I'm not ashamed: I SOMETIMES HAVE TROUBLE SEWING A STRAIGHT LINE. A Featherweight wouldn't help me. My Bernina w/bells & whistles does help,especially the 1/4 in foot.

It's only 9 lbs! That's nothing compared to my fancy multi-talented machine. I presently own 3 FW's and am always on the lookout for more!! I set them up with different colored threads so I use less time changing colors. I just scoot from one to the next! Love that one was my moms and one was my dear mil's. There's family history in those machines - they made many school clothes for my sister and I and wedding gowns or my dh's cousins over the past 60 years!

Keep looking, Nancy. The rewards are great in owning a featherweight!!

they can be found, but expect to pay the price unless you get lucky and find one at a yard sale.....my sis in Orlando found one like new in the box for $10!!!

I will Debbie, Thank you! :-D :-D :-D :thumbup:

We have fashionistas, apronistas and we have featherweightnistas, what's wrong with that?!

They are not a fad as I have wanted one for over 25 yrs. Finally got one last year. It's so light weight and easy to take to class. Very reliable. I have come to realize at home I use it for piecing all the time. I don't have to take it in for regular maintenance that costs a small fortune like I do with my bells and whistles machine. It's easy to do the maintenance myself. Believe me people who own them almost all own a fancy machine for doing other stitches and for actually quilting. Some people with extra money collect them-maybe that's a fad. But no they are really worth it.
Kat

They've been "in" since I was in high school, which was in the late 70's. My mom has had them for years and it is true. She doesn't quilt at all. They do great buttonholes--she has one set up with the buttonholer all the time (a special attachment). It DOES sew a great straight line.

But I feel like the OP of this thread...I just spent a lot on a Janome Horizon and I'm thankful for it.

But the featherweights are great machines. I think they aren't a "fad"--they are a "classic".

My machine is a Brother XR9000 that I got at Costco for $150. It was an upgrade for me: Needle up/down, needle threader and serpentine stitch! So, I don't have a fancy or expensive machine. I would love to have a featherweight for all the reasons posted. Also, I like the idea of sewing like my grandma did. She taught sewing for the Singer company in the 30's and 40's. Just like hand work ties me to women of the past, a Featherweight would too. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic! And I want a featherweight, but can't afford one. And, I never see good deals in my area:-(

Is there, a difference between feather weight and light weight????? I recently started going to a quilting group... I have a 30 year old Viking I do not wish to carry around (very heavy) and could get bumped, stop working :(
I've been looking at some little machines for UNDER or about $100.00 just to take back and forth. These machines should be OK just for class (YOU THINK) ? I really know nothing about machines. like a car get in and go. :)

Hey that's way cool, I collect rocks too!! I bring them home with me from everywhere I go that it is legal. ahem...
I carry them on the plane, the train, the bus. I have carried one down a really tall mountain and across international borders. I love rocks!!

I resisted the mania for a long time... until I found one that was for sale for cheap. I can use it if I want to, but i just love looking at it. I'm currently using it as a bookend for my little bolts of quilting fabrics that are stacked in my quilting bookcase like books.

There's no way I'd spend $400 for one. Not when there were millions of them made and still in circulation.

There are MANY cool old sewing machine models you can love and enjoy using, and most are very cheap compared to a featherweight.

IMHO SO cute and like other collectors, we love the antique warhorse sewing machine. I love my new dvd's and cd's but I also have 8-track, cassettes, 48's, 78's and all the other memorabilia. They don't make them like they used to. It was hard to break a FW. One's personal preferance.

Somewhere on another thread, a member said "She laughed when Status and Featherweight were used in the same sentence". And??????????????????? Who are we to make jest of what others consider important? We are all collectors or one thing or another, if not, then you need to start. LOL. Oops, did I just get opinionated too? My bad.

It;s a click sort of thing on a way. They are a good mchine that does a great straight stitch, easy to store and transport, but they re only a stright stich and have a small bed.

It wasn't that long ago that I was with you Riversong but this board and the FW 'cuteness' has won me over. I would like to have one someday. :oops:

I've had my FW since 1951 and have hand carried it all over the world. My DH was a career Army officer for 31 years. Made all my daughter's and my clothes and started making quilts with it 28 years ago. I still use it daily and love it. I also have a Kenmore and a Janome and at one time had a Bernina.
Happy sewing, Kutnso

I agreed with you. I don't think I would like an old machine! But I hear they are lighter to pack around.

Pollyv9,
The Featherweight only weighs 11 pounds out of its case;
makes a beautiful stitch too. They are not a fad, such a dependable and durable machine; very well made.
I have 3 of them and they get used quite a bit for workshops and at quilting bee. I have my fancy machines and I like them when I make garments and for quilting.
Sharon W.

Me, too. froggyintexas

I love my featherweight. It sews thick stuff like nobodys business.

I made a corduroy jacket with my featherweight, only used the Bernina to zig zag the raw edges.

I have 2 featherweights A brother pacesetter and now I have a new featherweight Brother which I will use in class Both singer featherweights are really not that light for me but the new brother is so light I forget I have it in my hand lol One of my singer feather weight does not work but it sure looks nice on a shelve in my sewing room So to really answer your question they are light enough to carry and won't hurt your back and sew fabulous

I have 2 Bernina's which I love, as they have all the bells and whistles that anyone could ever want. But when I joined this board everyone was talking about the Featherweight machine and after doing some research on this "cute" machine I have now bought two. They sew a perfect straight stitch and are light enough to take to classes and Guild meetings. I use mine just about every day and love them for machine piecing. Now I'd like to get one that could use a new paint job, red would be my color of choice! I guess I have caught the bug that abounds on this web site.

I take mine in the motor home for the winter. It just HUMS along for piecing. IS easy for me to maintain. Lays down a nice straight stitch and takes up little room. Not so with my BIG PFAFF Creative Vision. I would be afraid the motion of the coach rolling down the road would mess up the computer mechanism...

I found one at one of those malls,i had a choice of using my money to replace a ring i had lost or buying that machine,i bought my ring.

Cute, lightweight and sew beautifully. Their a drag went it comes to machine quilting though with that small 5 inch throat, and forget applique or zig zag. Their mainly for piecing. Really love mine.