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  • Love your featherweight?

    Old 01-29-2011, 06:13 AM
      #91  
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    I have two featherweights and very seldom use them. I bought one and found that even with the 1/4 foot I had trouble getting the scant 1/4 seam allowance...(probably operator error). My mother gave me her white featherweight. I have a working singer 301 that I very seldom use either.

    I have several vintage machines but my favorite is the regular size singer 403. I can move the needle towards the right where I can get that 1/4 seam allowance that I want.

    I'm not sorry that I have my two featherweights but I will probably pass them on to my children sometime in the future.

    I want to add that the vintage singers (like the featherweights and 301s) are made very well. I love the fact that my featherweights will last a long time (along with my other vintage Singers).
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    Old 01-29-2011, 06:25 AM
      #92  
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    the Featherweight is a perfect travel companion! I dont leave home without it. what color is yours? mine is mint green
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    Old 01-29-2011, 09:07 AM
      #93  
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    Nita, my Centennial (1951) has a scroll faceplate.
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    Old 01-29-2011, 10:21 AM
      #94  
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    I have to agree with everything all of you have commented about the FW. I bought my first one last spring for $125 . It rolled off the Singer assembly line Jan. 17, 1955. Yesterday I was cleaning out our storage space in the basement storage area under the stairway. In the far corner on the floor beneath one of the steps I found this small black case....this looks like the case my FW came in! Lug, lug, lug all the stuff away so I could get the case out! Low and behold, it's a FW! My husband's deceased wife got the machine for her HS graduation in 1956. She passed in 1984. He thought the machine went home with one of the kids when the house was cleaned out after she passed but guess none of the kids wanted it so it got pushed to the back of the storage area. I'm just thrilled to have found it after all these years. It was dirty and needed oiling and cleaning up but it's in brand new, perfect shape. I'm thrilled to have "found" it in our basement storage area. That's a "cave" my husband has always used to put things away in and I'd never tackled that area but I'm sure glad I did yesterday. A look at the Internet tells me this FW rolled off the assembly line June 10, 1955.
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    Old 01-29-2011, 10:30 AM
      #95  
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    Yes I did. It's a 90 for paper piecing. I'm going to double check on needle and bobbin installation before I seek professional help.
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    Old 01-29-2011, 10:41 AM
      #96  
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    Originally Posted by moonrise
    Originally Posted by Nita

    Moonrise ~ Can I ask you a question? Does your featherweight have the fancy scrolled face plate? The way the photo is taken, the face plate does not show. Here is why I ask: I own a 1955 Featherweight (her name is Fern, BTW) but I've been keeping my eyes open for one born in 1950 because that is my year of birth. However, if I'm going to end up with the exact same look, I think I might just stick with my ole'girl, Fern, since I know it is in great runnung condition, I've already had her tuned up by the local Singer man and I just cleaned and oiled it according to the David MacCallum book. I just need to clean and wax the exterior with Carnuba car wax and she will be ready to win a Featherweight Beauty contest!. So, I guess the only reason I might have to trade her in is if I could find one of those beautiful ornate looking machines in good running order. Does anyone know what was the last year that Singer stopped making Featherweights with the fancy scroll plate and frilly decal rather than the simple braid that Fern has?
    Mine's got the straight-ribbed faceplate.

    I tried to Google it and find out, but apparently there's not a specific year that the plates changed, according to this:

    http://www.singer-featherweight.com/...cts-Myths.html

    "It is impossible to state the exact date on which minor specification changes took place – for example the switch from "deco" face plate to straited design. Parts bins at the factory were topped up as they became low and it was quite possible for an early feature to appear on a later machine as the parts bin got lower again

    The appearance of "straited" face plates on earlier machines can be explained in two ways. 1) If the lower thread guide was broken off the deco plate on an early machine the plate would be replaced by the serviceman with the only available spare – the newer straited plate. 2) Dealers would often "up-date" early machines they had taken in trade, or which had remained unsold, with the latest cosmetic parts to aid sales."
    Looks like you will want to hold on to the FW you already have. What you found on the site you quoted is probably correct. In addition, the following is a quote from Nancy Johnson Srebros' FW book: "Later on, in early 1947 at about the start of the series AH, a newer design face plate began to be randomly seen. This design consists of vertical grooves or stripes that cover the entire surface of the plate......One year later, by about the mid-point of the AH series, all U.S. 221 machines were being supplied with this striated design. Why the change? I believe it was a cost-cutting measure......." Hope this helps.
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    Old 01-29-2011, 10:52 AM
      #97  
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    If you do not want it,

    I DO.

    J J
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    Old 01-29-2011, 11:42 AM
      #98  
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    Before I was a full time quilter, I was a dressmaker and used Pfaff machines. BUT, if I needed to sew on ultrasuede, nothing could beat the Featherweight. Now I piece my quilts either by hand or on the FW.
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    Old 01-29-2011, 12:16 PM
      #99  
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    FW is the only machine my Granny had and it was a workhorse. My cousin got it when she passed. I would love to have one, but just cannot afford to spend that kind of money right now with hubby out of work for 2 years----so if you decide not to take the one for free, or if any of you have an extra one that you do not want, please pm me. I would be eternally grateful.
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    Old 01-29-2011, 12:37 PM
      #100  
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    gee now that I know all that, I wish I had one......
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