I love my little Featherweight. My husband bought it for me on ebay. It was made the same year I was born, 1947. My little 6 year old granddaughter loves to sew on it. It makes a perfect stitch!

I have 5 of them and love them-they are very well made and perfect stitchers.

I have six of the little cuties, 5 222, and one 221.

I LOVE my Singer Featherweight. I found her on ebay for $350. Be careful not to use anything like Goo Gone to clean your machine. It will take remove the lacqure finish and mess up your decals. I love this site http://www.novamontgomery.com/singer...-the-month.htm

I don't have trouble with the light cover on my white FW getting hot. Are you using the lower wattage bulb? For a LED light, I was seriously thinking about ordering this for one of my other FWs. http://www.cottonclub.com/cgi-bin/St...menu-1700.html

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Singer Model 221 Featherweights were manufactured beginning in the 1930s and into the 1960s. The original models were black, and there are also tan and "white" machines (I put quotes around white because some of them have a light blue or green color if you put them against a white background). I'm including a picture of my tan machine. Thousands of these machines were manufactured through the years, the main factories were in Elizabethtown, NJ, St. John, Canada, and Kilbowie, Scotland. Most FWs just have the plain Singer logo medallion on them, but there are machines with different World's Fair medallions. The best knows of those is the Centennial model.

The FWs do a straight stitch, forward and back. Period. However, there is a bottonhole attachment and a zigzag attachment that you can purchase. Most FWs come with a standard set of 5 or 6 feet, including a rolled hem foot and a ruffler foot. I found all of my machines on eBay, but you must read the descriptions carefully and decide whether to trust that the seller knows what he/she is talking about. All of mine were purchased from individuals, not dealers, and I got burned on a couple because I had to replace the foot pedal/cord set, which ran me an additional $25; however, I didn't pay more than $225, including S/H, for any of my machines. There are several people who specialize in FWs and if you purchase one from them, they will guarantee the machine is in good working order.

Three of my machines are named, three aren't. It just depends on if they "speak" to me.

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I have the opportunity to purchase a 1947 Singer Featherweight 221. The person I use to fix my machines just purchased it and is now looking to resell it. An older gentleman brought it in to his repair shop, as his wife who used it, passed away. He paid $400 for it and wants $550. He is going to go over it and make sure everything is working fine. He says it's a real beauty.....looks brand new with no scratches.....has a beautiful case....all the attachments......is black. After going over it, he's going to put a warranty on it for 1 year. I've been looking but don't know what they are worth. Is $550 too high to pay.

Very nice ones seem to sell around here for $300.

My daughter gave me a 1952 Featherweight a year ago. She got it for me to take to classes. I LOVE that machine! I do all of my piecing on it and only use my Bernina for things like machine appliqué and FMQ. When I got the Featherweight, I thought that oiling it was a pain; but I have oiled it so much that I don't even think about it now and oil it quickly. I've even learned to thread the needle with my right hand. (I am so left handed.) I love the fact that I can service it myself.