Bluphrog

The white Singer Featherweights that were made in the 1960s are all metal and are basically the same as the black FWs, except the black RWs are gear-driven and the white FWs are belt-driven. They are definitely worth fixing.

I recommend buying from a dealer because they will have service personnel either at the store or who are local. Plus, they will have the extra attachments and feet, if you ever need them. And if you buy from a dealer, they will probably have classes on using your machine.

Lostn51

Okay lets start busting a few of the myths here........

All FW's were metal (aluminum) and had the external motors (belt driven). The production colors were, Black, White, Beige/Light Tan, Mint Green, and the Wrinkle finish. They had 2 runs of the Wrinkle finish and it is not as rare as people think.

The production of the 221 was first allotted 10-3-1933 and ended 9-27-1957, total number of machines for the 221 was 1,750,041.

The production of the 221K was first allotted 8-25-1947 and ended 8-6-1968, total number of machines for the 221K was 360,000.

The production of the 222K was first allotted 7-23-1953 and ended 3-30-1961, total number of machines for the 222K was 108,900.

For the complete FW run start to finish was 2,218,941 machines produced.

The 222K was a free arm machine and is the one that I really want. But the fact remains that FW's are far from rare but they are highly sought after by we the quilters of the world. :D

All of this information comes directly from the NeedleBar and years of research by Chrys Gunther who is the leading expert of the SSMC and has the vast majority of the Singer factory records at her home.


Billy

MelissaK

Ditto! Love my brother CS6000i - Great Walmart deal. I started out with a Janome from Sears which also was great. You don't necessarily need to spend a ton of money to get a great machine.

Quilt Mom

I own what is called a featherweight II, and it is made of plastic. It is not one of the prized featherweights youu are referring to. That being said, I also own two of the original featherweights, harking from 1950 or so. All three are in good condition, and sew beautifully. I would fix any that needed it.

I also own other machines.

I agree. Talk to a dealer.

beginningquilter

I have the white plastic one, it's not metal. No wonder everyone thought I should get it fixed; I'm sure the metal ones are much better than the one I have. I did take it to get it fixed today and since he told me it would only be $40 (he thinks the tension is messed up), which is less than what I paid, I decided to get it fixed.

It only has 5" to the right of the needle which is why I don't like it for quilting. I saw some Singers at JoAnn's the other day and they had a little over 6". But I will probably try saving up for a machine with more space, like the Janome 6600 that a couple people have recommended. I still want to learn to hand quilt in the meantime though. It seems like it would be good to have that skill as a backup if you're prone to breaking things like I am.

Carla

Bluphrog

You are right that all FWs are belt driven by the belt that runs from the external motor to the wheel. However, if you take the spool pin cover off the original white FWs, you will see another belt. This belt replaces the internal gears in the black FWs which turn the shaft that runs from the wheel to the head of the machine. One of the reasons that repairmen loved the black FWs was that it could be completely immersed in a cleaning solution because it was all metal. However, the white FWs could not be immersed in the cleaning solution because the solution would corrode the internal belt. And the white machine and the light green are the same machine, not separate color runs. Singer called the color Pale Turqoise. If I put my machine in front of a white background, it has a slightly green cast. If I put it in front of a green background, it looks white.

Tiffany

I bet you never expected to get such a large and varied response when you first posted, did you? LOL.

Hand quilting is wonderful because you are not limited to a certain space. You can take it anywhere to work on, unless you are the type who needs a large frame. I lap quilt (no hoop, no frame) and I've drug my quilts just about everywhere when trying to get one finished for a deadline. As long as I have enough light to see by I'm good to go. I think you will enjoy hand quilting and it's nice to have something to work on when the sewing machine is in the shop for maintenance.

RedGarnet222

I know there is a group on yahoo that fixes thier own singer sewing machines. They also have many persons there that post on a board that will give you advice on how to do it and links to sites that give detailed instruction on fixing each part.

I mostly used to always keep up my own machines. (I know, not usually a girl thing to do. There has been a long line of mechanical people in my family and it kind of comes naturally. ) But, when I inhertited my moms old singer I had to do some work on it to bring it up to par. I used the yahoo group site to get the information I needed to fix it.

Lostn51

I have a friend on the NB that has both the Green and White machines and there is a notable difference. If you have ever seen the 185J then you know the green it is. But it is a Kilbowie built machine and was not exported that I know of.

The reason the white ones were belt driven was the fact that they were the bottom of the line FW. It also lacked the full decal set that the others received. Funny thing is that now they are the most sought after machines next to the Beige ones which were gear driven. After looking at a sea of black machines for all those years you would think Singer would have made the White ones like the rest of them. :roll:

Billy

allie

ilove my brother, i also have a kenmore two or three singers i also have a treddle model that works great