My Featherweight Story
10-08-2014, 07:58 AM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Mendocino County CA
Posts: 1,976
My Featherweight Story
I finally got a Featherweight. I wanted one, I didn't want one, I really couldn't decide but I knew I was not going to pay 500 dollars for one! I set boundaries that I wouldn't pay over 199.99. It had to slide under that bar and I wanted it in decent shape if I were going to get one.
I was perusing Craigslist a couple weeks ago and saw an ad titled “old Singer sewing machines". OK, I took a look and there in the photos are FOUR Featherweights! The ad says "they look old", "not exactly sure what they are worth" and the seller says he is going to rely on the buyer to give him a fair price for them. OMG on so many levels!
The seller is an hour and a half away from my home and my dog has a vet appointment. I am 100% certain they will be gone in an hour and I have no chance to get one. I have horribly mixed feelings and the seller is likely going to "get taken" by someone unscrupulous.
There's a phone number in the listing so I call him and we talk. He is cleaning out his parents home. His father recently passed and his mother has Alzheimers. I let him know the machines are called
Featherweights and they are very popular and he should be aware what they sell for. He has cases for all of them and I told him he should ask at least 300.00 each. He says he wishes I lived closer.
I hoped I bought myself some good karma but twisted and turned all night thinking about those
Featherweights. In the morning I checked Craigslist and the ad was still up.
Ohh they couldn't still be available, could they? My daughter cancelled needing me to babysit for the
day so my schedule opened up. Hmmm...
I decided to drive south to the fabric store to get some batting and a backing for the quilt I'm working on and maybe I would call while I was down that way. Still, 300.00 was out of my budget, but it
couldn't hurt to call right? I was just too curious.
I got my fabric and called the number again and he still had those machines. I asked if I could come
see them and he told me he heard they were very popular and he was asking 250.00. Still, I wanted
to see them so I headed over.
When I got there he was busy sorting through the house. It was obvious his parents were both into
"collecting" all sorts of vintage items. He had a lot of work ahead of him. He had three Featherweights on the floor with their cases and told me to go ahead and take a look and then "we would bargain". Oh my! They were all so cute! A couple of the cases were rough, they were all in pretty decent shape though. I was attracted to one right off and he suggested we plug it in if I was game. We were both tickled silly to hear it run. He asked if I could do 200.00? I looked in my poorly planned pocket and
found 145.00. He smiled and said that was fine! It didn't have a foot but he gave me one off one of
the others. Either his mother didn't have feet for them or they were somewhere else in the house
because there was only one foot between the 3 of them.
My case didn't have a tray and he offered one from another box. He said there was a cardboard box of quilting magazines around there somewhere and would I like those too? Sure! We chatted a bit and he helped me out to my car. It was a good experience as well as getting a nice sewing machine.
I have since then cleaned her up and she's a nice little stitcher! I sorted through the hoard and was able to find a good collection of attachments for her. She is still without a name but has already helped with a quilt square I am making.
I was perusing Craigslist a couple weeks ago and saw an ad titled “old Singer sewing machines". OK, I took a look and there in the photos are FOUR Featherweights! The ad says "they look old", "not exactly sure what they are worth" and the seller says he is going to rely on the buyer to give him a fair price for them. OMG on so many levels!
The seller is an hour and a half away from my home and my dog has a vet appointment. I am 100% certain they will be gone in an hour and I have no chance to get one. I have horribly mixed feelings and the seller is likely going to "get taken" by someone unscrupulous.
There's a phone number in the listing so I call him and we talk. He is cleaning out his parents home. His father recently passed and his mother has Alzheimers. I let him know the machines are called
Featherweights and they are very popular and he should be aware what they sell for. He has cases for all of them and I told him he should ask at least 300.00 each. He says he wishes I lived closer.
I hoped I bought myself some good karma but twisted and turned all night thinking about those
Featherweights. In the morning I checked Craigslist and the ad was still up.
Ohh they couldn't still be available, could they? My daughter cancelled needing me to babysit for the
day so my schedule opened up. Hmmm...
I decided to drive south to the fabric store to get some batting and a backing for the quilt I'm working on and maybe I would call while I was down that way. Still, 300.00 was out of my budget, but it
couldn't hurt to call right? I was just too curious.
I got my fabric and called the number again and he still had those machines. I asked if I could come
see them and he told me he heard they were very popular and he was asking 250.00. Still, I wanted
to see them so I headed over.
When I got there he was busy sorting through the house. It was obvious his parents were both into
"collecting" all sorts of vintage items. He had a lot of work ahead of him. He had three Featherweights on the floor with their cases and told me to go ahead and take a look and then "we would bargain". Oh my! They were all so cute! A couple of the cases were rough, they were all in pretty decent shape though. I was attracted to one right off and he suggested we plug it in if I was game. We were both tickled silly to hear it run. He asked if I could do 200.00? I looked in my poorly planned pocket and
found 145.00. He smiled and said that was fine! It didn't have a foot but he gave me one off one of
the others. Either his mother didn't have feet for them or they were somewhere else in the house
because there was only one foot between the 3 of them.
My case didn't have a tray and he offered one from another box. He said there was a cardboard box of quilting magazines around there somewhere and would I like those too? Sure! We chatted a bit and he helped me out to my car. It was a good experience as well as getting a nice sewing machine.
I have since then cleaned her up and she's a nice little stitcher! I sorted through the hoard and was able to find a good collection of attachments for her. She is still without a name but has already helped with a quilt square I am making.
10-08-2014, 09:48 AM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 809
I'm sure it definitely gave you good karma to have that conversation with him. Looks like you got a great machine!
When I got my first FW, I found it on craigslist, the seller had inherited from her Aunt, it had been in her attic for 8 years, and it was listed for $95. I called and found out a dealer had already called and offered $150 without seeing it in person. I told her they are popular with quilters, I really wanted on to take to classes, I would be glad to match the dealers offer. She was sentimental about her Aunt and wanted someone to sew on it so sold it to me instead of the dealer. The rest of the story was the FW bobbin I had found in my Mom's stuff for her 401 just 2 weeks earlier and still had in my purse for "bait". This seller in the craigslist ad lived 6 blocks from my Mom and her name was Bobbi! So, I named the FW "Bobbi" for the bobbin and the Seller!
When I got my first FW, I found it on craigslist, the seller had inherited from her Aunt, it had been in her attic for 8 years, and it was listed for $95. I called and found out a dealer had already called and offered $150 without seeing it in person. I told her they are popular with quilters, I really wanted on to take to classes, I would be glad to match the dealers offer. She was sentimental about her Aunt and wanted someone to sew on it so sold it to me instead of the dealer. The rest of the story was the FW bobbin I had found in my Mom's stuff for her 401 just 2 weeks earlier and still had in my purse for "bait". This seller in the craigslist ad lived 6 blocks from my Mom and her name was Bobbi! So, I named the FW "Bobbi" for the bobbin and the Seller!
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