Speaker Natalie Fergie

Rotary Club of Stirling meeting of 6th February.

President Sandy Farquharson opened our evening meeting by introducing our speaker Natalie Fergie.

Natalie worked, until she retired, as a psychiatric nurse. She would have been happy to continue working but this was set as her retiral age, leaving her to find other interests. Coming from a family who collected things, her attention was drawn to Singer sewing machines, her first purchase being a 99-hand crank, dating from 1923, which came with a Singer catalogue from 1929. She began to realise that Singer sewing machines had a long historical significance as an important piece of equipment present in most houses and a central part of women's lives in an era when clothes were not bought but made at home. Her machine came with three bobbins on each of which was a sequence of residual threads, each from a particular garment made on the machine over many years by previous owners. Natalie realised that in this pile of discarded threads was a history of the women and the garments they had made on the machine, a history which might form the basis of a book. ''The Sewing Machine'' was published in 2017 and has now sold 175,000 copies and been translated into several languages. The Singer Sewing Machine Company originated in America, and its innovative marketing allowed women to pay in instalments without a second signature from their husbands. This, and the usefulness of the machine led to huge international sales, something no home could do without.

Natalie has now bought several other Singers many much older and is writing another book. Many of the ladies’ present contributed their own experiences with Singers, and it was clear the most families have had these machines in the family for more than one generation.

Our next meeting is on Friday 14th February. A fellowship meeting, visitor's host Alan Cheetham.

Ian Richardson