Does Lightning Strike Twice?

Friday I went to another round of estate sales with my friend Sue. This time, it was an apartment in Arlington, VA. The apartment was completely packed, and the company managing the sale couldn't empty the cabinets because there simply weren't any flat surfaces on which to stack the items from the many, many drawers and cabinets. And there was a room devoted to crafts. Yep, that's where I spent my time.

There was a lovely wooden sewing cabinet, priced at $100, and a Janome Jem Gold priced at $150. Nice table, nice machines, but I don't need another machine. Then I looked in the corner, around the stacked boxes and piles of various stuff, and saw something innocuous sitting under a table (which I suspected held yet another sewing machine).

I was curious what was in it, so I picked it up and opened it. This is what I saw.

I didn't look further, but just added it to my pile of stuff from that particular sale. It wasn't until I got home that I unpacked the machine and got to see exactly what I bought.

It's a Singer Featherweight!

Time to play with Google.

Turns out you can find out a lot about these Singers by researching the serial numbers.

Based on the serial number, this machine dates back to 1954.

But that's not all that was in the box.

The accessories box had a ruffler, a zipper foot, a bias binding foot, a brand new 1/4" foot, and another foot I didn't recognize. It also held the bobbin shuttle and a package of needles, plus a spool of thread and some tools.

Don't kill me. Please.
Okay, so how much did I pay for this? The guy pricing everything had no idea the machine was under there -- that's how cluttered the apartment was. And I was buying other stuff, with other people waiting to check out, so he was a little rushed. "Old sewing machine... $25." Yeah, fine!

Unlike the Bernina find from two weeks ago, this one won't be spending a lot of time in the sewing room. I plan to put it through its paces and make sure it runs, and put it up for sale.