I just got one! Been using a cheap Singer I got from Target for the past ten years. WHAT AN UPGRADE. i love the sound it makes as it stitches! i think i got the vintage sewing bug.
I just got a 222. It’s birth date 7th September, 1960. It arrived here in Australia from Great Britain on the 7th September, 2020. I’d say it made its first trip ever overseas for its 60th birthday😂😂😂What a coincidence! I still think I’m dreaming. What an adorable gem! I’m trying to give her a name now.
Vintage Sewing Machine Garage yeah! 😃😃😃 There is one small issue and that is that the feet aren’t even so the machine wobbles a bit because it doesn’t sit flat. What can I do to rectify this problem? Should I unscrew one of the feet and add an extra washer? Thanks!
I just got my mother's Featherweight sewing machine. All these years I would kind of chuckle to myself on it being called Featherweight because I feel it's a heavy machine. For me, 10 pounds would be heavy. My mother's sewing machine has always been in a cabinet. I was around 5-6 years old when she bought it. The Singer sewing machine repair guys used to come out to your home, and that is how my mother bought her Featherweight. I remember her telling the Singer guy that she would not buy the machine if all they could offer her was a card table. I can tell by looking at your table here, that she had the wrong impression what "card table" meant. A real card table was a fairly flimsy table in comparison. It should never have been called a card table. She really did need a cabinet for her sewing machine, and they managed to make one work for her. We lived in a 1 bedroom apartment at the time she bought it. She had one, and only one, location to put her sewing machine. It has always been in that cabinet and for that reason was perfectly protected all of these years. It is in absolute pristine condition. It looks brand new. It is gorgeous! I plan to pass this sewing machine on to my younger sister because one of her daughters will appreciate it for what it is. I plan on leaving the education behind so they will know the history of the sewing machine.
Wow. If you still have the table that was made "Couture" for her machine, that would be highly valuable. Of course, the greatest value of all is that is was your mother's! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for this demonstration, I have purchased a Singer Featherweight, 221 from 1952 and I am just so excited to sew with it. I learned to sew on my mom's 1948 Singer - she would sew the most amazing coats (bound buttonholes on everything, I still have the template) and clothing, all the very difficult Vogue patterns. She truly was a couture sewist, she really aced it! I am so excited to receive it and try out that tiny stitch! Thanks for the great video.
That's right. I love the rotating hook style like my featherweight. It has a 8" opening which is nice. Has original wiring too and cabinet style 40. So quiet!
I have been sewing for a long time but never knew about the pressure foot tension significance! And have always been afraid if changing tensions especially the bobbin.
Hello. You mentioned that you put your restored machines on your local Craigslist. What is your local Craigslist and are they placed under Vintage Sewing. Machine Garage? Thanks. I’d travel quite far to be able to obtain one of your machines that has been lovingly and thoroughly restored. Thank you.
Great video, thank you! I inherited one of these from my husband's grandmother. I have a few older machines that I really have grown to love. I love to quilt most and have not tried this one out yet, now I must try it! I have a robin-egg blue Dressmaker that is a great starter machine, it goes so slowly and is so nice for my girls to learn on. I am actually here to ask you a question about my primary machine...it's an older Sears Kenmore it says model # 158.13031. It's the machine my mother gave me when I got married and I really do love it. It started skipping stitches last year and I think it has to do with the bobbin not catching properly. Is this an easy fix or do I need to take it in someplace? I am in south central WA close to OR. I moved here last year and don't know any sewing machine repair people yet. I'd love to just fix it myself if I can. I made a trade with my machine repair man in Alaska before we moved here and so I know that my other 3 vintage machines are all newly serviced and would work, but I have not used them much and am gun shy to using new machines with out my fancy quilting feet...after watching this video I'm thinking I'll try out the featherweight tomorrow and see how that works. Thanks, Anna.
Hello. If your machine is skipping stitches, it can be caused by any number of things that you can troubleshoot yourself before taking to a service center. The easiest tests to try first involve your thread and needle. Try rethreading the machine with a new spool of high quality sewing thread. Also, replace your needle and be sure that you install it correctly and make sure it goes all the way up until it stops and then snug the thumb screw. Skipped stitches can be a sign of timing issues, but try these things first. Also, make sure you hit each and every thread guide as you rethread the machine with the new thread. Also, check your bobbin case and shuttle area for any thread remnants that might have gotten stuck there. Most sewing machine issues are caused when settings or thread tension is off. If none of these work, I would find a local sewing center that will look at your machine. It should be repairable. Good luck
I wonder why it is so coveted? Maybe just human crowd psychology? I’m not sure if there is real data or actual measurable results when compared with other great machines from the 20s-60s? Maybe someone has done a article on it.
Do you see any advantage to purchasing an older 221 (i.e. 1941) over one from the fifties (if in comparable condition)? Are they basically the same machine? Thanks!
