Greetings from the capitol

FW Update:

Brought the FW home from the repair shop on Monday and tested it. Still skipping stitches. Upset. Immediately took it back to Moye's Sewing (remember that 90 day warranty?). The man seemed very disappointed in himself for not noticing the skipped stitches in the sample that he tested and proceeded to take her apart. Apparently the bobbin hook was too far away from the needle (I'll try and figure the technical way to explain this with pictures later).
Called back this morning, and she's really fixed! He said he sewed over 10 feet without a single skipped stitch. Yay!!

Trouble in Featherweight Land

:::Sigh:::

It seems that perhaps I psyched myself up a bit too much over the new Featherweight. I noticed right away that the tension was off, so I proceeded to spend 8+ hours attempting to fix it (I'm still not so sure it's fixed) and it is skipping stitches. Yes, I got a new needle (Schmetz 80), and yes it is threaded and installed correctly. Now, as far as I can tell there are 2 reasons that this could be happening.

1. The timing is off. Shudder...

2. The Thread Take up Spring needs replacing (or possibly the entire tension assembly). I say this because the thread take up spring seems to be loose (more so than my mother-in-laws FW) and the last thread guide before the needle keeps unthreading right before the stitch skips. This could also account for the tension issues.

I am at the end of my Featherweight knowledge and therefor have decided to take her to the Singer Sewing Store for an estimate on repairs. Which is free.
I am hoping it will be a simple replacement/repair because I really don't want to return the machine. Luckily the person I bought it from has been very communicative and helpful and has offered to refund the cost of reasonable repairs.

I am trying not to let this get me down (I definitely shed some tears over it yesterday) because even though having it arrive and work spectacularly would have been...well, amazing...this experience will be a learning one (as I intend to hover over the repair man so I can find out exactly what he/she is doing) and I also intend to apply for a job at the Singer Store (explaining my love of vintage singers and the desire to not only become a better seamstress but to learn how to service both old and new machines seems like a good pitch for a potential employee).

I will report my findings...now, to google Featherweight timing.