Singer Stocking Darner 35776 attachment : darning/mending sock hole / sewing machine - tutorial

There's a lot of detail here, so be sure to watch to the end!
This video provides a detailed look at using an original vintage Singer Stocking Darner on my 15k antique/vintage Singer treadle sewing machine to mend or darn a hole in the heel of a sock.
Alternative suggestions are shown and offered, and a full overview of the process is provided with reference to the original manual.

[@Monty-wy3kv]

Your videos are always so well done; clear and thorough.

[@TheTransVictorian]

I’ve seen several of these stocking darners for sale lately and I couldn’t fathom how they worked-this is incredibly informative, thank you for the demonstration! Now I wish I had one so I could save some of my socks that are getting thin on the bottom.

[@24Washington]

They really are fantastic things, and I'm thrilled that my video could help you! I've seen them come up from time to time over the years, so I'm sure it won't be long before you see another one. Good luck!!

[@gladtidings4all]

Love the crochet doily on the tread spindle.

[@24Washington]

Thanks. It's a fun accent that brings me joy!

[@user-fd3ss4xk8x]

Amazing !!! Thanks for the link to this video, Now I will make it a priority to try to find one of those sock darning rings to use with my darning foot. You just accomplished something I would have thought nearly impossible.when I saw the size of the hole on that sock you darned, I thought to myself , no way she will be able to close that hole without adding extra material.but you did it ! If I ever get to that level of proficiency I am going to treasure my old darned socks as if they were of the most expensive kind.i will also find any excuse to remove my shoes and show my friends the result of my accomplishment.Thank you again for such wonderful videos.

[@24Washington]

Hahaha. What a lovely comment. Thank you so much!! I'm delighted that this video was able to demonstrate something new for you - and perhaps push the boundaries as to what is possible!!

[@sharonrimsza7960]

Beautiful! Very nice work. Thank you for showing this. I’ll be doing this on my 1882 Singer Treadle! And, then keep the sample in my sewing chest.

[@ronalddaub9740]

I have a button holer like the one you just showed in the Redbox those are cool.. made like watches.

[@24Washington]

I absolutely love the mechanics of these machines and their accessories.

[@fannyfayvintage7668]

Great video! Thank you for not having added music. Nice explaination and demostration.

[@24Washington]

Thank you! Glad you liked it.

[@agancsafalon]

Wow you doing amazing work 😍 I wish I have a sock with a hole now so I could try!

[@looloo4029]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@nancybennick4501]

I'm not sure I like any of my socks enough to have the patience to do that you are a marvel.

[@24Washington]

Hahahaha. I try to avoid buying new whenever possible. It's just the way my ancestral ladies did it :)

[@return2basics242]

My Mom always kept an old, burnt out incandescent light bulb in her sewing case and would frequently remind us gals that it's to be used when darning socks. I can't recall ever witnessing the darning of a sock in my lifetime (mid 30's atm) but apparently she was taught to do this by hand growing up from her Mom. I find it absolutely fascinating that Singer made a machine attachment that was meant for this process. I've never heard of it before now. I'd LOVE to show this video to Mom and ask her questions about it and her lightbulb method but that's no longer an option. I can't ask Grandma because she passed in October 2020. Mom passed over to the heavenly realm, too, about a year ago (Jan 30th, 2022) so I will have to wait until I join them one day to find out my answers I suppose. Thank you so much for sharing this. It's invaluable information and I truly appreciate it.

[@24Washington]

Darning eggs or darning mushrooms were made specifically for those who didn't wish to keep a lightbulb handy! You might be able to find a tutorial for hand darning using one of those words, though I'm sure being able to confer with your dear mother and grandmother would have been so much more meaningful. I'm sorry for your losses. I'm glad you found the video interesting and informative. Thank you for your comment. My mother attempted to repair socks using a super fine crochet hook, but the resulting patches were so hard on the feet hahaha.

[@beakittelscherz5419]

Oh.. And I subscribed as well! Maybe make some shorts on YT and some pins for pinterrest to get some traffic... Your Channel deserves more Subscribers and also a few more translation languages... Esp for hearing impaired folks.. They like sewing stuff too😉🤘🌹

[@24Washington]

Thank you for these recommendations. I have had to put my sewing machine projects on hold temporarily, as I have some ongoing projects in other areas.

[@michellewohlgemuth8847]

That was cool. Thank you for sharing.

[@24Washington]

You are very welcome!!

[@cocasio7190]

Hi! I'm glad that I revisited this video. I'm going to try to find this gadget. I hope you can upload other videos. Thanks.

[@24Washington]

These past months have been very busy with schooling my children, but I hope to return to the KZbin scene soon. Thanks for the support :)

[@looloo4029]

Amazing work and a brilliant attachment. How did people come up with such incredible things? I think they were geniuses! Where are you 24Washington? There have been no new videos for at least a year. I hope 🤞 you are doing well. ❤ I’m keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 that you will begin posting videos again at some stage.

