Vintage Sewing Machine Shop.....Come on in and sit a spell
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Michigan
Posts: 3,334
I'm on the lookout for a 201 myself...... don't have one. ..... don't you think I need one of those??
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,507
I've had one since Feb and didn't use it because it's tan coloured. Tried it for the first time about a month ago and I'm a convert. Best sewing machine I've used so far. Effortlessly glides through anything I threw at it. Only tried it because everything else failed to sew nicely through multiple layers of denim. The 201 went through it like a hot knife through butter, so yes, you need one. They go for $10.50 and up in Australia (the $10.50 one came with a cabinet! Love eBay sometimes). I wouldn't pay more than about $30, but only because they're so common, but brilliant machine and a perfect stitch. Get one that has accessories (blind stitcher, zigzagger and buttonholer are all good), which will be worth paying more for.
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Michigan
Posts: 3,334
I'll keep looking....... how can I pass up a 201 when it's so highly recommended? Besides, my DGD has one now and I need to have one so I'll know what to tell her when she asks me about it.... haha. She always asks nanna for sewing help.
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,507
We sure don't find them all that common or all that cheap around here. If you remotely do they need a ton of work.
The last one was an aluminium knee controlled, $29 and the seller lied (I suspect) and said he didn't know how to use it but it worked. It didn't work - ran at full speed. Took the capacitors out and instantly fixed. Machine itself was barely used so after minimal muvving it looks and runs like new.
I like finding ads that say not working or obvious technology failures with pictures. Most won't bother or take a chance, but if you want a bargain, this is where they are. On eBay in Australia I've seen a perfect working 201 go for $26!
Some people are stupid enough to advertise two machines as a single sale. *We* are the only ones who would buy two sewing machines so bids are few and low. Look for auctions that finish during the working day, when 95% of interested parties are too busy at work to bid.
All the machines I've bought, except my first 201 (which had been restored then left in a shed for decades with the cover on) had a mass of fluff and tangled thread under the feed dogs.
After the war Singer in Scotland made them from cast aluminium and they look like my tan one (I thought it looked very "Russian"). AFAIK, by the 1950s they all look like my tan one. I bought a cast iron one last week: It was made in 1936.
There's more information on sewalot. There's also a(n overpriced, falsely advertised) tan one for sale in Canada http://www.ebay.com/itm/SINGER-201K-...-/151119242498
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Stitchnripper
Main
5
10-17-2018 09:01 AM
AngieS
Main
38
10-06-2011 10:06 PM
craftybear
Offline Events, Announcements, Discussions
34
09-09-2011 12:36 PM