Repairing a Singer 15-90

Yesterday I was given an old Singer 15-90 electric sewing machine in a cabinet that was purchased at an auction.  It's definitely in need of some repairs - from just a quick once over I know that the power cord, belt, and light fixture will need to be replaced, in addition to just cleaning it.

My question is for you other vintage Singer owners - where is the best place for a novice like myself to start the restoration process?  Is this a project that I should take on myself, or something that should be left to the professionals?

Any advice/direction would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Michele 

Congratulations on a wonderful sewing machine. I own several of these beauties and love them all!

You can definitely service them yourself if you take your time and do some reading. To start, I would try to get a hold of the original manual as well as the service manual for your particular machine. I joined the Yahoo Vintage Singer group where you can download most of the manuals for free! There is a ton of information in there so it's really a great site. Another good site is Jenny's: Sew Classic Blog. She goes into detail about the machines and covers some basic information that I found very useful.

You should be able to clean and tune-up this machine with the help of the manuals. The only area that I would advise you to be careful with is with any of the wiring- from the light fixture, to motor and power cords. You may need to re-wire most of these parts and it should be handled by someone who knows what they are doing.

Also, here's my article I wrote for the blog which might be helfpul as well: Using and Purchasing an Older Sewing Machine.

Good luck and have fun!