Does the Featherweight run or Work?
About 7-8 years ago I moved. I now live in a remote area with limited internet access. My visits to the forum are few and far between. Still, I have found lots of things to keep me busy. I attempted to rebuild my favorite activities in my new homeland. It worked. I got so busy rebuilding in one area, other areas were lost. Quilting was one of those lost areas.
The home sewing studio was set-up and always ready to go, but by the time I was done with my volunteer hours, there was no energy left to quilt. The solution was to bring quilting into the volunteer time. I was working at a children’ museum. They have summer camps. It was a logical union.
Although I don’t “collect” vintage machines, I have amassed quite a few. I began the “collection” at the former abode 20 something years ago. When I discovered the compactness and durability of the Featherweights, I snapped them up. I’d take 4-H sewing and quilting classes on the road. The featherweights were easy to transport and maintain. I supplemented with whatever machines were donated so that I could teach a class size of about 25.
The other machines were real headaches. There were knobs and leavers to be twisted and pushed. I spent more class time troubleshooting those new machines than teaching. With the featherweights there were few thing the kidos could do to stop the class. I had a few 301s in the mix. At least they used the same bulbs and bobbins. The troubles were the same too. The hand wheel had been turned away from the body, thread tails were not held, and needles and machines were threaded incorrectly. All easy fixes.
Then camps were canceled because the world went on hold. Personal sewing pleasures re-sparked, I found a quilt guild, and restrictions began to lift. Through the guild I found more people, children and adults, who need to learn how to sew and want to quilt. People have found me through the museum for private lessons and after school programs. Life is good. I realized I needed more machines. So now I have 22 Featherweights and 5 301's. The museum has scheduled me for an Introduction to Textile Arts, Introduction to Sewing Machines, Quilting Fever, and a craft camp in their summer camps program. The university has set me up with 4-H and adult classes in the mornings and afternoons, and I hold private lessons.
However strange it may seem, I still want more sewing machines. I will cap at 25 featherweights. Not too far to go. (Actually, 26 - I’m not sure I want to let kids learn on my 222.) Most of the machines have come from locations other than auctions. Recently when I mentioned having a Featherweight spa day at a guild meeting, one of the members asked if I could get her machine. As luck would have it, I found one on eBay which seemed like a pretty good deal. Surprisingly, I won the bid. The transaction was good, so was the machine. Lady Luck was with me.
I was fortunate to get the same results a couple more times. The forth time was a less than favorable experience. The description listed the machine as one which WORKED. There were photos of bare wares on the foot petal, and a plug without a wire. Wiring is not a problem. I recently replaced a motor. In order to know that a machine worked, the seller may have used a foot controller from another machine, or so I thought. That is how I planned to test it before sending feedback.
When the carefully packaged machine arrived, I found that it had no bobbin case. In order for a sewing machine to work, it needs to be able to sew. There was no mention of the shortcoming, nor a picture of the empty space. A sewing machine requires a bobbin case to sew. If it cannot sew, it does not work. It may run, but it does not work. English is a difficult language. I worked with the seller and eBay, without a resolution, to get either a bobbin case, or compensation for a case.
Oh well. The body is nice, fairly clean, good decals. The plug will be easy enough to repair. I got a reproduction bobbin case which works. The stitch is good. Now I need to troubleshoot the electrical drain which goes through the body of the machine. I believe I still came out ahead.
The bottom line is that we do make distinctions with our words. Most languages do. We are an international forum. Sharing a story about the differences between works and runs is important to me, because if someone learns something, it may help avoid hours of grief. An analogy I used is that a lawn mower can run, but without blades it will not work.