Refinishing a Sewing Machine

At some point in my childhood my mom taught me to sew on a treadle machine.  Then she got one, and then another.  I was given one when before she died and I never had room for it.  Then this summer I picked it up from my dad's.  Its mechanics were smooth, but it needed parts and was a bit worse for wear to be honest. So I decided to paint it.

The machine before.

Nickel plated under the grunge

Rusty Irons, but they are still smooth working

Her digits. These tell me where she was made and when. (Elizabethton, NJ Sometime between 1 SEP and 8 SEP 1925. She has 25,000 sisters

Pardon the crap in the garage.... her wheel is rusty too!

I wanted to paint her, but how should I go about it?  On the way to work, on that long, long drive I decided to paint her like a fire truck.
So I had to strip her down.

she's all naked

Then I used Rust-oleum self etching primer to prime her.  I closed off all the holes and taped off the workings. I did not paint her underbelly because I didn't want to disassemble her all the way...
Then I painted her with Rust-oleum Gloss Red.

I promise the light makes it look orange.  She IS red.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut decals out of goldleaf vinyl. And I applied it to the machine. Then I used diamond plate vinyl to trim her out. I bought some parts to replace what was missing too.

Then I clear coated her with Rust-oleum clear gloss.

Ta-da!!

Front of Machine

The wheel

The back

The face

I'll post the cabinet and irons after I finish them.  This gal really turned out.  I wonder what momma would have though.