[@24Washington]

Awwww ☺️ Thank you for such a lovely comment and for your interest in the channel. ❤️ I'm still here, but have taken a step back this past year after some family transitions and a return to my first calling - music. I still have some half-scripted videos that hopefully can be resurrected and shot before too long. My workroom has been a disjointed up-side-down mess mid-renovations (because now that family are thinking of visiting again, the room needs to go back to being a guest room hahahah). The excitement never stops. If often share your wonderment at how people came up with such incredible inventions. If you ever trawl through patent archives, there are so many other clever machine attachments that never made it into production. What a wonderful thing the mind is!!

[@looloo4029]

@@24Washington thank you for the lovely reply. So glad to hear that you’re well. 🫰🏼you’ll be back with more fascinating stories of sewing 🪡 one day.

[@cocasio7190]

Hi! This was awesome!!! Thanks for sharing

[@24Washington]

Great!! Thanks so much for staying around!!

[@spencerkaitlinstarr4268]

This video was great, thank you!

[@24Washington]

You're very welcome! Glad you found it useful :)

[@ronaldcamacho9458]

Wow...👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤❤😊😊👍🏻👍🏻🏆🏅🥇 Very very good. Good work. I love it. 😊

[@beakittelscherz5419]

Wow. Never heard of that or see seen such a contraption.. Very interesting 🤔😃 I recently bought some old Mobylette Mopeds to repair and wanted to start with the seats.. Make them new Leather covers.... I bought an old footpedal machine bc they are more capable of stitching thicker fabrics.. And I can't afford an industrial leather machine for 500 € or so.. This Video is a bit too specific for my purpose, but very interesting to learn about nevertheless. Your other Videos are very helpful to figure out some features about my machine and what she can do. I didn't know what even the old machines had in stocks for atrapptions. ( I'm not sure if this is the right expression tbh..) Thanks for putting all your knowledge into Videos and sharing it🙏😎 Greetings from Germany

[@24Washington]

There are some wonderful vintage "industrial" machines made by Singer and Pfaff. The Singer 31-15 is a larger heavier duty to the machine in my videos it can handle slightly thicker leather. But also there is the Singer model 29 "patcher" that can handle even thicker leather. From what I understand, a "roller foot" will be helpful to keep thicker layers of leather or vinyl in place when sewing. Good luck with your seat projects! It sounds very exciting.

[@JohnBau]

A new word is born... sockage :)

[@24Washington]

Hahaha.

[@jesshothersall]

Fascinating and informative video, enjoyed the 'family noises' as my grandchildren are in Oz. I've never seen this gadget before, and found it very amusing when you couldn't get the sock under, as you'd put the foot on first, it's lovely to see the kind of mistakes we're all liable to make :). In the meantime until I can find one, I've bid on an old fashioned wooden hand mushroom, so I can rescue my wooly socks, as they don't seem to sell pure wool any more sadly.

[@24Washington]

Thank you Jessica, for such a lovely comment :) Yes - try as I might to keep my videos as limited to relevant noises, I am mother to two very active young ones. Just getting videos made is a feat in itself hahaha If I can spare someone making my mistakes, then I've learned a lesson for more than just myself - at least that's how I see it. Good luck with the mushroom bid! Hope the wooly socks last for many years to come

[@eyejs]

On a singer 201 you can drop the feed dogs which is great

[@24Washington]

It certainly makes free motion a lot easier!!

[@thomasmeek9131]

Thank you for this video. I have one of the stocking darner frames which came with my old Singer 99 when I bought it, but there were no instructions, and I simply did not understand how it might work. Sewing in air from one side of the hole to the other just didn't seem possible. Still not quite clear on that, but I am encouraged to try it myself, and will learn by doing. My mother used to darn socks by hand, using a wooden egg to hold the sock in place, but but that has never appealed to me. I don't think that Mom liked it much, either...

[@24Washington]

How wonderful! I too have a darning egg (and "mushroom"), but much prefer the sewing machine option :) Basically, all you're doing is anchoring the stitch on one side of the hole, and using the machine to advance thread across empty space in order to anchor it to the other side. You theoretically could just stop the machine and manually pull enough thread to span the distance, but it would be slower, less accurate, and more likely to break a thread. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

[@thomasmeek9131]

@@24Washington But, (Please remember that I have not actually tried this...yet) with the machine humming away, what happens if the needle comes down and tries to make a stitch while the work is moving across the hole? Won't it make a tangle?

[@24Washington]

No. As long as the string is kept tight as you move from one side of the hole to the other, it won't be able to tangle. Best recommendation is to go super slowly and see for yourself. I have found that a back and forth motion works better than side to side.

