Montgomery Wards Model 1320: Mr. Minty

Meet the newest member of my sewing machine family, a vintage 1970's Montgomery Wards model 1320. This minty fresh machine came from a neighbor's house, they were having a bit of a yard sale and asked if I would be interested in taking this guy home.

I have to admit, I've never had great luck with any post-1960's vintage machines (I used to have a few, like the Singer Golden Touch and Sew 750 - from which I learned why they are so aptly called "Touch and Throw's"), so I was a little hesitant to take Mr. Minty home with me.

After giving Mr. Minty a thorough once-over I discovered that he is a Singer class 15 clone made in Japan, which means that the inner-workings are based on the Singer 15 class machines (and the 15 class bobbins will fit with this machine). Although it is basic, I was surprised at how versatile it is; there's a straight stitch, zig-zag, and a stretch stitch built-in to this machine.

This machine also has the ability to lower the feed dogs for darning and free-motion stitching.

And one of my very favorite features of this machine is the bed that slides on over the free-arm, it's all metal! No stability issues here, this metal table is SOLID!

It also sews nicely - not as smooth or quiet as a vintage Singer, but it does a good job and I'm pleasantly surprised!

I'm not sure how long I'll hold on to Mr. Minty, I have too many other sewing machines that I love to sew with, and don't really have room for one that I probably won't use. But I think I'll let him stay and sew with me for a little while before he finds a new home!