Information About A Featherweight Singer 221 Machine

*This post may include affiliate links, which allow me to make a small commission off your purchases. The money keeps the website afloat and is earned at no additional cost to you.

If you are looking for information about a Singer 221 machine (Featherweight), you’ve come to the right place. I have all the information you need along with links to replacement parts below.

Also, check out this YouTube video here to see more commentary on my Featherweight machine.

When was my featherweight born?

Here is a website where I found a lot of great information on Featherweight dates. My machine was born on August 11, 1952. When was your machine born?

Where do I find a manual.

Hopefully, your featherweight came with the original manual. But, if you weren’t so lucky to get a machine with an original copy of the manual, here are a few places where you can pick up a manual online.

Maintenance on Singer 221 Machine.

Singer featherweight requires greasing of the motor once every 6 months (as do most vintage sewing machines). Plus, you have to oil it after every use. I have no complaints about the oiling or greasing. However, I will say you have to be very careful about who you listen to about the best products to use on a featherweight.

There are so many folks online saying Vaseline is closest to the original grease used in the machine. I’m not sure what to believe. But for now, I will stick to using the Sew Retro grease just to be on the safe side.

Wicks

You most likely will need to replace the oil wicks in your machine in 3/16ths size. Here is a link to some wicks.

Featherweight buttonhole attachment box of the dark green variety.

Singer 221 takes standard low shank attachments.

But, you may be interested in getting a buttonholer for your machine. It is not hard to find a buttonhole attachment for the featherweight. However, you must know what you are looking for before making a purchase.

Singer featherweight machines take a buttonholer in a green box. So, you may either purchase the buttonholer (Singer 160506) in the dark green box. Or pick up the buttonhole attachment in that minty green Jetsons styled box (Singer 489500). Please note: there is an earlier version of the 160506 buttonholer in black box. But, those are far less common and harder to find in the second hand market.

Are you giving Singer Featherweight to a child as an heirloom gift?

If you are indeed giving the featherweight to a child for a gift, I recommend purchasing a needle finger guard. The finger guard is needed to protect little fingers from harm. It is an absolute MUST HAVE for a child or even someone new to sewing because it is so easy to sew your fingers with this machine.

The paint finish

I love that my machine came with a paint finish in great shape. However, the awesome paint finish can be a little daunting because it requires more maintenance to keep it in its almost perfect state. When you have a Singer 221 machine with a pristine finish, never ever use dish soap to clean the surface. Instead, use Zymol cleaner wax along with a damp cloth to clean your machine off. If there are small scratches in the surface, buff them out with Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound.

Also place a microfiber towel on the sewing machines bed when not in use. Or, make your own sewing machine bed cover to prevent the machine bed from getting scratched in storage.

Bad paint jobs

When the paint job is already bad, you can’t go wrong with using basic water and Dawn dish soap to clean the surface of your machine. The dish soap will cut straight thru any grease or stains and allow you to begin the process of refinishing. Once a machine is repainted, you’ll need new decals. You can find decals at these links below.

Touch Up Paint

There are many different shades of black. However, the closest modern-day color match to Singer Featherweight black is a GM car color called Black lamp. Here is a link to the black lamp paint.

Internals

My recommendations for cleaning internal parts on a sewing machine remains the same. Use kerosene to clean the gears and internal parts. But, don’t get any on the finish because it can damage vintage paint jobs.

The smell.

Singer 221 machine cases stink because of the glue they used to fasten fabric to the wooden box. Many people strip off all the fabric and re-do it. Personally, I am more interested in storing the original box and placing featherweight in a brand new cedar box. Here is a really nice cedar box I found on Etsy. In addition to the cedar box, there is also an option to get a reproduction box. Here is a link to the reproduction box.

This is how the oil pad pattern looks.

Unfortunately, the box isn’t the only thing that stinks. On the underside of your Singer Featherweight, there is a door that grants you access to the bottom gears. The inside of this door has a felt oil catchment pad. Oftentimes, this oil catchment pad smells horrible. Where there is a stinky pad in place, you will need to scrape it up and replace it with a new one. There are ready-made pads you can buy online. However, there are also templates you can print out to make your own. I have links to both below.

Oil Pad

Oil Pad Pattern + Sticky felt sheets

Replacement Parts List (With Clickable Links)

People loose parts to Singer featherweight machines all the time. But, it doesn’t mean those parts cannot be replaced. Below, I have created a short list of all the parts I could find.

Low Shank Presser Feet

160506 (Dark Green Buttonholer)

489500 ( Jetson’s Buttonholer ) *ONLY BUY TEAL GREEN*

Needle Finger Guard #116863

Bobbin case

Bobbins

Motor Belt

Motor Brush Cap #193543 will fit Singer 15-91 and Singer Featherweight 221.

Needle Plate

Port Cover for Motor Brush

Motor Brush

Foot Pedal