I have used the 1/4 " foot, darning foot and the walking foot. All of these are availablr on e-bay also. Coni

I got a Featherweight 221 for Mother's Day from my family and it just arrived this week. I don't know how to post an image here but there is one posted on my profile page. My husband got it on E-Bay and it's perfect and came in good working order with all the original accessories and manuals. He cleaned it and oiled it. We both love it! My machine is a 1949 model and there are no markings on the faceplate. I read online that there are quilting attachments (1/4" foot, walking, darning/free motion, and in the ditch feet) available for the 221 because it has a low shank. Has anyone used these for their machine?

I own my Mom's old FW that she bought used in the early 40s. Mom is still going strong at 90. It is a wonderful machine, has all the original parts & manuals. I also take it with me on vacations. We are lucky to have a Mennonite dealer within an hour's drive who services all the FW & treadle machines. That man is a marvel. Folks send him machines from all over N America to be serviced. When he comes to the Guild to give a talk on the old machines it is standing room only.

My husband purchased my featherweight on eBay about 7 years ago. I had the machine serviced and take it on all my retreats. It sews like a dream (other than when I forget that there is no knee lift). Love the size and ease. Plan to take it on my upcoming vacation to Hawaii. It is just small enough for me to take on the plane.

I would highly recommend these little machines! Once you have them serviced they work great. Our local quilt store offers classes in Featherweight maintenance. You might want to see if they offer them in your area. Otherwise the manual is a life saver.

Lilo

I'm hunting for one too! How did you find out about the house sale? I have checked e-bay and the I-net but thought it would be fun to find one at a garage sale or antique store!

I am lucky to own my grandmother's featherweight and fondly remember watching her sew barbie clothes. I learned to sew clothes on that machine. It is wonderful! I purchased another at an estate or house sale and it came with parts to make a zig zag stitch.

I bought a 221 on ebay - took a bit of a chance, but it is a nice little machine and I had it serviced by Graham Forsdyke, who is well known in the featherweight world. He is based in the UK so was easy and not too expensive to get it to him. Now that it has had a proper check up I should be able to maintain it myself. That's the plan! I got the book written by David McCallum which has got good line drawings for oiling etc.

I just took a class to learn how to service my original Featherweight. The woman who taught the class has many machines and has been doing this for years. One thing she said to be careful about is if you really want a Featherweight - you need to check that it is authentic not a repro or after market. That may not matter to you, and that's ok, too. But the original is fabulous and can be serviced easily by the owner. Just a little tidbit!

PCummings wrote:
You'll find oiling diagrams here:

http://www.singer-featherweight.com/servicemanpix-pages/Service3.html

http://www.singer-featherweight.com/servicemanpix-pages/Service4.html

The quality of reproduction isn't great, but the info is there. You need to take the machine apart to lube and oil it, but it's very easy to do.

Anne in Vancouver, Canada

There are lots of little places that need regular oiling. You need the book Anne talked about, or go on line and do a search. You'll find quite a bit of useful and necessary information. FW's were made to be maintained by the "homemaker"...just gotta learn how!
Sherry

I'm not sure how to oil my featherweight. I've only oiled the few spots on the outer part of the machine, not inside. Any suggestions?

bar7700 wrote:
I guess I'm a little slow!

It must have been from over-oiling. As I said, sewing on a scrap piece (WITH thread--not just "exercising" the machine) will clean out any excess oil. This is true for any machine.

Anne in Vancouver

Oh my, Anne! My post is almost two years old and the details are no longer clear in my mind. I remember there being white fabric in my quilt and that's why I noticed the grease/oil. It could have been from being too generous when oiling the insides of the machine.

Barbara

The person I bought my FW from packed it up so well it took me twenty minutes to unpack it! :shock: I highly recommend the book mentioned by Anne. Lots and lots of info and insight.
Sherry