Steampunk sewing machine

Becky Stern's Steampunk Sewing Machine still functions as a sewing machine -- and the superfluous propellor spins when the drive-wheel moves! "I got an old sewing machine at goodwill and steamed it up with brassy bits!"

Steampunk Sewing Machine (via Make)

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Art and Design • Gadgets • Happy Mutants • maker • Steampunk

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Lea Hernandez

@31: Yes, PLEASE Steampunk Bedazzler. Shoot, someone could just make compatible sets of studs and crystals.

@36 TNH: That is absolutely the appeal for me. Old sewing machines are satisfyingly fixable, they’re unkillable, they’re *beautiful* I miss my White acutely.

@43 TNH: I think you’ve nailed it, about Steampunk being a reaction against streamlining. Certainly the reason I like it is because functional objects can also be beautiful.
And the clothes are freaking cool.
CptNemo

Worst. Steampunk. Ever.
Kaden

This *has* to be the work of a hipster arteest making an irony laden anti-steampunk mission statement. It’s the only explanation which doesn’t insult the viewers’ intelligence.
FrankenPengie

Very not worthy. Steampunk is full of beauty. This is not.

Why is that thing called a propeller?
Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Daneel, interesting theory, but it doesn’t account for the known data.

Personally, I think steampunk is in part a reaction against junky material culture, especially the excesses of post-streamline product design.

More on this later.
Mythus

I love steampunk but the whole thing seems superfluous. The pressure gauge isn’t doing it for me. It is a very neat idea, though.
Cruxx

I’m not one of the regular anti-steampunkers, but I can’t help feeling like we are being trolled with this post. I mean.. just..just .. oh god. it’s too ridiculous to be serious
Mister Moofoo

Sprinkler head.

I’ve bitched about the steampunkiness of things before (in fact I feel like it’s all I comment about), but this one almost works for me.

I sort of like the idea that one might sew at such a frenzied pace with Dr. Whatgoodzitall’s Amazing Automated Seamstress that a sprinkler system is in order. (Sew, Very Old One! Sew like the wind!)
mr_josh

Know how to make a steampunk sewing machine? Take a sewing machine and make it run on steam. Sheesh. It’s not like sewing machines are some wacky new invention.

I like steampunk, I think the idea is cool. I have to kind of shake my head in wonder when people just stick pipe and valves to something and call it good. I can use my imagination just as well as the next punk, but can’t we be going the extra mile and try to make it seem as if the devices we’re creating can actually function? Right? Isn’t that the point of steampunk, imagining a world where the functionality of modern devices is reproduced with steam? Ala Back to the Future III?
Jaan

#13…I have that exact same sewing machine, in it’s original treadle cabinet, and I use it all the time. It was my grandmothers, and she taught me to sew on it many moons ago.

That was precisely what I was thinking of when I saw this monstrosity. It may be a joke, but I’ve seen other “steampunk” projects that were just as bad. There was a New York Times article on steampunk a few months ago, where the guy covered an LCD TV with burlap and called it steampunk. That’s when I knew it was dead.
Frank W

Unicorn chaser plz!
error404

It is just a sewing machine to which a few bits of plumbing have been attached, and that’s using attached loosely.

There seems nothing intrinsic about the design that would signal SP.

Actually if you pulled off the three sections of brass work it is my mothers old sewing machine
Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Arkizzle, I’m not feeling merciful enough to disemvowel Steve’s comment @18. Let it sit there in all its glory and be marveled at.

Beanolini @13, that’s a gorgeous machine — just the kind of thing Steampunk is referencing.

I’ve lusted after those things for decades. Old treadle sewing machines just don’t quit, they’ll sew anything, their malfunctions are mechanically obvious and fixable, and they give the operator precise control over their stitches.
buddy66

Man, what a bunch of cranky old/young fuckers you guys are. Steampunk is FUNNY. You either think Steampunk is funny or you don’t. I think the sewing machine is right up there with the birdcage and the keyboard posted here some months ago. Hilarious stuff!

Do you guys make anything, or do you just push 1s and 0s or paper around? People who make things usually like ingeniously made things.

“It reminds me of the fake batmen in the last Batman movie.”

Yeah, I’m supposed to take seriously someone who watches Batman movies?
Lea Hernandez

I have had a number of beautiful old treadle machines (including a White from 1912 that was destroyed in a fire). Aesthetically and functionally, old treadle machines need no embellishment to be steampunk.

If it’s baroque, don’t fix it.
Lea Hernandez

#8, some machines would almost benefit from a cooler, metal bobbins and cases get hot enough to cause burns.
bekathwia

@Kaden: You know me too well. Did you guys even read my site?
Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

I’m going to start making fun of people who duplicate comments made earlier in the thread.
Beanolini

#3:

I’m raising my hand.

