apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

A few years ago there was a restaurant in the West Village, Mona Lisa, that used sewing tables as dining tables.

They didn't have the red chairs, though. They had upholstered and non-upholstered chairs of various heights, so you'd be sitting there talking to a friend who was three feet lower than you were.

i am in here constantly and have NEVER noticed what the tables are made from. ha. thanks AT.

Weird - our kitchen table growing up was an old sewing machine trestle with an oiled reclaimed wood top. It could seat six! (My mom was an antiquer in the 1970s, so I guess in that context, its not that odd. Just interesting to see that old idea renewed here.)

this is one of my favorite places, i also work down the street. it's a cool place in many ways and i was stoked when i first noticed it too

This is nothing new. It was quite popular in the 70's and 80's, and has remained a popular table base choice over the decades. I still have mine and I still love it. Lots of restaurants have/had them, though they often get replaced as patrons complain of the lack of leg space. Was a cool idea then and still a cool idea, just nothing new.

My favorite restaurant in San Marcos, TExas-- The Root Cellar Cafe-- has a table for two made out of a sewing table.

Wow, I have a side table made from an old singer table, that I was planning to make into a dining table for my apartment a few months ago, but opted for a small round table to save space. I'll keep it on my to-do list if I move!

The Olde Ship pub in Fullerton, CA has many tables made out of sewing table bases... but they left the foot pedals on.

I have my grandmother's old Singer sewing machine table, but it's sitting in storage because not only does it not work, but I do not sew. I've been wanting to tranform it into a table, just like these (I grew up in Boston and have fond memories of the Middle East Cafe, although I can't specifically recall those tables), but I haven't the slightest idea how to do it. Does anyone out there think they know how and would you be willing to direct me to a website with instructions or just post how you think it might work? I would greatly appreciate it. (My email is my profile name at yahoo dot com.) Thanks one and all!

my girlfriend needed a small desk so I thought, what do I have laying around ? drove over to my grandfathers grabbed a broken old sewing machine table dumped the sewing machine out.The desk is going to be repainted red, the top of the table folds out making it much larger when called for, as for the large hole in the center I am fitting it with a tracing table ( box with lights under white plexi ) it will have an old style pencil sharpener on the side, and the swing out front gets fitted with storage for pens etc.
volksrod88@yahoo.com