I was going to do a post catching up with our happenings here: lots of kiddy activities (off to the county fair tomorrow!) and a little bit of knitting, virtually no sewing 😦
But today I went yard saling (something that we don’t have in Ireland, and I love going to yard sales!) and not only did I find quilting scraps, but look at this!!!!!! I didn’t realize it was a featherweight till I got it home, it looked like a 60s or 70s machine, and I thought featherweights were more antique for some reason. This is a 1964 221K featherweight which I bought for $3. I looked it up on Google and the first link helped me date it and the second link had my exact 1964 machine bidded up to $260 on Ebay, wow!! It seems to work fine except it is missing its bobbin case, machine is purring though and it is in great cosmetic condition as well… I thought I could see if it worked and keep it for trips home to America, but now am thinking I might like it back in Ireland…though I’d have to get a transformer to bring the 220 current down to 110… Anyone have any experience with this with Featherweights??? I am so excited!!!!!!!
In other news, I am making progress on my sock knitting.
Mom is feeling well enough to come out with us twice this weekend, woo hoo!!
We’ve had a great time visiting with family and friends, and I’ve spent a lot of the week helping clean and fix things and organize things, so feel useful 🙂 Hope everyone else is having a great summer. Tomorrow off to my first county fair!!
Celtic Knots 
August 3, 2008 at 8:05 am
Cathi, it’s great to see your mum looking so well, send her hugs from me, and what a find with that featherweight
August 3, 2008 at 8:11 am
Lucky lucky you. That really is the find of the Century. If it was me I’d have to take it home with me.
Your Mum is looking really well.
Have a great time at the country fair.
August 3, 2008 at 8:41 am
OMG Cathi, I’m so envious of your Featherweight purchase. I can’t even imagine how thrilled you must be. That is the find of the century!
*hugs*
Tazzie
🙂
August 3, 2008 at 10:23 am
wow, what a beauty – such a great find – I think i’d take it back to Ireland with you, just to look at 🙂 Radio Shack has transformers – in fact, actually, I have a spare one I will give you in September if you like. they aren’t very expensive, though…
August 3, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Great news about the featherweight but even better news about your Mum. Continued good wishes to her xx
August 3, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Sounds like you are having the perfect summer holiday – the girls look very happy and Mom is looking well! I’m sure she loves having you all around.
Cheers!
Evelyn
August 3, 2008 at 1:21 pm
congratulation, firstable to your Mom’s good day and of course to this great buy. Can’t believe the price. I’m interested int he transform answers, because I’m the lucky owner of an American machine and need the opposite one ….
August 3, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Wow! A Featherweight for $3! And a white one! Wow! You have a great find there girl! Keep it and take home with you, they are the best little machines to work on. I have a 1947 one myself, and love it! Here is a website you can get more info: http://www.singer-featherweight.com/
Mom looks good in the pictures! Glad to hear she was able to get out with you guys for an outing, I’m sure that cheered her up. Sorry I didn’t get to meet her when I was up there.
Beth
August 3, 2008 at 2:34 pm
What a find! I love yard sales too – its amazing what kind of things you can find. I’m still waiting to find a featherweight but I haven’t given up hope!
August 3, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I have a twin to your featherweight, although I don’t remember the year off of the top of my head. When it arrived (ebay purchase) it too was missing the bobbin case. I asked the seller who said he didn’t have one, does it need it???? DUH! I found a fellow online to order from. He asks some questions, apparently there are two versions of the bobbin case depending on when the FW was made.I can try to find his email if you are interested, I was most satisfied with his help. Congratulations on such a great find.
August 3, 2008 at 3:27 pm
wow.
a featherweight for $3.
that’s crazy…but SO to your benefit.
lol.
congrats to your mom’s good day.
:O)
August 3, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Apparently the seller of the FW didn’t know its worth. I have one that looks white but is called green. It has a case like yours. There’s a wonderful FW book and most any quilt shop sells them. It tells you anything you would want to know about FWs. One like yours can sell up in the hundreds of dollars. Congratulations.
August 3, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Hi Cathi.
The machine is great, I dont think you would have any problem with a transformer if you brought it home. That is a great photo of your mom with the girls, she looks wonderful, tell her hello and keep getting better. Baptized Catherine today, pictures will be on the blog soon.Take care and see you soon.
August 3, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Good to see your mom up and smiling! What a buy on the Featherweight. There’s a guy in Florida who knows everything about FWs and carries lots of parts. His name is Glenn Williams and his email is gwillie37@aol.com
Connie and I bought our FWs from him and he has an excellent reputation for knowledge and service. Enjoy!
August 4, 2008 at 12:18 am
Here are a couple of links for you:
Dave M has a great DVD on cleaning and maintaining your featherweight
Graham Forsdyke’s website is a treasure and he is in the UK
plus there is a Yahoo Group for Featherweight Fans
August 4, 2008 at 1:19 am
So glad that your mom is feeling a bit better! Been thinking about you!
