Enhancement and repair of industrial sewing machine Brother-DB2-B737-mark3
Over the past year, I have unexpectedly found myself repairing sewing machines. That wasn’t the original plan—I just wanted to reduce waste and reuse old clothes and fabrics I had at home. Not expecting to sew much, I decided to get a broken sewing machine to repair, hoping to save money. However, as it turned out, I discovered a passion. I ended up rescuing numerous machines, many of which have now found new homes, been put to good use, avoided ending up in landfill, and provided me with endless enjoyment as I learned how to restore them to their former glory.
This Brother machine was one such project, and it has been one of the most fulfilling in recent years. Drawing on my experience as a prop maker and multimedia designer, I identified the issues, the skills required to fix them, and the opportunities to enhance the machine, ensuring it was as functional and as visually appealing as possible.
The poor Brother sewing machine was quite filthy, having been left in a hut for several months, waiting to be rescued.
Beg, Steal & Borrow
While exploring Withington, I came across the shop Beg, Steal & Borrow. It’s a second-hand shop with a strong focus on educating customers about sustainability in fashion. Their ethos aligns perfectly with mine, and as we shared ideas, a collaboration seemed inevitable.
Their logo has a playful quality that I thought would look fantastic on the machine. Here I brought to life with an animation.
Their colour palette doesn't apply just to their logo or shop, but also to their clothes and social media where they're very active. Having these as reference, I matched it to upcycled fabric, acrylic and spray paint, and printing filament .
BSB's colour palette is very... pinky
Challenges
It had been a long time since I had access to a fully equipped workshop. To get up to speed, I had to invest a significant amount of time—and money—preparing my one-bedroom apartment for this new and rather space-demanding passion. A few shelves, new tools, and a strategy to maximise space did the trick.
While still an excellent machine, this model is quite old, making it difficult to find replacement parts. When they are available, they can be expensive. In general, sewing machine retailers seem more interested in selling new machines than allowing repairs.
Additionally, some processes were new to me, requiring thorough research, planning, and problem-solving.
Problem solving led me to learn new exciting processes and techniques.
Opportunities
The space and equipment challenges led me to discover Hackspace Manchester, a fantastic community workshop. Access to their tools and the knowledge of their members proved invaluable.
Meeting BSB provided motivation and a sense of purpose. I find projects much more enjoyable when they have a specific goal, and this collaboration helped shape my creative direction.
As much of this work was new to me, it also became an opportunity to learn additional skills and software, which will be beneficial for future projects. The graphic below illustrates some of the learnings:
Many of the techniques I performed were directly linked to machines and software I learnt or improve*
Steps
The different stages here were quite varied and where colour, design and creativity was part of all of them, a big area of work has been very technical.
Explore the techniques and materials used.
Hover over the menu below to interact.
The outcome
The machine came back to life and I spend a great amount of time finishing details from it. Comparing the before and after helps appreciate how much the machine has changed.
There are many the details on the machine, that can be appreciated below.
Take aways
It had been years since I last worked on a hands-on, non-digital project or used power tools, so there was a lot to refresh. It also made me reflect on my time in Spain, where I had access to a dedicated workshop—I now appreciate how lucky I was to have that space.
Looking back, there are things I would approach differently. If I had access to a more suitable workspace, I would have used a spray gun and car paint instead of spray cans. Additionally, I would have been more mindful of my back—I had to move this beautiful but very heavy machine far too often.
This project has been an absolute pleasure. It allowed me to contribute to Beg, Steal & Borrow while learning new skills, recycling and reusing materials, and ensuring that this machine gets a second—and enhanced—life.
Learn more from Beg, Steal and Borrow and Hackspace Manchester.
Icons downloaded from Noun Project, by Vector Point, Graphixs_Art, Uma and rizal2109