My Mother’s Featherweight

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I remember this little beauty being set up in the breakfast nook of our house when I was growing up but do not remember my mother ever using it. I had totally forgotten about it until about 15 years ago when my cousin, who is a quilter, reminded me that Mom had a sewing machine and informed me that it was a Featherweight.

Having not taken up quilting at that point, I had no idea of the significance of something called a Featherweight and didn’t even really look for it. A few years later, when I did begin quilting, we went through the storage locker and there was the little black carrying case in which the Featherweight had been for at least 35 years, untouched. Off it went to a Singer repair shop to have a good going over and I’ve been rather happily using it, on and off, ever since.

It is in fantastic shape. I really doubt it got much, if any, use at all when it was brand new. In the carrying case, there was a receipt from a repair shop Mom had taken it to at one point. I wonder if she got frustrated by whatever the problem was and it languished in its carrying case. Whatever happened, I am very grateful that she kept it all those years.

It was a very strange weekend. Friday it was very hot, with humidex readings around 30C. Saturday morning we woke up to rumbling thunder and lots of rain. While it was warm during the day, the temperature at night dropped to about 14C. Summer seems to not want to grace us with more than a tease or two of nice hot weather. Usually by this time we’ve had at least a few days, here and there, of nice hot humid weather. Not this year! I hope August is better than July has been so far. I barely feel like we’ve had a chance to thaw out from winter yet!

Smudge, curled up with the leather jacket teddy bear:


And Lester snoozing on the windowsill:

19 thoughts on “My Mother’s Featherweight”

  2. Cathi, the story about your Mom's Featherweight is exactly like mine. My Mom wasn't a sewer at all. My Dad bought the machine for her when he returned from WWII thinking I suppose that all housewives needed a sewing machine. As a child I recall my Mom having nothing but problems with the machine when she tried to mend something because I think that's all she ever used it for. I now have and covet her machine and it works like a charm. It too appears like it just came out of it's case. I wrote about it in one of the older posts on my blog.I use it for piecing and it is truly a workhorse. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. You are so lucky to have your mom's Featherweight and in such perfectly fabulous condition!!! I love my little Featherweight (bought on ebay) but yours has the wonderful scroll design. What a treasure. Love the snoozing boys. Come visit GA if you want summer, we always have plenty to spare:)

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  7. I have no idea what mom did with her featherweight. I sewed a lot of school clothes on that little machine. I'm pretty sure she ended up selling it in a garage sale for $10 or something LOL.Crispy

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  8. Delightful story about your Mom's Featherweight sewing machine. I hope that you use it and enjoy it. I own a featherweight and sadly never use it. I learned to sew on my grandmother's treadle.

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  9. Oh, you are a lucky girl to have a featherweight. I would love to have one. I have my MIL's older Singer in a cabinet and it still works like a dream. It was made in the 50's I believe. I love the pictures of the boys as usual. Winona

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  12. Beautiful featherweight. I love mine. Have you gone to the featherweight website and looked up the year it was made? I took mine to Florida one time to sew curtains and pillows for my daughter. It performed like a charm! My husband asked why I didn't leave it there to sew on in the future. I looked at him like he had 4 heads!

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