At our guild's quilt show one of our vendors was Bob Harrison, who sells and services vintage Singers. Coral and I flocked to him. He has a great selection and is very knowledgeable. On day one of the show I chose one of his Featherweights to take home. Coral decided to try a Singer 301, which is like the big-sister of a Featherweight, and she ended up going home with it.
On day two of the show Bob brought in another Singer 301 and table. I tried it out. It's only a few pounds heavier than a Featherweight. However different from a Featherweight, it has retractable feed-dogs so you can do free motion quilting on it. It also has a slightly longer arm, slant needle, and is gear driven. After playing with it for a few minutes I was hooked. So I bought that and the table too. I really like the table because the machine sits down flush in it, but it has the insert piece to cover the hole so that you can use it as a card table too. Even though the legs fold up, it's still a very sturdy table.
Once home I checked them out fully and started playing with them. I quickly realized that though the Featherweight is the darling of the vintage sewing machine market, my heart went to the 301. This thing sews so fast - it whips down a seam in no time with no puckering or shifting. I find myself going up to my sewing room every day just to look at it, yeah it's love.
References:
A Fine Line Quilt Studio
Bob Harrison - Bob's Featherweights
Learn more about the Singer 301
Sew-Classic Blog - Vintage Singer Parts & Info