[@Harphoney]

Wow that’s really cool! My moms first machine looks like that but I can’t figure out how to use it

[@24Washington]

How fun!! They're great machines. Perhaps my video kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJ2am2qEoLaIY9U might help you understand the basics of getting your mother's machine to work :)

[@Harphoney]

@@24Washington Thankyou very much, I will watch your video.

[@ronalddaub9740]

Oh you're lucky I have a himstitcher / pecoting attachment that goes on my old white domestic ,just like that only it's a ghrist

[@ronalddaub9740]

Never saw a sock attachment. Good job using it thank you

[@24Washington]

Have you successfully used the hemstitched/picoting attachment? I read somewhere that best results are obtained by placing some paper underneath of your work (or tearaway stabilizer). My results using it without any extra support were less than impressive. The sock darner is such a nifty tool. So much better suited for the job than a small embroidery hoop. Thank you for taking the time to comment - I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@TeresaMedical]

Hi! Thank you for your channel, you are helping me to understand and use my Singer 15J (inherited from my mum). How can I know if my Singer has a zig zag function? Apparently it needs that in order to be able to use different foot attachments for different stitching styles.

[@24Washington]

How lovely! I'm glad to be able to help. The 15J, as I understand, is a straight stitch machine. It only does one thing - but does it very well. There are some zigzag attachments that you can add onto your machine. They have their own mechanisms that shift the fabric from side to side (unlike modern machines, where the needle itself moves from side to side). Have a look at www.oldsewingear.com/accessories.html for an idea of what you can use with your machine. You'll probably be most interested in the one at the bottom - the "automatic zig-zagger" - as it has interchangeable cams to allow the stitch style to be changed. I hope that answers your question, but let me know if you have need any further clarification.

[@TeresaMedical]

@@24Washington Hi! Thank you for your prompt response, it was very helpful. I have been able to identify the year of production and origin of my Singer, and yes, some attachments that I can use, very resourceful site you shared. I´m taking baby steps and hope soon will be able to make something for home decor. Thank you again and I look forward watching new videos at your site.

[@desmirage]

Might i be able to use one of these on my singer 404 slant needle machine. Thank you

[@24Washington]

I'm sure of it! There are most definitely darning feet available for slant needle machines if you wanted to use one in conjunction with the stocking darner 'frame'.

[@lxaaane]

Woah !

[@mrs.m1035]

I am having issues with snarling on the underside of the darner/sock when working the darn. Do you have a different tension setting than with regular sewing? I've tried all kinds of things. I've tried looser and more snug fitting around the tool and ball point needles for knits and I just cant get consistant spaghetti-free work where I have to rethread multiple times. Help?!

[@24Washington]

Hi there! This sounds like a very frustrating situation. If you're able to remove the darner and sew normally, there should be no fundamental problem. As you probably know, too loose of an upper thread tension will manifest as extra thread on the underside. But from the sounds of it, you've checked all of that. There's only one thing I can think of that might be causing you to end up with a tangled mess on the underside of your work: the fed dog mechanism. It is important to cover, disengage, or otherwise eliminate the feed dogs when darning. The teeth can catch on the thread and pull it, causing a similar mess to your description. Unfortunately, this is the only thing I can think of. If your machine straight-stitches without issue, it should darn perfectly well.

[@ili1539]

🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@24Washington]

☺️

[@reginacastro9420]

Que interessante.

[@24Washington]

It's a very useful tool!!

[@sewnostalgic]

Do you have the amazon link for the embroidery foot?

[@24Washington]

I have used www.amazon.com/Quilting-Embroidery-Presser-Domestic-Machines/dp/B07PVMJ31M/ with good results.

[@gladtidings4all]

I own a singer 201-2 and never seen that darner

[@24Washington]

They're awesome things :) I see them from time to time for sale online.

[@eyejs]

On 201s you can drop the feed dogs

[@joycerosenzweig3916]

You need a bigger box!

[@24Washington]

Bigger boxes mean bigger tools hahaha

[@mm_xx8827]

Now try wearing that sock all day without being annoyed at how hard and scratchy a sock darned with standard sewing thread is! It is the most uncomfortable feeling of having something in your sock or shoe! The only real way to darn a sock is by hand with darning thread and even that's not much better. Fortunately today, buying new socks is not expensive but I guess years ago it wasn't.

[@24Washington]

We will have to agree to disagree!! :) I, too, thought that this would be the case, but having worn the socks in this video, and others that have been darned similarly, I can say that I haven't noticed. Perhaps superior padding in modern shoes helps to lessen the discomfort. Or perhaps my feet simply aren't sensitive. It definitely is an unprecedented time for being able to buy replacements - but the socks I most recently bought (colour preferences rather than having worn out all others) already have holes in the heel area which need repairing - unsurprisingly, just past the reinforced thicker heel portion!!

[@mm_xx8827]

It could be many variances. I darned numerous socks in the past and never liked how they felt. I have always seen these darning rings and found it cool to see one in use in your video. I'm glad darned socks agree with you.@@24Washington