Monday, February 21, 2011

Cat & the Singer

Cat & Treadle

A friend of mine was left a house recently by an old lady; the house was full of old furniture, probably none of it worth very much, but the only thing to take my eye was this old Singer Treadle Machine, which is still in working order. Oh what memories it brought back! My mother was a tailoress and had a workshop at the back of our house. A workshop is a bit of an exaggeration, it was the garden shed converted, but it served its purpose. I can still see my Mum furiously pedalling the treadle, turning out all kinds of wonders in cloth.

As you can see, one of my cats has taken a fancy to it as a perch, or watch station, or maybe its just somewhere off the ground to sleep.

11 comments:

  1. I love the reflections of the machine on the wood. It makes the surface glow. And what a beautiful memory you have!

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  2. Great drawing and great story to go along!

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  3. Very nice, Phil, and I love the memories that it brought out.

    xoxo

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  4. It's a great sketch! A friend of mine has the same sewing machine, and she still sews with it! The machine itself is a work of art.

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  5. Hahaha! When I saw the title I thought the sketch would be about a cat and somebody singing a song.
    But I prefer this lovely scene!!
    My mom has one of these old singer sew machine, and still works on it!

    You're great sketching!

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  6. Phil, this is such a great sketch. You've captured that hunched-shouldered kitty pose as well as all the angles and reflections on the Singer.

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  7. My mother had one of those! How cool! Great sketch!

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  8. great. my great-aunt had one too. Really like all ur b&w sketches.

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  9. I love this drawing and story! My grandmother had a machine very much like it, but I never saw her stitch a single thing with it! I wish I had it now. nancy

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  10. Interesting story! =) And I really like the little kitty. The drawing also reminds me of the time when I was 10 years old and my mom bought this old singer sewing machine from a friend and I swear that she wanted to making all the clothes she could with that thing it's funny

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  11. Great sketch Phil, I can remember these (although not when they first came out!) what a lovely object. Just caught up with your blog and enjoyed seeing all the work. Good luck with the exhibition!

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