GammaLou

Sorry House Dragon, the featherweight won't help with power outages. For that you need a treadle machine. Probably about 50 years older than the featherweight. Good hunting!!

teacherbailey

I have made so many quilts through the years on my 1941 cast iron Singer. I have bought two plastic machines through the years and got tired of having to mess with both all the time to fix thread jams and such, so I gave one to my daughter and the other has been sitting on the shelf for 5+ years. Eventually I hope to be able to use it for some fancy stitches and mostly machine applique (which is why I bought both newer machines) but when I sit down to sew, I want to SEW!!!!!!!

barri1

I can't bring myself to thinking about buying a newer model machine.. I would love to embroider labels, but the thought of having computer problems, and not being able to play would send me over the edge. I don't like relyig on someone else to fix my machines. I use the Singer 66, and I do have a couple of back ups.. If she gets fussy (doesn't break), I can use one of my singer 99's.. If they decided to have attitude problems (not breakdowns), I can go to the Singer 237.. I don't use that one much, as I love the sound of the 66.. It hums..

maviskw

One of the reasons the old machines sew so much better is that the feed dogs are under the presser foot. If your machine does zig-zag, the quarter inch seam doesn't even reach the feed dogs on one side. Because the needle must go side to side, the feed dogs are set very wide. That's why I love my 1956 Singer 301. The foot even marks a 1/8th inch seam.

Rose_P

It's a shame about the newer machines. There's a lot more that can go wrong on them, I guess. I have my mom's 1968 Elna Supermatic and it still sews like a dream. I was even able to get a bunch of additional cams for it on eBay and Etsy in recent years. I also use a wonderful old Bernina Record from 1972. Just recently I bought a machine that can do what none of my others can: sew without electricity. It's a 66K Lotus hand crank from 1919. I'm ready for the next hurricane!

Btw, Jodimarie, I grew up in Leavenworth, and I remember a notable snowstorm in 1958 that was 9 inches. We never saw 15 inches in all the years I was there! I miss the beauty and childhood fun of snow but not so much the shoveling and trying to drive in it. Keep safe, everyone in the snow and ice zone!

Rose_P

This is correct about the Featherweight, but recently I came across this http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Singer01.jpg , from oldsingersewingmachineblog.com which clearly shows that in the WW2 era Singer was simultaneously offering a model of their machines in three different options: hand crank, treadle or electric. I think the machine shown is the 66 - at least that was the type of machine I was googling about when I came upon the ad. In the US there was a great effort to get electricity out to rural areas prior to that period, but many parts of the world were still without it, so there was still a market for people-powered machines, and they continued to be made by Singer, I think I read, until about 1963. The Featherweight was always electric, however.

I bought my 66-K Lotus hand crank less than 10 days ago, and finally got up the gumption the other day to study the oiling instructions, thread up and try it. (The price was such that I would have bought her just for her looks!) I'm happy to report that she sews beautiful stitches. We wish we could all be in such wonderful condition at age 94!

Rose_P

Wonders never cease! While looking for something else on eBay just now I stumbled upon this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FEATHERWEIGH...item2574d9564e

This is not an endorsement. I don't know this seller and have not tried this product, but it does seem as though it would be one more accessory that I might need. Has anyone else tried it?]]

Realizing that since eBay listings don't last forever, I decided I need to edit this to state that it is a listing for a crank attachment handmade by Scott Bishop to fit Featherweight 221 and 222 machine.

AlaskaAlice

I am excited!! I bid on a 401a singer..and got it..I have gone through several emotional realms with this adventure..1st. the person who received payment "named nolimitdave" kind of made me uneasy..but I won the bid so I paid for it.. I received the machine Monday evening..opened it..Out side of the machine looked ok..except for a break on the back corner..either had to have been dropped or something..packed quite well.. but looked like it had been ripped from a cabinet out side had been cleaned enough to look ok..opened the top and looked inside..hard gunk caked, but the seller said it "worked" I should have asked if it sewed...anyway I cleaned and worked on it for about 8 hrs.. it did have moving parts..the right stitch indicator would not move and so I cleaned and got lots and lots of hard caked on stuff off and got the stitch changer to move but it would not do a zig zag stitch so this morning I spent another 5-6 hrs cleaning and gently moving the parts until it will do the motions right.. it came with only a straight stitch plate ..ordered a Zig Zag plate this afternoon..so I am anxious to get it and see if it sews right.. It will make the pattern stitches on paper ...so I think maybe my purchase will be a good one after all. It looks like it was stored for a long time..and had not been used much. so I am hoping to have a great machine when I am done with it!
Thank all of you posters on QB for ideas I have received! the links to different help sites are really helpful!! I have to be very careful with our budget so I am so thankful for the get information I get here!