OldSewinGear News Reviews & How To's

Got Steel? Singer 301 - the Featherweight's Big Sister

10/26/2014

Singer 301 Slant Needle "Featherweight"

Looking for a straight-stitch sewing machine? Direct drive motor? Steel gears?

There are a number of phenomenal vintage Singer sewing machines that will fill the bill; 15-91, 15-125, 201-1, 404, and 604 to name a few.

BUT, if you also want a lightweight portable, then the Singer 301 Slant Needle is the machine for you. Especially if you love the Singer 221 Featherweight but want a full-size machine for larger projects. In fact, the 301 is affectionately nicknamed "The Featherweight's Big Sister."

While it shares a number of features with the 221 Featherweight, the 301 is mechanically very different from the Featherweight.

Featherweight-class bobbin

The 301 is the first of Singer's legendary steel-gear direct-drive slant-needle family. Cast in lightweight aluminum, it's the only slant needle that doesn't have a rotary hook placed in front of the presser foot. Instead, the 301 uses the same bobbin as the 221 Featherweight, which mounts beneath the platform to the left of the needle.

Singer 301 "Trapezoid" carry case

The 301 has a flip-up sewing platform extension similar to the 221 Featherweight, and it was designed to be a portable sewing machine. It has a built-in carry handle and was packaged in a distinctive trapezoid-shaped carrying case.

Singer offered the 301 in two versions. The "long bed" version had a longer flip-up table, similar in length to the smaller Featherweight. The "short-bed" version had a shorter flip-up table conforming to the standard dimensions of the 201, 401, & 500.

The long-bed was designed to be strictly portable, while the short-bed could be used as a portable or cabinet machine when paired with a special bracket.

Cabinet cradle for Singer 301

Because it was intended to be portable, the 301 does not have hinge mounts. Which presented a bit of a problem if you want to mount the machine in a conventional cabinet.

Singer solved this problem by producing a funky cradle that clips onto the base of the 301. The cradle has standard hinge mounts enabling the machine to be mounted into a Singer cabinet.

The machine releases from the cradle with the press of a lever, further enhancing it's status as the perfect portable. (See "Rock-a-bye Baby: Singer 301 Cabinet Cradle" for more details. )

Singer also produced a portable table for the 301, similar to the card-table for the 221 Featherweight. But these tables are extremely rare, so happy hunting!

Long Bed 301 in "Trapezoid" case

The 301 head weighs a mere 16 pounds, but the overall weight with foot control and motor is closer to 22 pounds. Significantly lighter than the 15-91, which is a cast-iron behemoth or even the 401 which is cast aluminum with a lot of internal steel components.

When it comes to power, the 301 has the gear-driven chops to handle heavy fabrics but is gentle enough for fine dressmaking and quilting too. It's a domestic machine with a .72 amp motor so it isn't meant for day-in, day-out heavy duty sewing but it will do the job beautifully on an occasional basis.

The 301 also features a convenient drop-feed knob for darning or free motion work. Buttonhole and zigzagger attachments are avaiable for additional creative design flexibility.

So if you love the Featherweight but want a larger machine without belts, the 301 is the one for you! Lightweight enough to carry to quilting classes but with heavy duty power for hemming jeans or tackling light upholstery jobs too.

Got steel? The 301 Slant Needle sure does!

HappySewing!
Barbara
OldSewinGear...dedicated to helping you get the most out of your old sewing gear.

Special thanks to readers David, Lisalu, and Ann for sharing experiences and research that led me to make significant revisions to this article in the interests of accuracy and clarity.

22 Comments

You Zig, I'll Zag

11/30/2013

10 Comments

Singer Zigzag attachments

Just this week I had a rare opportunity to compare three Singer zigzag attachments at the same time.

Singer introduced zigzaggers early in the 20th century. Over the next few decades the concept progressed from no-frills to fancy.

Let's take a closer look at three examples:

Singer Adjustable Zigzag Attachment # 121706

No-frills model with instruction manual dated 1939. For low-shank vertical needle machines only.

