Singer 66 and Singer 99 Sewing Machines
When the program I use to come up with topics to write for suggested both the Singer 66 and Singer 99 I figured there was something wrong. Of course, I had written about the two most common vintage sewing machines. I was completely aghast when I realized I had not in fact done a post on either the full-size or 3/4 size sewing machine. So let’s tackle this!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps support the site so I can continue to offer great content to you! Read my full disclosure statement.
If you aren’t familiar with these machines the Singer 66 and Singer 99 are identical sewing machines, the difference is size. The 99 is 3/4 size while the 66 is full size so I will refer to them interchangeably.
Singer 66 and Singer 99 History
Singer introduced the 66 in 1902 and continued to make it until 1956 and the 66K was introduced in 1907 and continued to make it until 1948. The only difference between the two were the location where they were made, if you remember for our Singer Models history the K indicates it was made in Kilbough. Singer introduced the 99K in 1911 and continued to make it until 1944 and the 99 was introduced in 1923 and continued to make it until 1963.
The long production time means that Singer continually improved and added features to the machine. In my demo, you’ll notice that my stitch length regulator is just a knob and yours might be a more traditional lever style.
Sewing Machine Noteable SubModels
I’ve tried my best to turn the information into plain English but some of the terms seem somewhat lost to the older generations. You might ask yourself how does that happen? Well, Jim used to be a service tech for Singer, he gave Sue a list of parts with their designation, Sue passed the list on to Tom, and Tom gave it to Kim. Kim’s son found it, realized the information might be useful and posted it online. But only Jim and Sue know what those part abbreviations truly meant and now in 2025 we are just trying to reverse engineer what a BR was in 1942.
66-1
Treadle, back clamping presser feet, cam bobbin winder, screw stitch length adjuster
66-3
Hand crank version of 66-1
66-4
Motor, side clamping presser feet, spoked wheel, cam bobbin winder, screw stitch length adjuster
66-5
Hand crank 66-4, this is what is in my demo video below
66-6
Solid wheel version of 66-4
66-8
Series 4 motor, rim bobbin winder, solid wheel, lever stitch length adjuster. I did not find any specific information on the Series 4 motor.
66-14
Treadle, lever stitch length adjuster, simple bobbin winder
66- 15
Hand Crank version of 66-14
66-16
Solid wheel version of 66-14 – ISMACS lists a BR motor but Sewing Parts Online doesn’t have a motor listed for this machine. From some online listings it appears that the BR motor has a separate bracket to mount for the motor.
66-18
66-14 ISMACS lists this with a BY motor. Searching BY motor brought me a lot of interesting returns but not what I was looking for either. From process of elimination, it appears this in the motor we are most familiar with, where the bracket is on the motor and everything bolts on easy peasy.
A note about the Singe 66-16 and Singer 66-18 motors. I double-checked my assumptions based on product descriptions of used parts, that are supposed to be original Singer parts with the manuals. The motors depicted in the manuals look the same but the lights are very different. The 16 has a light that is parallel to the arm of the machine and the 18 has the lamp style light.
66-19 & 99K26
This is the model with reverse.
99K10
This machine was made out of aluminum making it truly portable. All the other Singer 99 machines were classified as portable but they were extremely heavy.
Needles and Bobbins for Singer 66 & Singer 99 Sewing Machines
Both take 15×1 needles which you know is what is now known as a universal needle. They also use class 66 bobbins. Class 66 bobbins come in both metal and plastic, the rule of thumb that I use is if the bobbin case is metal use a metal bobbin, and if the bobbin case is plastic use a plastic bobbin.
Singer 66 Sewing Machine Demo
I show you all the basic functions on this hand crank. For brevity of the video, the entire process of winding a bobbin was cut down. IT TOOK FOREVER!
