I have a 1970 sears kenmore 1701, its a beautiful machine & sews wonderfully. I just received it recently off freecycle to teach my oldest to sew.
Here is the problem:
the manual states only use kenmore needles (obviously from that era). There is a diagram in the manual that shows the exact length the needle has to be. I have one that came with it in a sears needle package. I cannot find anymore of these. My sewing machine repair guys that I go to for tune ups etc are adamant that it will use standard size needles. I told them I tried that and the bobbin thread would not pick up, so they then said my timing is off & to bring it in for service. The only problem with that is when I put in the actual "sears" needle it worked perfect. There is only about 3mm difference in length, but it makes the difference. I am not a newbie to sewing, I made sure it was up in there all the way, flat side to the back, not bent etc...
Does anyone have any comments, advice? Or does anyone know where to buy these shorter needles? I will try using a standard needle one more time but if they didn't work the last five times I doubt I will be doing anything productive.
thanks so much everyone! This is a great machine, according to the sears archive it is a white machine with the kenmore brand on it.
Michelle Giordano