Singer Zigzag Attachment # 160620

Compact zigzagger with black & white jacket. Instruction manual dated 1950. Available in low-shank or slant-needle models.

Singer Automatic Zigzagger #161158

Advanced zizagger with interchangeable pattern discs. Available in low-shank and slant-needle models.

Zigzag attachments 121706, 160620, 161158

It was a real privileage to line these three examples up and marvel at the ingenuity of the inventors who made it possible for a straight-stitch machine to sew a zigzag stitch.

So if you're looking to increase the creative potential of your straight-stitch machine, keep your eye out for one of these marvelous inventions!

Happy Sewing!
Barbara
OldSewinGear...dedicated to helping you get the most out of your old sewing gear.

10 Comments

Sewing Retro - Why buy a vintage sewing machine?

9/15/2013

6 Comments

Are you:

in the market for a sewing machine?
wondering how to get the most bang for your buck?
getting conflicting information from friends, families, consumer guides, and/or salespeople?
Overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may be suffering from...

OK, you get the picture, so we'll stop right there. The good news and bad news is there's no special "syndrome" name for what you're going through. You're just a typically confused consumer like the rest of us.

We can't solve all of your problems, but maybe we can answer a couple of questions and help you clarify some of your options.

If you're reading this blog, then you're likely considering the merits of a vintage sewing machine versus a new sewing machine. Perhaps you've been told by friends or family that vintage is the way to go. You may be asking:

"Why should I buy a vintage sewing machine?"

It's a fair question. Whatever decision you make, buying a sewing machine is an investment and most of us can't afford to choose unwisely.

Vintage isn't for everyone, but here are my top 5 reasons to buy vintage:

1. Metal.
In the old days, almost everything was made from metal and was built to last. These days it's plastic and it breaks if you breath on it, let alone USE it.

2. Fix-ability.
We live in a throw-away society. In the old days if something broke, you could grab a screwdriver and figure out a way to fix it. These days you can't even find the screws. Manufacturers today expect that if it breaks, you'll throw it away and buy a new one.
Not what you want to hear if you just spent several hundred (or thousand) dollars on a sewing machine.

3. Style.
Curvy metal and glossy paint wins out over molded plastic anyday in my book.

4. Power.
Almost any all-metal vintage machine can hem a pair of jeans, and you can find one for under $200. But if you want a brand-new jeans-hemming machine, you'll have to pay a heavy duty price. Even then it will still be plastic and un-fixable if anything goes wrong with it.

5. Nostalgia.
There is nothing like sewing on "Grandma's" machine, even when it's somebody else's grandmother. I learned to sew on my grandmother's Singer Featherweight and these days my sister's grandchildren are learning to sew on the very same machine.

So there you have it, my top 5 reasons for buying a vintage sewing machine.

I mainly write about Singer machines on this blog, but there are so many wonderful vintage machines to choose from...Pfaff, Bernina, Viking, Japanese...

My advice is to ask questions, do your homework, and find the right machine for YOU.

Happy Sewing!
Barbara
OldSewinGear...dedicated to helping you get the most out of your old sewing gear.

6 Comments

Auto Reel vs Touch & Sew

7/22/2013

15 Comments

Singer 600 Auto Reel Sewing Machine

Pop Quiz, everyone!

What do you think when someone says "Singer Touch & Sew"?

Great machine? Plastic garbage?

What do you think when someone says "Singer Auto Reel"?

Great machine? Plastic garbage? Never heard of it?

Sorry, trick question. "Auto Reel" is what Singer called their new 600 Slant-o-Matic before someone thought up the name "Touch & Sew."

In fact the only difference between the earliest 600 Touch & Sew and the 600 Auto Reel is a new nameplate and a couple of rivets.

Time for a side-by-side comparison!

Singer 600 Auto Reel
Serial Number AN663953

Singer 600 Auto Reel

Auto Reel nameplate

Singer 600 Touch & Sew
Serial Number AN689066

Singer 600 Touch & Sew

Touch & Sew nameplate riveted over top of Auto Reel name.