And our battered Singer Sphinx (a thing of beauty, which looks like this, still works well, and is still used) looks more Stmpnk yet.
Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Buddy, I already shut the other steampunk thread down because most of the comments were boring. Maybe it’s just a logy day on the threads.
Ernunnos

Steampunk:Cory Doctorow::Wrestling:Andy Kaufman
Connie H.

I’m with Mr. Josh — to impress me, a steampunk sewing machine had better be run by real steam.

Real Victorian-era sewing machines could be awesome examples of cast-iron and brass fittings and awesome/efficient craftsmanship, and I know people using reconditioned treadle-powered machines for current craft projects.

I think I’ll go take some glamor shots of the 1930s Singer my Mom bequeathed me. Even though it’s well past the era of Victorian aesthetics, it’s still awesome without anything glued on… and it runs well, too.
Cory Doctorow

MrJosh: “Take a sewing machine and make it run on steam”

You’re talking out of your ass. Steampunk != runs on steam. Steampunk = evocative of the kind of alternate history featured in THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE, the book for which the term “steampunk” was coined.
Beanolini

THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE, the book for which the term “steampunk” was coined.

Apparently James Blaylock used it to describe his own work in 1987, some years before The Difference Engine was released.
G Jules

I did once have a sewing machine start smoking on me. (The motor decided to give itself a funeral pyre.) A sprinkler might have come in handy.
Secret_Life_of_Plants

The big problem with this is that it doesn’t have fairies in it. Everyone knows that you need fairies inside the machine to make those tiny tiny perfect stitches. Fairies weren’t steam-beings, they were electricity-beings. At least that’s what I learned reading this dissertation:

Fairy machines: Gothic thrills in 18th and 19th-century France
by Cohen, Emily Jane, Ph.D., Stanford University, 2001, 422 pages; AAT 3026794
stevecopley

Man… this is so lame!

Can’t say I’m a big fan of the whole steampunk thing, but each to their own.

But, even a non-believer like me can see that this is ridiculous! What…? Take a device, screw on *anything* brassy and… ta-da! Suddenly it’s ‘steampunk’?

When I first saw this I thought it was a parody (actually, it still might be and someone’s having a laugh). But if it’s a genuine attempt…

Make an effort! Add things that look like they might actually be functional in the context of the device. Place the pressure gauge so that it seems to be part of a real steam-powered drive mechanism.

This sort of thing looks like it actually came form some fantastical world, but the sewing machine looks like a 5 year old has been playing about in their parent’s shed.

I keep scrolling up to look at the image again and again – it’s awful! It reminds me of the fake batmen in the last Batman movie – suits made out of cardboard and black gaffer tape – not even vaguely close to the real thing.

Take it away!!!!
arkizzle

Steve, while I might agree about your general opinion, let me introduce you to the vowels you are going to be losing:

a i i o a e

In fairness, you point stands fine without them, perhaps it didn’t need them (and the delivery sentence) in the first place.
superrobot

Delete.
stevecopley

@Arkizzle ???

Erm… I’m a little confused. Do you mean I should have written:

Mn ths s s lm

Or should I have removed vowels from another sentence? To be quite honest I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m eager to find out!

SC
DoppelFrog

‘v gt t sy tht ‘dsmvwlng’ Styzplt (#2) ws bt hrsh; thnk h ffrd vld pnn tht nfrtntly wsn’t tht f th mdrtrs…

nd hv t gr wth mst f th thr cmmntr’s; stckng sm prly csmtc brss bts n swng mchn ds nt Stmpnk mk.
Xohn le Doe

There has to be a word for the feeling one gets when a really earnest person creates a perfect parody of the thing they were trying to make
stevecopley

Ooooo… ‘Disemvoweling’

Now I understand. I’m guessing my first line might be considered objectionable and is thus to be denuded of vowels, rendering it far less offensive. What a neat idea.

I’m bracing myself… do it!
Piper

These punks have truly lost their steam. Although I do envy their infant-like wonder and fascination with strange and arcane objects such as sprinkler heads and toilet shut-off valves.
I’m shocked that there seems to be no standard of quality for this very tired and diluted meme. I’ve seen some true artistry and master craftsmanship in some BB-featured steampunkery, but this is just kind of annoying.
On the other hand, at least she stayed away from the Home Depot plumbing dept.–it’s a bitch trying to pick the barcode stickers off of those copper elbows…
arkizzle

Hah! I was just writing an over-long explanation.. :)

Brace away! (that’s the spirit!)

I don’t have the power though, it’s a mods prerogative. I was just letting you know it might happen to that particular sentence, because it was unnecessarily negative compared to the rest of your post.

