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BROWSE SCHOOLHOUSE
The White Featherweight 221K
Produced from the mid to late 1960's in Kilbowie Scotland, this machine was something fresh and new to the Singer Featherweight market. The official Singer color was called "Pale Turquoise", but the machine was often times more white or pale green in appearance depending on the casting light. For ease of reference, naming it the White Featherweight has become common place and known throughout the world. So, whether you hear of a pale or celery green, pale turquoise or white Featherweight, they are all in reference to this same model machine. With its interior toothed belt, it was considered in its day to be a high-tech upgrade to the standard black model. If the interior belt ever needed to be replaced, however, it would have to be done at the factory. In all the years of servicing Featherweights, we have only ever had one white machine that had a worn out belt. That machine was so well worn and cosmetically abused, it appeared to have been used in a factory.
Below you will see some of the distinctions that make the White Featherweight unique from the standard black 221.
The machine has no gold decals and the bed extension is shorter. Black painted lettering are limited to the light housing and the back arm of the machine.
Bed extension is pressed on with pins and does not have screws that keep it in place.
The bottom tray is a masonite board and is held on with a small screw.
Underneath the White Featherweight, you can see where the belt continues down and connects to the rotating hook shaft. Looks quite a bit different than the black and tan Featherweights, doesn't it? Do not get any oil or grease on the internal black belt on a white Featherweight.
The presser bar spring sits outside of the presser bar on a White Featherweight, whereas this spring is placed inside the presser bar on black and tan Featherweights and is accessed by unscrewing the screw on the top of the machine. The two styles are not interchangeable, but they serve identical purposes, maintaining pressure on the presser foot.
Electrical Cord and Foot Controller are hard-wired into the machine whereas on the black and tan Featherweights the cord is plugged into the machine as a separate unit.
This particular case had a very pretty light purple houndstooth
paper lining.
A softer sided vinyl case, usually found in Canada, was available in two colors. The bluish-grey (above) and bold red (below.
As you can see there were many differences between the black Featherweights and the White ones. In spite of all these minor cosmetic and mechanical differences, the machine still classified as a 221 model machine. Stitch formation and lightweight portability continued to keep it in a class all by itself.