Ok...
I have been looking at Featherweight sewing machines for quite some time now.
I wish I would have bought when I first started quilting and they wanted to give them away...but I digress...
I love the black ones with the gold decals and fancy scrolled face plates but am also really liking the White ones. Now mind you, I need another sewing machine like I need another hole in my head! So, please, can you tell me about both machines? Are we just collecting the older ones for preservation? I don't "need" one I just "want" one...Help me and be realistic...please! Thanks in advance. Do I spend the money on one...wish I could find a treasure for 20$ bucks...but it isn't going to happen. I have a 300$ limit.
Kirsten

Watch Shopgoodwill.com, craigslist for your area and ebay.
If you go to estate sales you may find them for a fairly reasonable price. I was thrilled that I didn't buy one a couple years ago when they were commanding well over $500.00.

The white ones tend to be dearer, IMHO, which seems a little odd to me as they are much younger, no decals, and no pretty face plate (I have one as it's the first one I had a chance to buy, with the motor that works in Ireland)

I subsequently found a black one, again with the right voltage for me, but it was a 222 (with the free arm facility and the feed dogs will drop down) It's older, has the decals, but the striated face plate, not the pretty scroll one. I paid a bit more than my white one, but 222s are usually dearer again, so I thought I did well at about $350. The odd thing is that the white one seems quite sluggish to use, compared to my black one, though both produce beautiful stitches.

I think I was lucky, both times, on ebay, and that is probably because of the voltage situation, so I wasn't really up against a lot of people in the US. It's not that they can't be used in the US, but you need a voltage converter too.

Buy a black one. The white ones and beige ones were made near the end of the run of the Featherweight. They really cut corners on them to save money for Singer - not the consumer.

black...................

I have both and the black one is a better quality machine. I think people like the white ones because they are harder to find as Singer did not make them for very long. They were definately cutting corners to reduce the cost of their production by then and they have no metal face plate and a plastic stitch regulator lever. There are no accessory trays (extra feet are in a green/pink cardboard box) and my case is a dark gray vinyl (think old suitcase). I find my black one stitches faster than the white one.

I like my black one better than my white one for sewing, but they are both cute to look at :-)

I have just become a "featherweight" groupie, well almost since I am still waiting anxiously for the Brown Truck to arrive with my new baby! I hope everything travels safely and then I can play with a new toy while DH is hunting! Oh, it is one of the early black ones with the beautiful scrolled face plate!!

I saw a couple on Etsy as well. I was surprised. Not too expensive. I would ask if they work first. The descriptions of the machines were not very good.

I would buy the first one that you come across that is in your price range and in good shape. My first was a repaint. The gal had no idea it was even a featherweight. She is a two tone of green from 1937 and in great shape. My other two are black, one an old lady from 1938, I think and the other is a Centennial edition from 1951.

I would really like to have a white one but will just wait till one pops up. I've found all of mine on Craigslist.