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-   -   My new toy! (https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage-antique-machine-enthusiasts-f22/my-new-toy-t45657.html)

merryhare 05-12-2010 05:43 PM


Originally Posted by Maride
Beautiful!! Is she light weight? Because I am sorry, but a Featherweight may be called Featherweight, but she is definitely, not light.

She is a tiny bit heavier than the "featherweight" and yes, we are spoiled today having much lighter sewing machines than in the "old" days. The Featherweight was light compared to its contemporaries.

My birthday present when I was 12 was a pale green one and I loved it! Made all of my own clothes and many for my friends through high school. Now I have a 1934 black beauty in great condition but I prefer the Elna. So I will sell the Featherweight.

merryhare 05-12-2010 05:46 PM


Originally Posted by virtualbernie

Originally Posted by merryhare

Originally Posted by Dragonfly Nana
Amazing machine. I am not familiar with the "knee" reference...do you control the machine with your knee on a control arm rather than a presser foot?
If so....that is really cool.

Yes! On this machine it is the silver colored bent wire thing that you can see in the picture with the machine in the case. You swing it down and to the right. I first learned to sew on a 40's era White sewing machine with a knee lever on the inside of the cabinet. You can still buy them to convert some new machines.

I learned on a machine with a knee lever in "Home Economics" back in the day.:D I really miss those machines--didn't know you could convert them. I'll have to look into that.

Yes, my mom would love to have a knee lever for her Viking but they only have one for the Husky. Her feet hurt a lot when she uses the foot control-- very tiring.

hazeljane 05-12-2010 06:32 PM


Originally Posted by merryhare

Originally Posted by Maride
Beautiful!! Is she light weight? Because I am sorry, but a Featherweight may be called Featherweight, but she is definitely, not light.

She is a tiny bit heavier than the "featherweight" and yes, we are spoiled today having much lighter sewing machines than in the "old" days. The Featherweight was light compared to its contemporaries.

My birthday present when I was 12 was a pale green one and I loved it! Made all of my own clothes and many for my friends through high school. Now I have a 1934 black beauty in great condition but I prefer the Elna. So I will sell the Featherweight.


I had a 1940's Pfaff when I first got married, many years ago. I still regret giving her up. For me, I HATE the very light machines. I have a little inexpensive Brother, and it stitches well, but it dances and vibrates and makes me insane. I want the darn thing to stay in one place and sew! Now the Juki (all metal) does not go anywhere. Just purrs....

I'm waiting for my Atlas to arrive, so I can show her off. She can be Grasshopper's pal.

sharon b 05-12-2010 09:11 PM

So will that be her name "Grasshopper" ? Looks like a fine machine :mrgreen:

Pickles 05-12-2010 10:06 PM

Like your new toy , I have never seen one of these before.

merryhare 05-13-2010 06:19 AM


Originally Posted by Pickles
Like your new toy , I have never seen one of these before.

I had never seen one either until I was searching on eBay for a featherweight. The Elna "grasshopper" is sometimes listed as a featherweight and that is where I saw it. Then, I did some research and found that some preferred it to the Singer. The ad had a video with the machine sewing and it was very smooth and quiet. I was guessing by how it looked that it had more room under the light than a featherweight and I had to have one. The one drawback is that parts are harder to find if needed. Everyone has Singer parts!

merryhare 05-13-2010 06:19 AM


Originally Posted by sharon b
So will that be her name "Grasshopper" ? Looks like a fine machine :mrgreen:

Yep!

tryitall 05-13-2010 09:39 AM

I'll gladly take it off of your hands!ha

SewExtremeSeams 05-14-2010 04:40 PM


Originally Posted by merryhare

Originally Posted by sweet
You have done well grasshopper :)

One of these lovely's hope to cross my path someday...

Thank you for the laugh! There are consistently 1 or 2 on ebay and can range in price from $100 (not mine though) to $250 or so.

Great and very cute machine. I have passed two of those up recently and only because I had my eye on someting else. Pretty sure they were each less than $100.

MaryStoaks 05-14-2010 05:02 PM

Beautiful shape! I've wanted a Grasshopper for a long time.


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