I love estate sales too. I have not been that lucky yet to find a FW at one, but I haven't been out in the last 2 years either.
I still have 2 and if I were to find another I would be thrilled. Congratulations on your find. |
Patrice, good luck with your FW find and hopefully you get her up and running soon, Congratulations
cherrybsixty |
Originally Posted by SusieQOH
(Post 8538939)
Patrice, isn't it fun to work on FW's? I love tinkering with them.
I have a FW setup downstairs. My husband said he loves the sound of old Singers because it reminds him of his grandmother when he was little. Nice memory! Julia, This is the second one I've picked up at an estate sale. I'll give you a hint. I use Estatesales.net. They give you sales in your area and you can set up things you are looking for thru their "Treasure Tracker" feature. It's how I've found my white FW and the current one. This one is running fine now. I just needed some new feet for it and a few other things that I wanted to replace. Hopefully, I can get it painted later this year. |
Donna: I think the other attraction with FWs and other vintage machines is that you can maintain them yourself. I know of some modern machines that spend more time in the repair shop than they do at their owners home. I have only done the basics but still feel proud of myself for that as I am not mechanically minded. There is not much that goes wrong with them. Like my old ‘57 Chevy versus a new car.
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Hi Patrice, I use estatesales.net too. I love it! You get to see pictures of what's going to be in the sales before you even go.
I have also found Featherweights at estate sales, and I bought both of my 301s from estate sales, too. The 301s came in nice cabinets and one had the storage stool too.
Originally Posted by inchhirn
(Post 8538919)
I am just seeing astronomical amounts asked for featherweights and I was just wondering if someone could tell me what the attraction is for them that makes them so desirable?
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Sewbizgirl: I envy you your 301, I have been looking for one for about 3 years. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any in my neighbourhood. I have not seen one at any price but I am still hopeful. I have heard such wonderful things about their stitch and their ability to FMQ. Remind me please how much do they weigh?
Donna: The FW weighs 11 pounds but closer to 20 with the wooden case. |
Originally Posted by Kelsie
(Post 8542871)
Sewbizgirl: I envy you your 301, I have been looking for one for about 3 years. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any in my neighbourhood. I have not seen one at any price but I am still hopeful. I have heard such wonderful things about their stitch and their ability to FMQ. Remind me please how much do they weigh?
Donna: The FW weighs 11 pounds but closer to 20 with the wooden case. When you hear the 301 called the "Featherweight's Big Sister", don't believe it. Aside from the bobbins and bobbin case being the same, they are as different as can be. The 301 is Singer's very first "slant o matic" machine, with the presser bar and needle bar slanting slightly towards the user for better visibility. That means all the feet have to be different too. And as I've already said, the 301 is much more powerful because of the gear driven motor. No belts to slip! She is not Featherweight's big sister. |
At a quilt retreat 3 years ago we had a workshop to make a pouch from a placemat. As we now live in the boonies and I have lots of fabric, I made my placemat. But I had to put the binding on three times. Then the workshop starts and the first thing she says is “Cut off the binding!” What? Why? Well she thought the machines would not be able to sew through all those layers of fabric. I had taken my 348 and like the 301 it had no trouble at all. I love my turquoise 348 but I would like to have a 301 for quilting.
Patrice : Sorry, didn’t mean to hijack your thread. We do yard and estate sale each weekend. Both my FWs came from yard sales |
Originally Posted by cashs_mom
(Post 8538133)
Oh! I forgot to add that I also got about 25 bobbins for $8. Score! I have 2 other featherweights and my mom 301a and they all use the same bobbins. Before today, I only had about 6 so was unwinding and rewinding bobbins a lot.
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Originally Posted by MeganMills
(Post 8546760)
Jackpot! 25 Featherweight/301 bobbins is a bonanza. :-)
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