** Well, looking Dopplefrog’s post, it looks like your post remains intact. The content to chaff ratio was high enough! **
DoppelFrog

Arkizzle, look again. :-(
stevecopley

Still fully braced – I’m not relaxing for a second!

I know how these sneaky mods work – just waiting for you to lower your gaze for a second, and then… WHAM! They whip out all your vowels!

Coffee’s brewing… I’ll not be sleeping tonight.
arkizzle

SC:
Hah! Sounds like you’ve dealt with their kind before (perhaps in a B-Movie of some sort).

Barricade the doors!
arkizzle

Dopple, your d/v’d post was what I meant as my example, sorry.

I was pointing out that your post was below Steve’s, so if your’s was d/v’d and his still wasn’t, he was probably safe.
stevecopley

@bekathwia

Phew… I’m glad to hear it is some kind of tongue-in-cheek art project. My faith in all that is good and decent has been restored!

But I have to wonder at Cory’s thinking when he posted it… Was he in on the joke, or is he simply seduced by anything with twinkly brass and copper fittings?

Come on Cory… own up!
Alex_M

I’m not exactly a steampunk fan, but it can be cool. This isn’t though. I’m with Josh at #9 here: Make it run on steam! Just adding random brass bits just looks silly. Especially since sewing machines already existed in the 19th century.

The machine is a bit too new, also. I might be a bit spoiled since I’m in Europe, but here you can get real old cast-iron sewing machines very cheap.
jonathan_v

The only thing sadder than the sewing machine, is the thought that someone thought this was post-worthy.

Crazy gluing some brass bits and guages onto a sewing machine?

This is the equivalent of a 4th grader let loose with a hot glue gun.

Someone should make “The Bedazzler — Steampunk Edition” so anyone can steampunkify their jeans and sweaters.
Daneel

At the risk of getting told I should just ignore threads I’m not interested in, rather than complaining about them (or that I’m repeating what others have already said), I always thought that steampunk was based on the supposition that Babbage’s work had caught on and Faraday’s experiments had failed – somehow leading to the information revolution occuring at the same time as the industrial revolution. It appeals to me more from the engineering aspect than the artistic one.

I’d be genuinely interested to read about analogues of modern technologies that people have created using Victorian-era technologies, but I fail to see the appeal in simply covering modern stuff in superfluous brass and leather and calling it steampunk. Do it for real and I’ll pay attention. Is it just an aesthetic movement or is anyone out there actually trying to do that?
Lobster

I dunno, I think this is much more Steampunk than the shed…
stayzuplate

sewing machine doesn’t == “Steampunk”

So with this posting I’m starting to wonder if the Steampunk craze has finally “jumped the shark”?
stayzuplate

mnt t sy tht ttchng sprnklr hd t n ld swng mchn dsn’t ql “Stmpnk”

Lm…
Noelegy

My grandmother had a treadle Singer that was a thing of beauty. The first time I heard the phrase “steampunk” was from my sci-fi fan ex-husband, who explained the concept to me when we bought the first “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” graphic novel.

I thought the movie did a decent job of making the gadgets and vehicles ahead of their time and still in line with the Edwardian aesthetics of the time. Making things functional AND beautiful seems to be a lost art. Merely sticking techno-bits on an antique doesn’t reach that goal.

That being said, I do have a concept for a steampunkish crocheted sweater percolating in my noggin…
presterjohn

yeah, jumped the shark was what I thought as well.

Raise your hand if you think it looks more steampunk without the superfluous / gratuitous brass add-ons.
trr

People who make things usually like ingeniously made things.

I agree. But I disagree that screwing on a fire sprinkler, a couple of cheap brass valves and a small pressure gage to a sewing machine is ingenious.

…because most of the comments were boring.

Maybe the problem is not with the comments…
qurve

Steampunk is the herpes of cultural memes.
vorpalsword

I thought all non-electric sewing machines were inherently steampunk, without any brass necessary…Or is that just me?

@Qurve: only because people insist that something made to look artificially old-fashioned = steampunk.

Most steampunk does look artificially old-fashioned, but not all old-fashioned-looking things are steampunk! Labelling anything and everything “steampunk” has sucked the meaning* out of it (and unfortunately BB has contributed to this a helluva lot).

*What its original meaning was in the first place, well, let’s not start that fight all over again…
sewing machines

The Shirring technique is done by sewing multiple parallel rows of stitches that are gathered to create a section of evenly gathered fabric. Shirring can also be done using elastic thread that gathers the fabric as it is being sewn. Using elastic thread allows the gathered area to stretch. You can also purchase pre-shirred fabric. Elasticized shirred or smocked fabric is perfect for making simple tube tops, dresses or skirts. Just cut it to fit the circumference of the body and sew up the side seam.