Lucy Rees
Sandi Price
It’s tiny, it’s cute, and it’s still a real workhorse. Plus, it just might be the most desirable sewing machine in history. The Singer Featherweight sewing machine models 221 and 222 were produced from 1933 to 1968, and if you are lucky, you can still find some of them in thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets. One of our Material Girls Club members found one in our Robson Ranch garage sale last year, and it was the steal of the century.
Why is this machine so desirable? It only weighs 11 pounds, so it is easy to carry to classes. Even though it only does straight stitches unless you can find rare attachments, those stitches are perfect, and it will even sew through heavy denim.
The original cost of this beauty in 1933 was only about $125. Singer decided to start remanufacturing the model 221 Featherweight in white, and today it sells for $800 to $2,000. At least six of our members own an original machine, including Janice Martin, Mary Hunter, Lucy Rees, Vicki Batten, Debbi Davis, and me, too. Today, most of the new sewing machines are heavy, so it is a relief to be able to cart the 11-pound machine to sewing events.
Lucy Rees is one of the lucky ones. She not only found an original machine, she also found a number of attachments with it that I have never seen before.