I have great interest in machinery: not in how they work, but what they can do.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with my Singer Featherweight 222K since I was acquainted with it in June.
Manufactured between 1956 to 1963, they certainly don’t make them like they used to.
Still in awe of how well-designed and well-made it is. And what a pleasure it is to use.
It had been sitting in Tony’s Sewing Centre on Fortess Road, a local second-hand sewing machine shop run by an Italian couple in their fifties, before I went in one day and announced that I was looking for a 221 or 222.
“So you’ve done your research,” Tony said. “Come back tomorrow and we can talk business.”
I went back the next day as agreed and Tony beckoned me to pick up this case near the window.
And this, was waiting inside.
The machine also comes with a well-used copy of the instruction manual, a box of accessories (that I’ve yet to explore) and an empty bottle of Singer oil from the era. “Just because…” Tony said with a shrug. Ah, Tony is one of those who gets it.
After being shown the condition and the perfect stitches the machine can make, I asked, “So how much will it be?”
“The question is, how much do you want it to be?” Tony replied.
Thus we continued our little dance until I left the shop with my little (but very heavy) black case and a beaming face.
Replies
Julia: Have you seen the happiest ferret in the world? It’s my favourite one on Youtube. Thank you for the Beijing tips, I’ll let you know if I make it there. Whenever I go home to Singapore, I’m trapped as my mum gets moody if I try to go somewhere else. As for your comments about the fakes, it reminds me of this quote: “The shoes are original. It’s just the brands that are fake.” Not that I agree, but interesting notion.
Maypeck: Alison says you look very happy and K looks like a very nice person. Ferry likes sleeping on her back, with her tummy exposed and arms in the air, like Frankenstein’s monster! But she is generally quiet. I might bring her on Thursday, remember to be there! Good for you that you are finally heading back, I’m going in November. And I can’t believe you are mistaken for anything than a Londoner with your unmistakable West London accent. As for Twitter, I’ll put it back to public access soon, for you!
Vanessa and petoskystone: It’s funny how similar the Era/Authentic looks to Keds but Vans just have that “extra”.
jocady: Thanks for the warning. It doesn’t matter if I am thought of as a mainland Chinese or an overseas-born Chinese. To assume that I buy fake goods just because of my ethnicity is what I have a problem with. I’m not keen at all in associating advanced behavioural patterns with one’s ethnicity or nationality. Anyway, I think there are many aspects of the Chinese culture and history to be proud of. Perhaps being Chinese is not currently seen as fashionable or desirable, but it is a country that has had a chequered and difficult recent history (150 years or so) and all I’m interested in is how we move forward. There have been incidents that I cannot condone, but which culture or civilisation isn’t built on blood, sweat and tears?
busma: OK, let me know what you enjoyed!
Stine: St. Paul’s Churchyard in Covent Garden, my favourite place in W1 in the summer.
Sylee: I think I played a hide-and-seek game. Go find me!
