycle of rotation, so that the looper catches the thread of the needle, and releases it as the needle rises. You can probably find videos, that could explain it better, and every machine has a slightly different sweetspot where it makes its' best stitches in regards to looper timing, but if you can set aside a day to fiddle with it , it's generally entirely fixable, and once you get the hang of it, it becomes just another couple-of-seconds maintenance task one performs regularly alongside things like oiling and defluffing. Also in regards to the tension leaf-spring on the other machine, that screw that mounts it serves to adjust the tightness of the spring - if the spring isn't releasing at the height of the needle bar as it should, it could be due to having been overtightened by a previous owner - you may be able to fix it purely by loosening that screw just a little bit - unless the leafspring is bent, which, I suppose could be the case, but I'd definitely check the screw first. Anyway, I really liked this video and the depth of things you covered on these adorable little machines. Subbed, and I hope you get them big youtube schmonies. ^_^

Absolutely amazing, as always!!!

Dear @SugarMapleCrafts. Your´s video is really superb, thank you for it. Today i buyied one Singer Sawhandy 20 from probably 1955, Great Britain edition. Manual inside is another and also box is another than your´s. I can make a photo and scan manual for you. My mother instantly beloved in this tiny sewing machine. Real machine - not a toy :))) But why im writting to you. My machine is in same condition like your´s. But fully working, after mainterance and oil application we had a small show at home. Because your´s is not sewing i carefully taking a look on your video in 27:43 Mine looks absolutely same, but, it looking like you have needle turned by 180 degree. And i think, that´s why your machine not working. Because needle have specific shape of thread way, when it´s turned by 180° thread is heading down, not up. And in that moment thread hook is missing thread and you cannot sew. I hope i helped you and your machine will working :) Sincerely Marek Szűcs

So informative video! Thanks! In Soviet Union different factories produce sewing machines called ДШМ-1 for children. Machines made from cast iron or aluminum. One of the last machines produced in Soviet Belarus in 1990. I cant remember another machines for children, but all of them made from plastic.

Thanks so much. I was really wondering if my Sewhandy was a 60s era or 50s.

Thank you very much for this detailed video it helped me a lot, because I am not only a passionate seamstress but since yesterday also the proud owner of a No. 20 and therefore I very much want to get the machine running. I also found the development history of the No. 20 very interesting. This showed me what to look for when determining the version. I don't know exactly how old my machine is, but since my machine looks exactly the same as your only working machine, I assume that I also have the 1926 version. In the photos of the 1970 version I noticed other differences from the 1926 version, besides the "Made in Turkey": The font/typeface of the threading numbers are much wider on the 1926 version. I mean the letter width (not the line thickness). You can see the difference very clearly on numbers 2 and 4. Maybe this info will help someone. Thanks again and please excuse my not so perfect English ...the online translator and I did our best ;) Ps: Does anyone know where I can find an online version (scan/photo) of the manual to download?

Really informative

very well presented!

The Japanese machine wasn't made of lead. The name of the company was LEAD (rhymes with deed, feed, need, etc.). They made MANY different models of good quality, small, hand-cranked chain-stitch machines (of which I own several). (No mention of the Singer 30K?)

Thanks for the information.

Hi, you mention that the 'Lead' machine is made of the metal lead but this is a common misconception, The name 'Lead' and 'all lead' are the brand names. The Japanese manufacturer was Nakajima All Mishin Seizosho. The metal lead is actually too soft and malleable to make the body of a sewing machine. They are beautiful well made machines that take a 15x1 regular needle which is great (I own one) I think some people are put off buying them thinking that they are made of solid lead metal! Great video, your herd of machines look lovely!

I really really want to use this machine, but I have acquired and I simply cannot get them to sew, even though both of them were described as being in perfect working order. On both machines, the thread simply will not catch in the pointy end of the rotating piece - thread won’t catch. I can put it on manually, but then, as soon as it turns, it falls off. With the first machine I got, I tried everything to adjust the thread and make sure it was all correct and thread it left to right and adjust the needle, but it wouldn’t work. Finally, I decided to actually bend the pointy part of the rotator and of course I broke it off. So I got a second one, figuring maybe there was something wrong with the first one, but I got the same problem. Does anyone know what the trick is.? I can’t imagine being a little kid and knowing some trick that is not obvious to me. It’s a beautiful machine and I’m crying because I cannot get it to actually make stitches. 😢 everything looks perfect but alas, I can’t actually use it.v

What a lovely and informative video, thank you so much for making it! Out of curiosity, where can you buy a replacement seam-allowance gauge? I've been wanting to get one of these machines for a while but cant quite find any sites that sell replacement parts

I was hoping your video would divulge the secret to the sewhandy being able to stitch. Mine won't and just can't find the cure.

Bonjour i would love to can the instructions, I bought one no instructions inside

are replacement needles available today? If so where can I find them?

I'm the one that's not working check to see if there is a lengthening and shortening arm on the bottom for your thread that might be why it's not working it's over by the bottom footboard by the hook

How do you thread the Junior Miss?

❤

Осы машинканы таба алмай жүрмін, қарапайым әрі ыңғайлы, жөндеуде оңай !

This mashine did not want to sew until I used a ??????????? sorry but I cant understand that word.