There has long been big debate among Featherweight people as to whether or not Featherweight sewing machines should be re-painted.
At Fabulous Singer Featherweights we struggled for a while with who was correct. Our conclusion was that both sides had good arguments and that both were correct. Okay, maybe that is fence sitting.
A lot of people like the idea of having a “different” Featherweight than the traditional black and some people think that colored machines should be a no-no. To each his own.
We decided to have machines re-painted and sell them along with our traditional black machines. People love the re-painted machines as much as the traditional black machines. We have sold colored machines as far away as Germany. We have sold both re-painted 222K and 221 Featherweights. We call these machines 'RESTORED', and sell them in their own category on our store, so that it is clear which machines are 'original' and which are 'restored'.
The machines that we have had re-painted are machines that had serious cosmetic problems but that mechanically were sound. Under no conditions would we take a machine that is in good cosmetic condition and have it re-painted.
Re-painted Featherweights (usually not black in color) are done with the utmost professional care. All removable parts are removed. The black paint is removed. An etching primer is used on the aluminum body. Several coats of a top quality automotive paint is put onto the machine. The decals are installed and then several coats of a clear-coat finish are applied. All re-painting is done by professionals.
The machine is then re-assembled and tested. Only when the machine runs and sews as well as all the non-painted machines is the re-painted Featherweight ready to be presented for sale.
Machines that we re-paint are ones that almost everyone would have originally rejected. By re-painting them they have been given another life and an opportunity to be loved and cherished just as much as original black Featherweights are loved and cherished by those who own them.
