I have two FW ... and 3 301s. I got the first FW from craigslist after watching a long time for one at a good price. I display it but really did not use it much because I also found an Elna Lotus at a garage sale that is smaller and it became my travel machine. Then a few months ago I got my second FW ... it had been repainted purple and it is so cute it makes me smile when I see it. I use it a lot. The 301s were opportunity acquisitions and I plan to sell at least 2 of them. They are stronger and more versatile than the FW. But the FW just purrs and is the perfect piecing machine. Have I mentioned it's cute?

I also want a tan one from my birth year (1960) but it will have to be cheap ...

Need? Probably not. But, if you have the cash to spare, find a good deal and want one, why not? They don't eat anything and mostly retain their value. I had a 301 first and I took it halfway across the country to retreat even though I had the FW. Why? Because I felt it was less fragile and would travel better. I sew on both of those and my modern machines. Right now I keep my FW set up to do my BOM on. I have room.

I really enjoy my older machines because they are so quiet and I am sound sensitive frequently. My husband likes them for the same reason - they don't interfere with the TV.

Good luck in you decision and search.

Mary

I love my Featherweight, which to me weighs a ton. I use it every bit as much as my "big" Singer.

NO! FW's are status symbols, particularly if you can find one at a garage sale or estate sale for under $100. If I had one, which I don't, I doubt that I would ever use because I like my Janome 4600, which has lots of bells and whistles and is light enough to take anywhere. My old workhorse, a Kenmore, is all steel, heavy as lead, virtually impossible to get out of its cabinet and will sew anything, including leather. I also have a Singer from about 1942 in the most beautiful cabinet I have ever seen. It makes a wonderful straight stitch, but it is not by any stretch of the imagination portable. Featherweights are fun for those who have them and if one fell ito my lap, I certainly wouldn't turn it away--but I doubt that anyone "needs" one. froggyintexas

I'm lucky enough to have an office at work with a door, so I store mine at work and when I'm working on the right project or am behind on a deadline, I'll work during my lunch hour. Not sure what my neighbors think about the interesting noise coming from behind my door!

A status symbol? Um, no. A reliable, strong sewing machine, at a fraction of the price of modern straight stitch machines, that I can maintain myself? Yes.

Of course you need a Featherweight. I need one too! :)

Misskira, I agree with you 100%. When my DH and I were working full time, his passion was antique and vintage sewing machines. I already had a Brothers (which I loved), a Singer from about 1975, a 20 year old Kenmore and a Janome 9500 embroidery machine. With a portion of every one of his paychecks going toward one of these antique/vintage machines, DH went crazy purchasing them. He wanted to fix them up, clean them up and then resell them. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, etc., etc., etc. We now have 38 sewing machines. But, the one I use exclusively for piecing is my Featherweight. It is a 1951, not especially beautiful, but sews the nicest straight seam of any of my more expensive machines. Until I had my accident, there was not a day that went by that I didn't sew on it. Need it? Not especially, however, if I had to sell my machines, it would be one of the last ones I ever parted with.

I do not think of any sewing machine as a status symbol. They work for me. And yes, you do need a FW if you are going to take a machine to classes. Your slant needle 301 is a great machine, but quite heavy to lug to a class. I use mine for patchwork and FMQ, and as much as I love my older heavy machines, I am not about to lug them any farther than I have to, even though they were designed to be portable. So yes, buy your machine and bring it to one of my classes!

I mostly take mine to church when we make charity quilts. It's always a conversation piece. It's so much fun to use! Sometimes I take it to work with me and piece quilt squares together that my special ed kids create.