Vintage Machine?

[lhayes1976]

I know alot of you lucky ducks have Singer Featherweights. But I'm curious if any of you own any other vintage machines that you just love. I would like to purchase a vintage machine to do my machine quilting on. I have a Brother SE-350 and a Janome MC5000. Love them both, but there is not a lot of throat room. I had no problems with baby quilts, but I want to move up to something larger(may even tackle a full size). I don't want and don't have alot of money to spend on a machine. I've been doing a little research and the Singer 201 and 301 seem like they may be a good choice. I need the experts thoughts on this.

[sally]

Re: Vintage Machine?

I love old machines as well but have yet to use them for quilting. I have a feather weight that I got at an auction for $40.00 if you can believe it and it works fine.Auctions are a great place to find old machines. My other old machine is an earlier singer hand crank. Got that at a garage/estate sale. I don't recommend that style as it takes too much effort. Even threading it is a challenge. Someday though I would like to use it but only for a small peice. Good luck with your search!

[lhayes1976]

Re: Vintage Machine?

Wow! 40 bucks--lucky you. I'm keepingmy eye out for a Featherweight, but have yet to find one under$200. I'm prettypatient though. I'll just keep looking.

[janluna]

Re: Vintage Machine?

I'm very happy with my Singer Confidence Quilter machine. It has the bigger area that snaps on and plenty of stitches. It also comes with a 1/4" foot, a darning foot, and a walking foot among others. It has proven to be a little work horse. Joann fabric has it on sale for 299.00 marked down from 399.00 frequently. It should be on now or very shortly.
I couldn't afford more and am very happy with mine. It sews like a dream. Check it out.
Hugs, Jan

[debinmalaga]

Re: Vintage Machine?

Thanks Jan! One of these sales I'll hopefully scoop one up. My brother is working well but I like what I'm hearing about the CQ.

[StitchingTime]

Re: Vintage Machine?

I have a Singer 403a that I bought for $20. I had it cleaned and it sews like a charm. I also have a Singer 758 that I bought for $20 and it does a good job too.

Jo Ann

[MissieP]

Re: Vintage Machine?

I have a featherweight and a 201. it is alot easier to find parts for the featherweights. I love them both. Do almost all my sewing on the featherweight.

[janluna]

Re: Vintage Machine?

Hello, For those of you that are in the market for a featherweight machine guaranteed to work well I found a guy by the name of John Bryant of Salisbury, NC. His prices are running from $370.00 to 450.00. And others that go even higher depending on rarity.
But the thing is he makes sure they work and he guarantees them for a year. If something isn't right or if something happens to them, if you ship it to him, he fixes them and pays to ship it back to you. He has quite a few of them. Information is as follows:

John Bryant
[email protected]

https://www.featherweight-poppy.com/john_003.htm

If I ever get the money I'd buy one from him as he seems to really care about the machines and the people he sells them to. If something happens to them, you pay to ship it to him, he fixes it, and he pays to ship it back to you. He and his wife are retired.
They hunt the machines down and he cleans them up fixes what is broke to like new, and resells them. The fact that he guarantees them for a year and also fixes them if they break. Although from what I understand they are hard to break thus the reason they are still around. I just thought if anyone was interested and couldn't find one in an auction or needed one they did find fixed, he'd be a good guy to go to. Hugs, Jan

[janluna]

Re: Vintage Machine?

Hello, For those of you that are in the market for a featherweight machine guaranteed to work well I found a guy by the name of John Bryant of Salisbury, NC. His prices are running from $370.00 to 450.00. And others that go even higher depending on rarity.
But the thing is he makes sure they work and he guarantees them for a year. If something isn't right or if something happens to them, if you ship it to him, he fixes them and pays to ship it back to you. He has quite a few of them. Information is as follows:

John Bryant
[email protected]

https://www.featherweight-poppy.com/john_003.htm

If I ever get the money I'd buy one from him as he seems to really care about the machines and the people he sells them to. If something happens to them, you pay to ship it to him, he fixes it, and he pays to ship it back to you. He and his wife are retired.
They hunt the machines down and he cleans them up fixes what is broke to like new, and resells them. The fact that he guarantees them for a year and also fixes them if they break, I thought was cool. Although from what I understand they are hard to break thus the reason they are still around. I just thought if anyone was interested and couldn't find one in an auction or needed one they did find fixed, he'd be a good guy to go to. Hugs, Jan

[glitzmom]

Re: Vintage Machine?

Featherweight is the ONLY way to go. I found mine on ebay. Awesome machine. I have alot of sewing machine and this is by far my FAVORITE!!!

[zenkitty]

Re: Vintage Machine?

The 301 is a good choice, second only to the Featherweight. They tend to sell cheaper than the FW. It weighs 19 libs.

[lhayes1976]

Re: Vintage Machine?

I bought a Singer 15-91 this weekend. I want to use it for my free motion quilting. So far I love it. I need a darning foot for it though, I've order one on Ebay. Can't wait till it gets here, so I can try it out. My only concern is that is doesn't have a needle down option. I hope I can get used to not having one. Still yearning for a featherweight. I keeping checking Ebay and Craigslist, but I refuse to pay $300.

[Sandy Navas]

Re: Vintage Machine?

I've been trying to avoid this topic because I'm addicted to vintage Singer machines - although I do have many other machines in my 'arsenal'. I'm going to get the newer ones out of the way first so you can start helping me overcome my addiction when you see how far reaching it is . . .
HuskyLock s25 serger / HV Designer Diamond Embroidery / Bernina 650 Deco Embroidery / Brother straight stitch (soon to go, I think) / Nelco (made by Necchi-Elna) which was my very first personal sewing machine right after high school / another Nelco that I bought for parts but found was too good of a machine to try to take apart and the other Nelco works just fine / a Ohio Farmer treadle in cabinet that was produced in the late 1800's - I'm unable to ascertain the birthday exactly / an 1892 Singer treadle with sliding bobbin . . . wrong cabinet, but it sews like a dream and I do use it occasionally (it has what I've been told, a very unusual Pheasant decal and is considered RARE . . . I paid $30 at a garage sale / a 1916 Singer Red Eye - in a hermit-crab cabinet - sews like a dream / another 1916 Singer Red Eye in its original cabinet (bought for the cabinet and need to clean machine and find out if it works well although the seller insisted it did) / a 1932 Singer that has been refurbished and passed to DGDs, in cabinet, sews like a dream / a 1954 Singer in cabinet that has been reconditioned and sews like a dream / a 1939 Singer that's missing the top of the carrying case - this is a Model 66 and I'm awaiting arrival of a new wiring harness since the cords are frayed somewhat, but it sews a great stitch and hums like a baby / the 'twins' are two Singer 99's (the 3/4 size Singer) and they are both absolutely fantastic machines, working well and used very frequently in quilting - plus the granddaughters absolutely love them - they were born in 1956) and then there's the wonderful Patsy Cline, a 221 Featherweight that I recently purchased for less than $200 including shipping - from e-bay . . . and while the motor runs great, with stress it slows down and barely sews along - waiting for replacement foot control and may have to have motor serviced for new brushes on the coils / and then my addiction lead to the purchase of ANOTHER 221 Featherweight and it should arrive here tomorrow or the next day - it's in the handling station 60 miles from here . . .

Does this qualify me for SSS (STOP SEWING SURPLUS) 12-step program. Stay tuned - I think I hear the guys with the little white coats at the front door . . .