mountainwoman

Knowing absolutely nothing about vintage sewing machines, I found the Singer Featherweight sewing machines of the past to be quite interesting. I learned about them in one of the books from Carol Dean Jones' Quilting Cozy mystery series, and so I a bit of research; I can see why they were so popular. Much to my surprise, just a couple of months ago, I came across an advertisement for a new sewing machine by Singer. Capitalizing, I presume, on the famous "Featherweight" name, the new one is called the Featherweight C240. I is touted to be the "featherweight" with modern-day features; it weighs in a bit heavier than the original ones, but is still under or at 15 lbs with a compact design. It does appear to be, at least for me, the perfect machine for taking to my quilting group or to a class, and I guess I like the nostalgia involved. Alas, it is way too expensive! Amazon has it on sale for $499.00 -the original price being $799.00! I wouldn't pay this for a machine I would only use occasionally, but if the price doesn't turn people off too much, I think it will come down significantly in price over the next year or two.

Have any of you heard of, seen, or purchased the Featherweight C240? I am curious about any comments you might want to make.

tscweaves

Personally for that money or less, find a vintage Featherweight or a Singer 301 to use as a portable. Both of these machines have metal gears, are able to be completely maintained by the owner, a sew a beautiful stitch. IMO, modern Singers are not worth the name and trying to capitalize on the known traits of the original Featherweight is not a good thing.

Cari-in-Oly

This is the second time Singer has tried to revive the Featherweight, the first one was a bomb and from the reviews I've heard this one will be too.

Cari

ckcowl

Since ( real) featherweights run often $350-$450 I would find a vintage one long before I’d spend the money on a
( new-plastic-fake) one. I picked up a Singer as a gift for someone a few years ago, should have spent a third of that cost on a Brother from Walmart- the Brother is a much better machine.
Janome and Bernina both have small 3/4 machines great for classes. Others may have too.

pocoellie

I have to agree with everyone, I wouldn't spend the money on the new Featherweight, but would gladly on an vintage one.

luvstoquilt

I love my vintage featherweight. It is a 1951. I would like to trade it for a 1941 since that is my birth year. Probably won't but it is a thought. Lol

SusieQOH

Pocoellie I'm with you. I wouldn't pay a dollar for that machine!
Speaking of our beloved vintage Featherweights -I've never paid more than 200 for one and I even scored a white one. Look around- they're out there.

mountainwoman

Well, this is disappointing, but I guess I expected it. What I mean is, I was hoping that maybe this modern Singer Featherweight would be a quality machine. As you pointed out, "Singers are not worth the name." This was a shocking revelation to me when I set out a couple of years ago to buy a sewing machine. I just assumed I would buy a Singer (which I owned back in the 1960s/1970s) and learned that they are, basically, a piece of junk these days. My teacher retirement/social security checks don't allow me to afford the really high quality machines, and I don't have the skill level (yet!) to merit the expense. I purchased a Brother SQ9185 Computerized Sewing and Quilting machine and could not be happier; I absolutely love it! I have taken it to my quilting group, to free up one of the ones we have through donations (we are a church group), but I am recovering from back surgery and can't do this right now. The reason I don't want to buy a vintage featherweight is because, I am sorry to say, I can't sew a straight scant 1/4" seam no matter how hard I try; I use a 1/4" foot with guide and my seams are perfect every time. I doubt I could use one on a vintage machine. Anyway, thank you so much for your input !

mountainwoman

Well, this is sad news, but as I stated to another quilter, not totally unexpected. What a shame to become so much less than what the brand used to be!

Bluelady

There ARE feet with the 1/4 inch guide for Featherweights! I would not be able to accurately use my FW without that foot!..