Featherweight
1960 ER900309, 1953 EJ267731, 1954 EJ913683
Free arm portable machine.
Straight stitch.
Also comes as a flatbed machine the 221k.
Highly sought after and collectable.
This page added May 2023, updated Dec 2024.
The 222k free arm featherweight was released in Europe as well as Australia, possibly other countries as well. I am no expert so won’t even try to go into depth about the history of this machine. If you want more information, I can suggest you go to The Singer Featherweight Shop (singer-featherweight.com) they also have the manual available for free download on their website.
December 2024 Update….My first 222 came to me in January 2022, it is a 1960 Red S. The second machine followed soon after in February 2022 and is a 1953 manufacture. I was then happy enough with 2 machines and did not search for more as they are very expensive. As it would happen, in November 2024, I saw a 222 advertised at auction and it was described as a 221. I know enough now to recognise that the 222 fetches sometimes double the price of the 221, so I put in the opening bid. I won the auction as only bidder and I was happy to meet the reserve price. So now I have three 222K machines and in my collection and I could not be happier. All three have their attachments and cases. One case is pretty beat up, in time I will restore it. There are some very creative people out there that have revamped cases and I might just do that with my broken case.
Jan 2022. All I can do is describe this little gem that I found locally. It has been in my collection since 2022, having purchased it from the owner on FB marketplace. Neither I nor the seller at the time had any idea how collectable a machine it was, I guess I just was in the right place at the right time. I did not know anything about featherweights, except people collected them.
Getting the machine home and doing some quick research I discovered I had been very lucky indeed. I opened the box and was hit by a “new car smell”, everything was just lovely for a 60-year-old machine. It looked like someone had used it lightly then put it away to sleep. Nothing is seized and nothing is corroded, even the rubber/plastic that coats the electrical wires is pristine. Not only was the machine in extremely good condition, it is also a “RED S”. At first, I was perplexed, so what did RED S mean? Well, it has a red badge, that is all. As far as I can tell the RED S are the same as other 222s. The photos below are of the machine when I got it home.
I have since been loath to touch it, as I wanted to learn more about these early machines, before I did anything wrong. So the machine has sat in its box for the last year and a half. One day soon I will get her out, then clean, polish and oil her.
Below are the photos I took back in 2021.
Accessories
Darning foot
Each 222 came with a standard set of accessories, one in particular which was unique to the 222 and did not come with the 221 is embroidery & darning foot attachment .
You can find more information on this foot at the Singer Featherweight Shop. Singer Featherweight 222K Embroidery & Darning Foot (Vintage Original) – The Singer Featherweight Shop
Swiss Zigzagger & Walking Foot
I acquired the Swiss Zigzagger & Walking Foot complete in 2025. I admit I will never use it, but it is a lovely little piece of craftsmanship and I’ll be putting it in with my RedS 222. According to the Featherweight shop it not only zigzags but is a waling foot as well. This particular one is made in Switzerland and found in a small bakelite cream coloured box, it is much sought after by collectors. Luckily for me, mine came with a 1940, 15k that I picked up cheaply. The attachments came originally with 5 zigzag disks, later they came with 10. From what I can tell my zigzagger is the original 5 disk model and then later the previous owner added the later 5 disks, as proof by the cardboard document below. Currently in 2025 these are selling, (as in actual selling, not just for sale) for between $400 AUD locally here in Australia, to well over $800 AUD for a full set imported from the featherweight shop in the U.S.A. So once again I was very glad to find this little gem at a bargain price.
