I have officially joined the Featherweight club
 

I just bought my 15th sewing machine, a well-loved Featherweight. It arrived yesterday! Her original owner was named Patricia, so please meet Patricia!

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(I only had a brief few minutes to spend with her last night so this is the only picture I have to share at this point - from the eBay listing)

The seller said it was her gran's machine and had sat in a closet for 20 years. Well, looks like up until then, gran did a great job taking care of her machine! There is a reassuring amount of soft grease on the gears underneath, and the drip pan pad is surprisingly clean. The lead tube under there is pretty badly oxidized and that scared me a bit, but Nova Montgomery's site reassured me it's nothing to worry about. I'll just clean it up and call it good. Wiring is a little greasy but in good shape - I'll clean that up too. Actual movement of the machine is lovely.

Tonight I'll plug her in and actually see how she sews, I ran out of time last night and hadn't wanted to plug it in without taking a look-see underneath first. I have a good feeling about it, though. :) She came with a mostly-empty plastic tube of grease and I consider that a good sign the motor was hopefully not run dry too much. I still need to check the brushes though, just watched Nova's video on that late last night.

I'm going to order Nova's lube, and some new rubber feet for the machine (one got torn off some how), brushes if she needs 'em, and I think that's all she needs! I have plenty of feet to fit, and she came with 19 bobbins, so I feel pretty well set. Also got the original manual and some service records.

I'm happy with my new little darling. :) She's from 1948.

Patricia is gorgeous and just happens to be my mother's name. The date of your machine is the year my mother and father married. How awesome. You should have this for a very long time. They were married 44 years. Grabbing a tissue.

Oh wow tessagin, what an interesting set of coincidences!!

I'm 40 now, so if I'm lucky maybe I'll be able to sew on her for 44 years. :) Sounds like a good goal to me!

Our FW was also made in 1948. Came with dozens of bobbins, all the accessories, a ZZ attachment, manual and other goodies.

It wasn't in as good a shape as yours is, ours was jammed with thread.

Oh, when cleaning the machine, ignore the white oxidation on the lead tube underneath. It's a non issue unless you ingest it. Then it can be hazardous to your health. Lead oxide is a carcinogen.

Joe

Welcome to the club! Hope you have many long years of stitching with your new featherweight.

Congratulations! She looks like a real beauty! You're going to love her!

Congratulations! They are so cute and fun to use.

congratulations!

Welcome to the FW club! You're going to love this little beauty....she looks really good!

Thanks for the welcome into the "club"!

I ended up with a busy evening and hardly home last night so I haven't even fired her up yet!! Argh! I have a TOY I haven't PLAYED WITH yet!

I figured out why the case is in such suspiciously good condition though. In that picture I posted you can see what looks like an off-white towel in the background. I was cleaning up last night and I found that, all wadded up, in the bottom of the box it was shipped in. At first I thought the seller had just used an old towel to help pad the box, but then I realized it's been sewn....it's a handmade slip-cover for the case! No wonder that case looks like new!

Now I REALLY have to take good care of this machine. It was obviously the original owner's baby. :) I have a legacy to live up to!

Oh, but I am DYING to get some time with her! She's sitting on my dining room table and (maybe it's just my imagination) but every time I walk by I can hear her whispering to me that it's time to come play; she's been lonely for a long time and wants to do something creative! :D

Maybe tonight... I'll have to take some beauty shots of her too. :)

I think I'm going to need to clean it up at least somewhat. There are large flakes of the oxidization coming off, and Nova's video said to make sure that doesn't get into the gears, and I can see that's been happening. I'm not going to worry about making it shiny but I think I need to get all the loose flaky stuff off. I'm thinking that's a job for outdoors, a mask, and a throw-away towel to catch it all. (Flakes AND the old grease that now has flakes embedded in it)

i agree, Congratulation and just plain jealous. I would NEVER have the confident to bid on a FW on eBay.

I love my little Featherweight! I pieced several full sized quilts on it before I got my Berninas, and still use it frequently. They're just so darned cute! AND they have a lovely stitch and are easy to maintain.

Very nice and hope you enjoy it! I love my Featherweight!

Congratulations on your FW! I've been cruising through E-Bay, but the FW's on there, for the most part, are way over-priced! Yes, I saw several listed for sale in very nice condition, but $755 for a 221 is just way TOO MUCH! JMHO! I, too, would be hesitant to bid on a machine on E-Bay. There are just too many unknown issues or possibilities! I applaud your courage and I sincerely hope your machine is everything you want her to be!

Jeanette

I finally found some time to play!

Pretty pretty Patricia!
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Poor Kathy is there in the background, pouting a bit. She had such a brief time in the spotlight!