Singer was better than most companies about not messing with a good design. Eventually, they succumbed to accounting pressures and the quality did change. I have never had or worked on one of the Beige 221's that you sometimes see on Ebay etc. So I cannot speak to those, but I do know that all of the black 221's that have come across my bench have been of equal quality no matter the year of production. I DID see a change in the White 221's that were produced towards the end. They were and are quite popular for aesthetic reasons, but Singer took out the lower steel gears and replaced this with a rubber belt system. They also stopped using aluminum on the flip out bed and chose stamped steel in lieu of that to save money. The last of the 221's like those made great stitches as they maintained the rotary hook system, but they are not the equal to the black models in quality. Others may disagree, but if you are working with a Black 221, you should be fine.
Hello Josh. This machine is one of the most popular vintage models in the world. It works very well for light to mid weight fabrics, but I would not attempt winter coat weight wool material with it. It also has a very small throat/harp space due to its small size which would make manuevering the material challenging. There are many machines that would work for your project needs though. I would look at either flat bed models with 8 1/2 inch. throat space such as the Singer 66 or Singer 201. Or, you might want to look at a vintage free arm machine which can really help when you get to sewing around collars and sleeves. I would join an online sewing group and get feedback from people with experience sewing coats and other garments.
I do have two featherweight and love them. I did ski motorboat seats and sides with SUV vinyl with piping detail and it did great! So they are capable to do heavy materials too as I have proven.
I've never had one of those to work on. The Singer 101 was the forerunner of the 201. It would have had a rotary style shuttle hook whereas the 15 and 99 are both oscillating types.
I got the 101-4 with a 40 model table, very nice. I cleaned it up and services it but I was not able to remove the flywheel. There are two screws behind and the chrome knob that disengages the needle rod screw. Am I missing something. Would like to take the wheel off to see behind to clean. It is so quiet and a smooth operator!
All Singer Featherweights use a side loading bobbin case which must be removed before loading a bobbin or removing it. The Singer machines that use the drop in bobbin are Singer 66, Singer 99, Singer 201, Singer 400 Series, Singer 500 Series, and Singer 600 Series.
I just got one! Been using a cheap Singer I got from Target for the past ten years. WHAT AN UPGRADE. i love the sound it makes as it stitches! i think i got the vintage sewing bug.
I just got a 222. It’s birth date 7th September, 1960. It arrived here in Australia from Great Britain on the 7th September, 2020. I’d say it made its first trip ever overseas for its 60th birthday😂😂😂What a coincidence! I still think I’m dreaming. What an adorable gem! I’m trying to give her a name now.
Very cool!
Vintage Sewing Machine Garage yeah! 😃😃😃
There is one small issue and that is that the feet aren’t even so the machine wobbles a bit because it doesn’t sit flat. What can I do to rectify this problem? Should I unscrew one of the feet and add an extra washer?
Thanks!
I just got my mother's Featherweight sewing machine. All these years I would kind of chuckle to myself on it being called Featherweight because I feel it's a heavy machine. For me, 10 pounds would be heavy. My mother's sewing machine has always been in a cabinet. I was around 5-6 years old when she bought it. The Singer sewing machine repair guys used to come out to your home, and that is how my mother bought her Featherweight. I remember her telling the Singer guy that she would not buy the machine if all they could offer her was a card table. I can tell by looking at your table here, that she had the wrong impression what "card table" meant. A real card table was a fairly flimsy table in comparison. It should never have been called a card table. She really did need a cabinet for her sewing machine, and they managed to make one work for her. We lived in a 1 bedroom apartment at the time she bought it. She had one, and only one, location to put her sewing machine. It has always been in that cabinet and for that reason was perfectly protected all of these years. It is in absolute pristine condition. It looks brand new. It is gorgeous! I plan to pass this sewing machine on to my younger sister because one of her daughters will appreciate it for what it is. I plan on leaving the education behind so they will know the history of the sewing machine.
Wow. If you still have the table that was made "Couture" for her machine, that would be highly valuable. Of course, the greatest value of all is that is was your mother's! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for this demonstration, I have purchased a Singer Featherweight, 221 from 1952 and I am just so excited to sew with it. I learned to sew on my mom's 1948 Singer - she would sew the most amazing coats (bound buttonholes on everything, I still have the template) and clothing, all the very difficult Vogue patterns. She truly was a couture sewist, she really aced it! I am so excited to receive it and try out that tiny stitch! Thanks for the great video.
That's right. I love the rotating hook style like my featherweight. It has a 8" opening which is nice. Has original wiring too and cabinet style 40. So quiet!
Very cool!
I have been sewing for a long time but never knew about the pressure foot tension significance! And have always been afraid if changing tensions especially the bobbin.
Hello. You mentioned that you put your restored machines on your local Craigslist. What is your local Craigslist and are they placed under Vintage Sewing. Machine Garage? Thanks. I’d travel quite far to be able to obtain one of your machines that has been lovingly and thoroughly restored. Thank you.
