You needed to organise time to purchase fabric and make your outfit before for an event. For example, if you needed a new outfit, it wasn’t always possible to go the shops, try a whole lot of outfits on and purchase one. You had to be so much more proactive in your daily life. And in some ways yes, however I think daily activities were a lot harder. I’ve often heard the term ‘things were simpler back then’. Sometimes out of necessity and sometimes for the love of it. More often than not, I find myself in a fascinating conversation about a Mother, Grandmother or Great Aunt who once loved and used their vintage sewing machine. As well as finding out the age of a vintage sewing machine I’ve just brought, I always make a point to ask the seller about the life of a machine. I love history, especially social history. Serial Numbers – Where to find them on different brandsįind Out Your Sewing Machine’s Life Story.Visual Clues – Decals, Type of Bobbin Case, Treadles, Brand.I will keep adding to this post as I collect different brands and find more out about them. Great Britain Made 221K Machines at the Kilbowie, Scotland PlantįA machines were manufactured from May 1969 to April 1970įB machines were manufactured from April 1970 to June 1971Ĭandian Made 221J Machines at the St.One of the first things I think about when looking at vintage sewing machines is how old is it? When was it made? and does it have a story? Luckily, there are clues I can share with you to determine the age of your vintage machine. Lay your machine on its back and look on the left hand side of the main body (not the folding extension table).Īmerican Made 221 Machines at the Elizabethport, New Jersey Plant Serial numbers for Singer Featherweights are located on a raised boss on the underside of the machine. You can quickly determine which plant your machine was manufactured in by looking at the serial number on the bottom of your machine. John's (actually Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu), Quebec, Canada. Singer Featherweights were manufactured in three different plants: Elizabethport, New Jersey in the USA Clydebank, Kilbowie, Scotland in Great Britain and St. They will not be found to be perfect, or absolutely correct, but are provided as an aid for your use and enjoyment. These dates and the information in this table relied heavily on many others' research for which I am deeply indebted, as well as my own. Therefore, the following dates can be considered to be "close". However, the serial number on the machine is from 1949.
The date often given by the Singer corporation as a machine's "birthdate" is actually the date the batches of serial numbers were released for production.Īs a classic example: I own a 1951 "badged" Centennial of Sewing machine that obviously is from 1951. The following chart is provided to help you have a better idea of when your Singer Featherweight was manufactured.