August 4, 2008 at 12:37 pm
HOORAY…what a fanstatic find that little while beauty–happy day! We don’t have yard sales or garage sales much in Norway either–so I miss them too! So glad to see you mom looking so good and out & about! :o) Have fun at the fair! Oh, stop by to see me if you can–I’m having some gift giveaway fun this week at my place :o)
August 4, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I’m glad your mom can enjoy being with your girls. That’s a very sweet photo of them together. Good for you and your very savvy sewing machine purchase! You should be proud!
August 5, 2008 at 11:24 am
We don’t have yard sales here either,and I miss them too. Fantastic find!!!
and, so very happy to see your Mum able to go out with you.
August 5, 2008 at 1:55 pm
OMG – what a find! I thought my DH found mine for a stead when it was under 150!! Glad your Mom was able to get out.
August 5, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I have a black featherweight – a bit different from yours, but I love it. It makes such straight even stitches. You can’t do anything facy like zig zag or drop the feed dogs, but oh, I have made a slew of stuff on it. Yea for a wonderful find! And yea for your mom! She continues to be in my thoughts and prayers.
August 6, 2008 at 1:40 am
Cathi, mom looks great! What a positive post about her getting out-it makes me happy!
Congrats on the new machine…and not only is it a featherweight, but its a rare one…celery/white colored ones are hard to find!
August 6, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Hi cathi!
It’s so great to see you and the girls! Every time we see little blonde and red headed girls, we say, “We miss Aisling and Aine!” I’m glad to see you out and about with your mom. It looks like you guys are having a great time! Are you ready to go back to Ireland yet?
We are in Maryland visiting my mom.
E-mail me when you get a chance!
Miss you,
Terri
tandadinallo@aol.com
August 6, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Oh man, I just LOVE yard-saling! Such happy memories of doing that with my Grams. 🙂 They don’t have them here, either. You really made some great finds – not only the super cool Singer, but those fabbies are scrumptious.
Your mom’s looking GREAT!! Please give her my greetings!
August 7, 2008 at 2:55 am
In one of the earlier comments someone mentioned Graham Forsdyke. He’s definitely the man you want to contact regarding your Featherweight, and what’s more, he’s in the U.K. So, he should definitely be able to give you suggestions / answers regarding the necessary electric converter for the machine. I imagine that he should also be able to see you a bobbin case. There is a Featherweight group on Yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/featherweight/ and Graham posts there very often. I hope that all this information is helpful. Please post some pics of any projects that you make with your new “baby”. Good luck and enjoy the machine! That really is a great find. Take care, Jay (one of the rare male quilters)
August 7, 2008 at 4:23 am
Wow, what a great buy!
August 8, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I paid $300 for one just like it, and that was about 10 years ago. It sews like a dream and is great for putting on bindings, even on slippery fabrics like satin.
Any Singer store should be able to get a bobbin case for you.
Are all the feet and attachments in the case, too? Does it have the original manual? If so, that’s fabulous, but for $3, who could complain if it doesn’t?
This white (which it was supposed to be and there are all kinds of folktales about why some are a very lightly tinted green) is less common than the black, not so rare as the tan. The extension, you will have noticed, is a little smaller than the black ones.
August 10, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Oh my but you found yourself a great deal! What good fortune and a sweet little treasure to take with you back to Ireland. 🙂
August 11, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Thought I would stop by to see your white FW after reading about your $3 find on featherweight@yahoo. Great find! I love your blog and your family and friends are sweethearts.
Thank you for brightening my day.
August 12, 2008 at 3:52 am
Hi. Saw your post to the Vintage Singer / Featherweight mail list, had to check out the pics of your treasure. She’s a beauty and what a deal!! Now you’ll have to start hunting for accessories. (It’s a slippery slope.)
I’m the proud owner of a ‘celery’ FW, too. Her name is Tinkerbell and loves to travel. (Her favorite is to tease the TSA agents working the xray machines. *wink*)
Congratulations!!
August 21, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Congratulations on the Viewers Choice. What a fun exciting time. Enjoy your last few days with family. It will be nice to get back to your own digs.
August 22, 2008 at 9:04 am
hi cathi! i read on apron thrift girl’s blog that you, too, like to thrift! have you got any tips for me, i live in ireland as well and it’s so hard to find cute fabrics and other things, do you know of any upcoming car boot sales in the dublin/meath/louth area?
cheers
péitseoga
September 3, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Your Dear Jane quilt is awesome.
September 5, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Hoping you are all settling back into your routine. Congrats on the win at the show…. who wouldn’t love that quilt??!!!
September 9, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Dear Cathi–congrats on the featherweight. If you contact me I know someone who can fix you up, bobbin case and all, and her prices are reasonable. She’s helped me often with my collection of old machines.
July 3, 2010 at 6:47 am
[…] a yard sale sewing machine again this time… I doubt I’ll have such luck as to find a three dollar Singer Featherweight again this time […]