Whatever name you call it, the Singer 600 is a vintage Singer slant needle worthy of attention. It's not a very attractive machine with its square styling and gray plastic face-plate. But it's graced with steel gears just like the classic Slant-o-Matics. The horizontal spool pin feeds smoothly and the wind-in-place bobbin is an improvement over the top-mounted Rocketeer bobbin winder.

It doesn't have as many built-in stitch settings as the 401 or 500, but it has the stitch patterns that matter and it sews a fine quality stitch.

Singer refined the bobbin winding mechanism when they introduced the 600E. The bobbin-winder button is located on the front right corner of the 600, but it's tucked inside the bobbin compartment on the later 600E.

So next time you see or hear "Singer Auto Reel" you'll know it's worth taking a look!

Happy Sewing!
Barbara
OldSewinGear...dedicated to helping you get the most out of your old sewing gear.

15 Comments

To Greist or Not to Greist?

6/8/2013

24 Comments

Greist Sewing Machine Attachments

One of the things I most enjoy about my job is tracking down the "correct" accessories for the sewing machines we sell.

Which makes me a bit of a snob when it comes to sewing machine accessories. If I'm selling a vintage Singer machine, I really want all of the attachments to have the "Singer" or "Simanco" mark.

But is that really necessary? There are a lot of vintage attachments out there with the "Greist Manufacturing Company" mark. Are they somehow inferior? Does the "Singer" mark automatically make an attachment better?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Obviously it matters if you are assembling a collector quality set of attachments for your Singer machine. But if functionality is your goal, then Greist attachments may be a viable alternative. Because vintage Greist attachments are sometimes nearly identical to Singer attachments.

Why so?

You guessed it...time for a history lesson!

Greist Manufacturing Company was founded by John M. Greist, an inventor who was employed by Singer to design sewing machine attachments. Greist is the inventor behind the iconic "Puzzle Box" attachments kit for Singer treadle machines. The patent was filed in 1889 by Greist but assigned to Singer. Greist Manufacturing Company went on to produce sewing machine attachments for many different sewing machine makers, including Morse and White.

Greist also manufactured attachments for Singer. I haven't been able to determine how many Singer-marked attachments were made by Greist's factory, but Singer clearly outsourced buttonholers to Greist in the late 1950's and early 1960's. A side by side comparison (Singer at left, Greist at right) confirms it:

As you can see, the box design and presentation are identical and the buttonholers themselves are similar in shape and size.

A closer look reveals that the only difference is the shape and color of the plastic cover.

Singer (top) and Greist instructions.

When it came to the instruction booklet, the source of the Singer buttonholer is even more obvious. Again, the books are identical, right down to the illustration in the Singer (pink) book clearly show the Greist-shaped cover!

So the next time you see a sewing machine attachment marked "Greist" don't be too quick to dismiss it. Greist produced quaility products and had a long history of partnership with Singer. So if it fits your machine, go ahead and use it!

Happy Sewing!
Barbara
OldSewinGear...dedicated to helping you get the most out of your old sewing gear.

24 Comments

<<Previous

Got Steel? Singer 301 - the Featherweight's Big Sister

You Zig, I'll Zag

Singer Adjustable Zigzag Attachment # 121706

Singer Zigzag Attachment # 160620

Singer Automatic Zigzagger #161158

Sewing Retro - Why buy a vintage sewing machine?

Auto Reel vs Touch & Sew

To Greist or Not to Greist?

News, Reviews,
& How-To's

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Got Steel? Singer 301 - the Featherweight's Big Sister

You Zig, I'll Zag

Singer Adjustable Zigzag Attachment # 121706

Singer Zigzag Attachment # 160620

Singer Automatic Zigzagger #161158

Sewing Retro - Why buy a vintage sewing machine?

Auto Reel vs Touch & Sew

To Greist or Not to Greist?

News, Reviews, & How-To's

Contact Us

Categories

Archives

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿About Us

News, Reviews,
& How-To's

About Us