It all began when the COVID-19 pandemic brought Giselle’s Colorado hairstyling business to a halt in Arvada. She noticed the growing army of sequestered mask-makers and decided to put her free time to good use—but she never learned how to sew and thought she didn’t have a sewing machine.

That’s when she remembered the 100-year-old treadle machine. It is so old that it doesn’t even use electricity. Instead, the 1922 Singer Model 66 “Red Eye” is powered mechanically by a foot pedal pushed up and down by the operator’s foot. It was being used as a piece of decorative furniture in her guest room.