Singer 15-88 Treadle Machine Head

Trefoil Decal Pattern

Manufactured: November 4, 1937,  Elizabethport, New Jersey
Serial Number: AE712175
Needle: 15 x 1
Bobbins: Class 15

Mechanism type: Oscillating round bobbin
Feed: must be covered
Feet: Low shank 

Singer 15-88

 This is a 1937 Singer model 15-88.  The model 15-88 machines were either fitted with an external motor, or were made for use in a treadle.  I recently purchased this treadle head machine to use specifically for making Quilts For Veterans in memory of my father, Thomas J. O'Meara, and his service in the United States Army.  My father had given me a beautiful 15-91 electric machine, but it has been too soon after his death for me to use that.  So, I bought a 15-88 for a treadle instead.  When it first arrived, there was a noise that indicated it had not been oiled in a long time.   After only a few hours of oiling and turning the handwheel, the noise has disappeared.  

The machine was purchased to go into a portable treadle.  My Dad had a spare treadle top that was in bad shape.  I painted it with a patriotic theme, and set it up as a "portable treadle" similar to the one shown in a video by Becky of Fiddley Bits on YouTube.  The treadle base I used is one that is probably a Standard Sewing Machine Company treadle.

  Below are some sample stitches from this machine:

And below are the accessories that came with this machine:

Original Singer accessories that would have come with this machine are listed below:

Accessories box (complete) # 160809 - would contain:

• 2 felt washers (part# 8879)
• hemmer foot (#35931)
• edge stitcher (# 36865)
• binder (#81245)
• gathering foot (#121441)
• tube of oil (#161133)
• large screwdriver (#161294)
• small screwdriver (#161295)
• package #2020 of needles

A very nice chart showing the different models of Singer 15 machines is at The Needlebar here