Great video, thank you! I inherited one of these from my husband's grandmother. I have a few older machines that I really have grown to love. I love to quilt most and have not tried this one out yet, now I must try it! I have a robin-egg blue Dressmaker that is a great starter machine, it goes so slowly and is so nice for my girls to learn on. I am actually here to ask you a question about my primary machine...it's an older Sears Kenmore it says model # 158.13031. It's the machine my mother gave me when I got married and I really do love it. It started skipping stitches last year and I think it has to do with the bobbin not catching properly. Is this an easy fix or do I need to take it in someplace? I am in south central WA close to OR. I moved here last year and don't know any sewing machine repair people yet. I'd love to just fix it myself if I can. I made a trade with my machine repair man in Alaska before we moved here and so I know that my other 3 vintage machines are all newly serviced and would work, but I have not used them much and am gun shy to using new machines with out my fancy quilting feet...after watching this video I'm thinking I'll try out the featherweight tomorrow and see how that works. Thanks, Anna.
Hello. If your machine is skipping stitches, it can be caused by any number of things that you can troubleshoot yourself before taking to a service center. The easiest tests to try first involve your thread and needle. Try rethreading the machine with a new spool of high quality sewing thread. Also, replace your needle and be sure that you install it correctly and make sure it goes all the way up until it stops and then snug the thumb screw. Skipped stitches can be a sign of timing issues, but try these things first. Also, make sure you hit each and every thread guide as you rethread the machine with the new thread. Also, check your bobbin case and shuttle area for any thread remnants that might have gotten stuck there. Most sewing machine issues are caused when settings or thread tension is off. If none of these work, I would find a local sewing center that will look at your machine. It should be repairable. Good luck
Does anyone know how to replace bobbin ensemble in singer feathlight 221.the notch on bobbin case dont match up to bobbin
Yes the featherweight machine is coveted and a lot of people are priced out of buying one in good condition.
I wonder why it is so coveted? Maybe just human crowd psychology? I’m not sure if there is real data or actual measurable results when compared with other great machines from the 20s-60s? Maybe someone has done a article on it.
featherweight? You often speak about supplies easily available. Where are your favorite sites?
Do you see any advantage to purchasing an older 221 (i.e. 1941) over one from the fifties (if in comparable condition)? Are they basically the same machine? Thanks!
Singer was better than most companies about not messing with a good design. Eventually, they succumbed to accounting pressures and the quality did change. I have never had or worked on one of the Beige 221's that you sometimes see on Ebay etc. So I cannot speak to those, but I do know that all of the black 221's that have come across my bench have been of equal quality no matter the year of production. I DID see a change in the White 221's that were produced towards the end. They were and are quite popular for aesthetic reasons, but Singer took out the lower steel gears and replaced this with a rubber belt system. They also stopped using aluminum on the flip out bed and chose stamped steel in lieu of that to save money. The last of the 221's like those made great stitches as they maintained the rotary hook system, but they are not the equal to the black models in quality. Others may disagree, but if you are working with a Black 221, you should be fine.
Could you sew wool on this machine like to make a coat ?
Hello Josh. This machine is one of the most popular vintage models in the world. It works very well for light to mid weight fabrics, but I would not attempt winter coat weight wool material with it. It also has a very small throat/harp space due to its small size which would make manuevering the material challenging. There are many machines that would work for your project needs though. I would look at either flat bed models with 8 1/2 inch. throat space such as the Singer 66 or Singer 201. Or, you might want to look at a vintage free arm machine which can really help when you get to sewing around collars and sleeves. I would join an online sewing group and get feedback from people with experience sewing coats and other garments.
I am looking at a 101-4 with a cabinet. What are your thoughts on that machine. Is it like a 15 or 99?
I do have two featherweight and love them. I did ski motorboat seats and sides with SUV vinyl with piping detail and it did great! So they are capable to do heavy materials too as I have proven.
I've never had one of those to work on. The Singer 101 was the forerunner of the 201. It would have had a rotary style shuttle hook whereas the 15 and 99 are both oscillating types.
So what other machines use the rotary hook? Is the an advantage or dis?
So same as my featherweights?
I got the 101-4 with a 40 model table, very nice. I cleaned it up and services it but I was not able to remove the flywheel. There are two screws behind and the chrome knob that disengages the needle rod screw. Am I missing something. Would like to take the wheel off to see behind to clean. It is so quiet and a smooth operator!
Which model has the front drop in bobbin. I don’t like the underneath bobbin.
All Singer Featherweights use a side loading bobbin case which must be removed before loading a bobbin or removing it. The Singer machines that use the drop in bobbin are Singer 66, Singer 99, Singer 201, Singer 400 Series, Singer 500 Series, and Singer 600 Series.