Singer 66 has been fixed up thanks to Brother Vac and Sew (special thanks to Tracy for the helpful plug!). I ended up chatting with the owner for 30 minutes and he gave lots of helpful tips on how to sew heavier materials such as leather/denim and gave me a shim which helps adjust the pressure foot to step up or down while sewing. It's a family owned business and the tech who did the repairs was very helpful. If I keep the machine oiled, the owner said that the machine shouldn't need to be brought ever again since the machine is all metal. Below are pictures from this morning and the leather is 3 layers deep with some lighter fabric tossed in for good measure. It goes through leather REALLY well, and I'm super pleased with it.
This machine is one of the most common in its era and often you can find them in thrift stores for 20-30 bucks. If they're in good condition, getting them fixed up professionally means you have a machine that'll last you forever. Each one will have its serial number listed which you can google to see the date of manufacturing (this machine is from 1935 thereabout). It will only do straight stitches and cannot backtack but I only need it to do one thing and it does it extremely well. The wallet photos below is the first thing I sewed when it came home.
If you are in DC and need a sewing machine or vacuum repaired, please check out Brother Sew and Vac: http://www.brothersewvac.com/.
