Checking the belt
I want to echo what JoeJr said about the belt. I had an original belt on my mother's machine and I noticed it bogged down. I bought a generic aftermarket belt. The poor machine wouldn't even turn! The belt was too hard and stiff. I found the Featherweight Shop online was advertising "super belts" I got one of those and was amazed the difference. Their belts are soft and grip well. I have used nothing else since.
I've used my featherweight to sew binding on a quilt. About 4 layers? I will admit that my 301 works better for this though.