mea12

Finally found a sweet-looking 237 and was excited until I noticed it was not made in Italy. Are models made in France built the same? I liked the idea of all-metal parts, and stronger motor so I could use to attach quilt bindings w/ the zig-zag and also possibly bag-making and a little thread painting/FM. I'm not finding anything online about this model 237 being made in France though they do look to be identical...are they?

mea12

I spoke with a long-time Singer technician who says they are the same..in case this comes up again, thought I'd answer my own question since I learned these are truly stellar machines made to last and last..said motors will last forever as long as no one decides to "oil the motor" (apparently many do this). I was having problems with the machine generally and so bobbin winder was tired and tire was brittle, handwheel clutch was out of whack and the foot pedal needed some TLC also.. she is absolutely perfect now and the FM is spectacular. So all is well now and no regrets . Such a gorgeous stitch and amazing, fluid FM -as well i learned my janome low-shank feet fit the machine.. including walking foot, darning foot and roller foot. I'll use it for smaller projects and my larger machine for medium sized projects. The big ones I continue to send out but there aren't so very many of those lately.

leonf

Happy you got it all figured out and working well.

bearisgray

I am very fond of my Singer 237s.

I do wish it had another thread guide, though.

mea12

After sewing on this one for a few days, I can see why you say that about wanting an extra thread-guide. I bought class 15 bobbins at joann's and they don't fit so very well...have to really press hard on the spindle and then the bobbin winder paddle doesn't fit inside the bobbin. i tried a different bobbin from same pack and it was a little better. I was able to quilt a small wall-hanging using both straight line and FMQ and both look really stellar. The straight-stitch is as good as any I've seen. I know these have been under-rated for years but that may be changing now as most I see on various local sites are $120-ish and up. Wow the 301's are now selling routinely for close to $300. I now have 3 singers..FW, 403 and this 237. I like the simplicity and versatility (zig-zag) of the 237 and also the weight which can be a draw-back also. And I love that it uses some of my janome low-shank feet. Well, thanks for listening.. i thought i was past this acquisition phase having moved on more than i own now by far but this is a keeper, for sure. One day I'll have to decide which ONE to go out with as they say. That won't be easy!

Kissamew

Hello all!
I very recently sent an email to www.singersewinginfo.co.uk because I bought a Singer Fashion Mate 237 (and a 239, different seller) off eBay. Most of the manuals I came across showed a knob switch on the front of the machine, below the stitch length lever. The one I purchased does not have that. I am usually interested in the history of vintage purchases and noticing this difference intrigued me. I saw a manual on their site and emailed to inquire. I also asked about where the 237 was made, and sent a picture of a label on the machine that says "Made in France". Here is part of the reply, from Judy:

"It doesn’t state the machine was made in France. That only refers to the motor. You need to look at the serial number under the machine. It has 2 letters followed by a 6 digit number. If the first letter is 'M' then it was made in Italy. If it starts with an 'S' then it was made in France.

Where machines were made is a matter of debate. For example the main body may have been cast and machined in Germany, then sent to Italy to be assembled with other parts such as a motor made in France etc. Often for tax reasons they would make 90% of a machine in one place and then send it to another for the last 10% to be completed, so they could claim it was made in the final country.

Where machines were made is of no significance. They often made the same models in several places and they would all have been identical. However not all machines of the same Class are the same, even if made in the same place because most classes had sub-versions with optional features or changes over time."

Since my machines are in transit to me, I wont see the SN's until they arrive. The label's on the motors lead some people to believe their machine is from a certain place. As I wondered. I have read in several places online to use the SN, but still had a little confusion. Of course, newer machines do not have the external motor. Not to mention, finding more descriptive history is difficult, it's repetitive for the most part.

At any rate, I read this post and thought Judy's information relevant, in a small way. I am happy that others enjoy vintage machines and share experience with them!

OurWorkbench

Thank you, mea for getting back to us with information from the Singer technician.

I'm curious as to why this is. If so where would you like it to be? Some day I need to fashion one as the top front one is broken off of my 237.

I've heard a lot about new bobbins not quite right for vintage machines. I know they now have 15 and 15J plastic bobbins. I was kind of surprised to see that according to http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/bobbins/ that the 237 takes plastic 15 bobbins. It does not say which 15 plastic bobbin. According a parts file I have the bobbins are 81348 for the 237M23. When I put that number in search I got https://www.sewingpartsonline.com/bo...0pk-81348.aspx which says it is guaranteed to fit, along with 237, the 15-30. That would seem to indicate that it is the flat top and bottom bobbins, not the ones that seem to be a little domed or thinned edges.

Welcome, Kissamew. Thank you, too, for the information from singersewinginfo.

I was curious about that and was wondering if it might be that the drop feed knob had been broken off. Then I looked at the manuals I have for the 237. Some of them, I don't seem to be able to find a date. Those without the date have the drop feed knob on the bed of the machine. However, I have one that is dated 1967 shows a machine without the drop feed and used a feed cover plate for Free Motion Work.

I also noticed another difference between the 1967 manual and the later ones. The bobbin tension was in a different place. On the early one it was in the middle of the arm, whereas, the later one was above the thread guide above the tension assembly.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

mea12

Oh this is very interesting about different class 15 bobbins - I bought a 4-pack of metal one but the metal actually is very light and doesn’t feel to be made as well as the original metal bobbins that come with the machines. I can look for plastic bobbins if they are recommended for the 237? Re the extra thread guide, the thread has a tendency to flip out of the last 2 thread guides nearest the needle when sewing at top speeds and it seems as though one midway between the uptake lever and the needle area would probably control that better. Maybe bearisgray was referring to something else and will return to this thread .

mea12

Oh i re-read your message and see that you do say this model takes plastic bobbins. I will definitely buy some of those and it explains why the metal ones didn't fit the spindle very well. They work fine in the bobbin case and yield a perfect stitch but I won't be using these after today.It looks like only the 237 differs from the other "vintage" Singers in that most do use metal bobbins. Its important for people to know this because its easy to assume 237 would use metal bobbins like the others.

OurWorkbench

That is what I found surprising, as I have read that one should use metal bobbins for metal bobbin cases. I have an Alco machine that I bought new in 1972 and I'm pretty sure that I used both metal and plastic, without problems. I'm not sure that I would use plastic bobbins for the 15-30 and some of the others that sewingpartsonline says that it will fit.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.