Patricia isn't helping any either, she's totally showing off, proving that even with a bit of dust on her she still has some shine!
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Showing off her backside...
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Oh, my, Patricia!
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Well if you're going to show us THAT much, let's take a look inside your head!
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As I expected, inside this rascal's head lurks a dirty mind. We're going to have to clean that up, yes indeedy missy!

And since we've forgone all decency at this point...
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(I already scooped off a lot of grease and the bigger oxidized flakes before I took this. The bottom was not quite as gooky as the top is.)

She sews!
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The bottom tension is really loose, I'll have to twiddle that a bit, but I'm not afraid of that. :)

I'm pretty darn happy with her. I've been watching FW auctions for a couple months now. I just had a feeling about this one, it seemed worn in just the right way. This is only the 2nd one I bid on (the first went wild) and I got it for my first bid; about $50 under my limit. I fully expected to get sniped at the last second, but it never happened! I think I got lucky though, I gambled and I WON, for a change! LOL She needs a little bit of cleaning and freshening up but other than that...she's ready to go to work.

Oh, one more pic - all dressed up in her slipcover. I think I will keep it, it reminds me of something MY grandmother would have made!
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Patricia is beautiful. So glad you have her.

Ha! You are so sweet. I can feel just how tickled pink you are with her! Now since we've talked before I have to ask..will you keep her in a striped face plate? :D

For now...yes. But if I find a scroll plate for a decent price, I think I might have to swap it out! I'll keep the original, of course. I'm definitely going to swap the control pedal for a more standard clamshell type, even though this pedal is in good shape. I don't know if I'm just using them wrong but I hate using the vintage pedals that just have the one button. I sew barefoot and that one button always ends up giving me a sore spot on the bottom of my big toe. I keep the original pedals safe in case I ever decide to let go of a machine, but I prefer to use a more modern style.

I guess the scroll face plates have different styles, though? I haven't really looked at them much yet but I stumbled on one on eBay or Etsy and it said it was the "early" scroll style that didn't fit on later models. Interesting! It's not really a priority, though. The stripes aren't ugly by any means. :)

Vertical stripes are slimming. ;)

She's lovely -- congrats on your purchase. The way I was taught to use the button controllers is to have the button towards the heel. Rest the ball of your foot on the flat part of the controller and lightly rest your heel on the button and raised piece by it. Tilt your foot so your heel makes contact with the button. Great control and no foot fatigue.

She is a beauty.

So I've been using them backwards? LOL

That sounds really awkward to me, but I'll give it a shot!

I have weird habits, I tend to use my big toe (only) on the pedal, no matter what style it is. On the big clamshell type it's usually not a big deal until I've sewn for several hours, but those buttons kill me right away. I switch feet and correct my foot position when I catch myself doing that, but always end up just using one toe again later. I think it's maybe habit I built as a kid when I could barely reach. Maybe trying to use my heel will help me break that habit!

LOL!

But this little darling is so petite! She doesn't need help looking small! (Unlike her new owner...) LOL

I hadn't heard there was two diff. types of the prettier scrolled plates. Mine are all stripes here-just the way the cards were dealt. I like the scrolled ones but I figure I will end up with one eventually on a Singer 15 or something. Wait! I think my 115 treadle has a lovely scrolled plate! I will have to be content with that!

Congrats and welcome to the fw club, I love all my fw I do not care for the. Button foot control so I got the other kind for all my girls

They wanted $95 for the plate so honestly I didn't even look that closely to see if it looked familiar or not. For that price they can keep it, that's almost halfway to another Featherweight!

I have a 15 with a scroll plate, but it's the rustbucket I bought before I had any idea what I was doing and it's still a bit beyond my capabilities at this point. If I recall correctly, the face plate had some rust dots too but by comparison probably one of the nicer parts on the machine.

Welcome to the club. My three do not have names. When I get one more I may name them after my sisters. Jeanne Marie, Barbara Kay, Margaret Mary and Ruth Ellen.

Congrats on adding Patricia to your family! :) Here's to many years of stitching!

I got my order from Nova Montgomery's site last night, so I am all set to get her all cleaned up and re-greased this weekend and then I intend to put her to work doing some piecing!

I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my new little one. I even splurged and bought Nova's bolt-on fabric guide and an LED bulb so I am all set! :)

I was showing off a picture of her to one of my friends at work, and one of the guys who likes to tease me about my sewing machine obsession saw it and started giving me a hard time (in a friendly joking way) and then suddenly he stopped, leaned in for a better look and exclaimed, "Well hold on a second here...that looks just like the machine my Mom had! Did it come in a little black box?" and when I confirmed that he got all starry-eyed and started reminiscing about watching his mother sew on her FW at the kitchen table.

I thought that was pretty funny (and sweet)...he started to tease me but got caught up in the joy of old machines himself! LOL (I asked; his sister has their Mom's machine now. I let him know that if they ever want to get rid of it I'd be happy to take it off their hands!)