My Featherweight is working and a lot prettier

I took a Featherweight class on Friday, November 5, and it was so worth the money.  The teacher was Linda Cover from Modesto.  The class was 4 hours and was held at Quilters Paradise in Clovis.  Linda was an excellent teacher and took us through the general maintenance and running our little Singer Featherweights.  The oldest machine in the class was a 1939 model with the San Francisco Century of Progress Exposition logo.  Linda said it was probably worth approximately $1000.  My little singer is in the $300 to $400 dollar range.

In class we learned how to clean and oil the machines and lubricate the motor.  I also bought Nancy Johnson-Srebro's third edition book "Featherweight 221 The Perfect Portable".  It is very helpful and the pictures are a lot larger than the little manual that my grandmother got with the machine.

My featherweight was manufactured in Elizabethport, New Jersey in December of 1948.  So it is just four years younger than me!  Frankly, it seems to be in better shape.  The inside gears and mechanism was very dirty and I spent most of the class cleaning it thoroughly. I continued cleaning on Sunday.   I still have a lot of restoration to do on the original case.  My mom kept the machine in her closet near the ocean in Southern California and it probably wasn't opened for at least 20 to 25 years.  The case was very musty smelling and Linda gave us as short lesson in restoration.  She suggested that we put a 60 to 100 watt light bulb in a trouble lamp and put that in the case and close the lid on the cord.  First checking to make sure the bulb wasn't touching the sides or bottom.  She said to leave the light on in the case with the lid down for at least 8 hours.  I did that today.  Then the next day she said to wipe it down with 50/50 Clorox and water to kill the rest of the mold and mildew.

The outside of the case is scuffed and the cloth is torn on a couple of the corners.  She suggested gluing it back with a mixture of 50/50 white glue and water.  She said saturate the cloth and then hold it in place until it sticks.  I can then clean the case with mild detergent and dry in the sun.  The use black shoe polish to restore the finish.  I can use fine 0000 steel wool on the aluminum latches.

At the beginning of the class we ran our machines with no thread and the presser bar raised.  She had us listen carefully to each machine.  Then after we completed the oiling and cleaning per the instruction manual we ran our machines once again with no thread.  It was amazing how much quieter each machine ran.  The little 1939 singer was so quite you could hardly hear it run.

Our last step was to thread the machines and put in the bobbin and then sew several rows on a scrap of muslin.  Linda then came to each of our machines and helped us adjust our tension and stitches.  My little baby was very quiet and the stitches were much better after Linda adjusted my tension and the little screw on the bobbin.

I learned so much and the machine is such a joy.  I remember the summer that I was 11 years old we visited my grandmother Inez and she taught me how to embroider.  We went to the drug store and bought some hand towel cotton and a package of iron on transfers.  When we got home I helped her cut the cloth into four towels and she got out her little Singer and hemmed the towels.  I remember thinking that the machine looked like a toy and I really wanted to sew with it.  I had been making doll clothes for a couple of years by hand and my mother made all my dresses for school on her bigger Singer portable.  Mom wouldn't let me sew on her machine and I was too shy to ask my grandmother if I could use hers.  So I helped her iron on the transfers and she taught me how to embroider.  I found those towels when we moved and they are a treasure. I included them in the photo above.