Back in December I mentioned that I was planning on stitching out every possible stitch that can be made on the Singer 401.
(My Singer 401G hard at work sewing some Doctor Who bunting).
I put my machine to work, and stitched all of them. And I mean ALL OF THEM. And I made this:
If you’ve ever had a burning desire to know exactly what you get when you combine all the settings with all the fashion discs (cams), now you can. Just click here to download the Singer 401 Stitch Book (pdf file). I’ve also included lots of tips on getting your stitch to look beautiful, and some references for further reading and investigation.
I hope all the Singer 401 owners out there will find this useful. I googled my fingers raw trying to find a reference when I first bought my 401 and when there wasn’t one, I thought I’d upload mine in case anyone else was looking for the same information.
I almost forgot to add that I made a pinterest board! My Pinterest board with ideas for decorative stitches. It has some great ideas that I never would have thought of in a million stitches.
Thank you for this comprehensive guide.When I was a little girl I learned to sew on my mother’s band new 401, and about 10 years ago I inherited my grandmother’s 401. I too tried to make as many of the stitches as I could, but yours is a much more complete guide. It will be fun to follow your examples.
Thank you so much for this book! You have saved me hours of work doing my own stitch sampler!
I wasn’t able to download, it was to large for Google (that’s the reason it gave me)? I have 401a for many years now. I haven’t used her in a very long time but I do keep it oiled and clean/
You should still be able to download it. It’s just too large for Google’s preview and possibly the virus checker. You can still run your own virus software on it once you’ve downloaded it though.
Three years later and this is still incredibly useful – my mother-in-law has just given me her 401G, which she had only used a few times back when she bought it in the early 60s. I’ve cleaned it and oiled it and it works amazingly well. I’d started trying out all the stitches but couldn’t see the end of it, it’ll be great to have your reference book!
I just purchased a Singer 401A – and so happy that I found your Stitch Book and Sewing Tips!
Thank you for doing all documenting all the possible stitches. I just purchased a vintage box of 503 cams – so excited to see what I can make.
What a great resource!! Thank you!!
Good Morning – I can’t tell you how eternally grateful I am for this pattern book. After reading all the info on the 401g I recently purchased one, Which I think was a steel at £95. Once the machine arrived and I started trying to understand the patterning system, how I regretted it, then after a google search I found this amazing, fantastic, wonderful post. You have saved a 401g from being consigned to the shelf in the spare room. Thank you once again..