The notch of the lever at the front fits over the needle clamp, so when sewing the lever is moved up and down to operate the zigzagger.
It looks heavy and bulky, but even though it is attached to the presser bar with just one screw, it is held securely in place.
Although it is photographed attached to a hand machine (too much fuss dragging the treadle into the kitchen, which is where we have the best light), I would only use it on a treadle. Operating the zizagger is hard work, an extra bit of strain being taken with every move of the needlebar, and hard work when turning the machine by hand.
This intriguing little box was sitting in a charity shop waiting for me. The dodgy spelling is a bit of a giveaway - I did a bit of research later and found out that it was manufactured in Japan.
Inside was the zigzagger. Nothing dodgy about that. A good bit of sturdy metal equipment.
It came with four little metal templates, three of them double ended and one single ended. The different templates set the zigzagger for the whichever one of the seven different stitches you want to use.
The needle passes through the wide hole in the black plate at the front of the zigzagger.
The underneath of the black plate is ridged, enabling it to grip the material firmly.
Tomorrow's photographs will show the zigzagger attached to the machine....
Welcome to the latest follower, Baukje - thank you for joining!
Surprising what can be done with a straight stitch machine. I thought you might like to see my first ever zigzagging (excluding five traumatic minutes with an electric horror at school in the 1960s). It was done on the 15K treadle and looks rather like the printout from a seismograph.
This is not the beginning of a conversion. I shall always be strictly a straight stitch girl, but a bit of decorative stitching won't go amiss once in a while.
Expect some interesting pictures on Monday. In the meantime perhaps I shall manage to get a bit more practice.
Welcome to the two new followers, Erin Tucker and Missy. Thank you for joining!
