Stage Left Lux was approached by a customer who owns an old antique Singer Sewing Machine to see if we could convert it into a table lamp to give it a new purpose and to provide a feature for her art studio.

The customer is an artist involved with embroidery and upholstery.

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The brief:

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• Industrial steampunk

• Use lots of popper pipe

• Keep it simple

• Two lights at various positions

• Cause no damage to the sewing machine

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I explored several different options and sent the customer various sketches and ideas, the customer came to my workshop to discuss the designs and we agreed a final look and feel for the sewing machine lamp.

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I was able to add a copper pipe frame with two lamp fittings which were positioned at different positions to highlight different areas of the sewing machine and compliment its industrial heritage with the steampunk style of the copper pipe and brass fittings.

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Because we were fitting two lights, I used one unswitched bulb-holder, a switched bulb holder with a further external switch on the power cable, this enabled the option of having both lights lit or just one of them, enabling different lighting effects to be achieved.

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I was able to attached the copper pipe frame to the sewing machine using holes that were already in the machine, causing no damage apart from one hole which needed to be filled in order to allow the mains cable to leave the lamp to the plug.

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The end result was a really cool industrial steampunk lamp which highlights and celebrates the history of the antique singer sewing machine.