Had two Singer machines. One is a Featherweight I've had since 1965. It's never given a minute's problem.

The other I bought about 5 years ago, was sewing along recently and started smelling something, like hot wiring. Sure enough, the motor was fried. I just took off the still usable parts and threw it in the dumpster.

I bought another Singer, hope it lasts longer than that one. So far, so good.

I have my husband's aunt's treadle machine. She had painted it with white enamel. I stripped it and restained it. It is beautiful. I learned to sew on a treadle machine so it has that sentimental value also. I have used it for sewing, but she did until she was well past 80. It is a Singer. I researched it on line and it was made in the early 1930s.

My old singer isn't working very well and now that I have a new singer I am going to send my vintage singer out to be repaired. I like the old ones because it will sew thru many layers and like the look of the stitches the old one makes.

If you ever sit down and stitch on a Featherweight, you won't need to ask. They are such a joy and stitch the most perfect stitches.

Downer: They can be very habit forming and you get attached to them and then you see another one and it is pretty reasonable so you have to buy it also and pretty soon, you have 5 black ones and a white one. It becomes a sickness...but a happy sickness. :)

It's not that they do more, because they actually do less, they just do it really well, and they do it forever! They are all metal, no plastic, and were made during a grand and glorious time in our country's history, when pride was taken in good workmanship, materials and design.

For me, using these old machines is like going back in time and living the life of someone else (a little bit!) who may have gone on already...

My favorite one is the treadle you see in my avatar. It is so peaceful to sit and treadle sew a quilt top together. The precision these old ladies have is mind boggling. You should see the bobbin winding mechanism working on my treadle! It's amazing.