Kenmore 158-19131-purchased May 1978

by Morgan Tryana Lintereur
(Eastport, Maine)

One of the last of the mechanical Kenmores; electronics had not yet made the scene. In addition to several stretch stitches on the dial, it embroidered via the use of cams that snapped into a gear mechanism in the top of the machine.

While not the high-end embroidery available today, it was pretty revolutionary for its time. Best of all, it could be converted to open-arm mode, an absolute essential when my son was born in 1977.

The only downside to this machine is that Sears failed to stick with the industry standard for the shank length of the presser feet. The industry standard was either low-shank or snap-on (which are not sensitive to shank length at all!). Kenmore (and ONLY Kenmore) chose to use the 'super-high bar lever' style.

The 'lever' refers to the manner in which the feet are changed. Rather than needing to be screwed and unscrewed, they can be changed with the simple flip of a lever, very handy when working on items requiring a variety of techniques.

I take good care of my feet, as they are no longer available UNLESS by some piece of luck I can come across an adaptor similar to those that allows snap-on feet to be used on low-shank machines. Nearly forty years after I brought it home from the Sears store in Des Moines, Iowa, it still looks and performs pretty much like it did that day.

Though I've been offered a very generous trade-in more than once on a machine that does everything but yodel, I think I'll heed the immortal words of my grandmother-"If it's not broke, don't fix it."

It may not have the European cache of an Elna or a Bernina, but it has served me very well over the years, saving thousands of dollars on family clothing, curtains, tents, etc. Who could ask for more?! Did I mention that it has never seen the inside of a repair shop?