Singer Merritt 2404 Vintage Sewing Machine Review
The Singer Merritt 2404 sewing machine is the first sewing machine I bought with my own money. When I came home from college I thought as a big girl I needed my own sewing machine. Someone I knew was having an estate sale and had listed a Singer sewing machine. I didn’t know a lot about Singer sewing machines since I grew up in a Necchi household but I figured Singer wouldn’t have lasted if they were junk. It has served me well and my stepson loved it so much that we bought him one of his own for Christmas. At first, he thought I had passed mine on to him and I just giggled. There’s no way I was passing on the sewing machine that I named one of my cats after.
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I was pretty sure this machine died about six years ago. I could only get it to straight stitch and not very well. So I went off and bought a new computerized sewing machine and put it away. Paul wouldn’t let me toss it though. After he tackled a few other machines he dug out the Singer Merritt and took it to the spa. It didn’t take him long to have the machine back up and running. The cams not working was a user error. I wasn’t pushing them down far enough to get them to engage the follow arm. The follow arm is what goes around the cam to make the pretty stitches.
History of the Singer Merritt 2404
This machine by age is a vintage sewing machine but it does have a nylon gear which for some collectors makes it less desirable. That gear will eventually wear out but when I bought this Singer sewing machine I wasn’t collecting sewing machines. I just wanted something that did more than the Kenmore machine.
When was the Singer Merritt 2404 made?
From my research, the Singer Merritt 2404 was made from 1978ish to 1988. My manual is copyrighted 1982 but the manual on Singer’s website is dated 1988. There is also the Singer Merritt 2430 that is very similar, they use the same manual. The 2430 is a free arm and has some built-in stitches.
This machine takes universal sewing needles, 15×1 and plastic class 66 bobbins.
Singer Fashion Disks
There are several sewing machines that use the Singer fashion disks, including Paul’s beloved Singer 306. On the Merritt 2404 there is a door that you open to pop the disks in and you must make sure that they are all the way down. When they click in correctly your machine will automatically make the stitches. There is a small illustration on each cam to show you what the stitch is supposed to look like.
These disks are still floating around. You can usually find them on Ebay or even second-hand stores. There are few available at Sewing Machines Plus.
Demonstration of the Singer Merritt 2404
You can watch the full video demo here or just watch the parts that you need.
How to wind a bobbin
Any time that you are winding a bobbin on a vintage sewing machine be sure to loosen the clutch so that the needle doesn’t move.
How to thread a Singer Merritt 2404
How to use fashion disk
FAQ
If you want more information about the Singer Sewing Machine Company please read our history of Singer Sewing Machine Company.
If you are interested in all the various models of Singer sewing machines we have complied a list of all of the models we could document by production year.
What is my Singer Merritt 2404 worth?
This is a pretty typical question for all vintage sewing machines. The going price for this machine seems to be around $80. In some areas they might be cheaper and in others it might be more, there are just too many factors at play to give a valuation of a sewing machine.
