Dating Your Singer Featherweight Machine

find the year she was made

Type your Featherweight’s serial number below — we’ll look her up in Singer’s own record books.

Enter your serial number

Two letters and six digits — found on the underside of the machine (e.g. AF863951).

Can't find the number? See where to look →

Can’t find it?

WHERE IS THE SERIAL NUMBER?

Tip the machine gently back and look underneath the machine near the corner for a raised part of the casting on which the serial number is stamped — two capital letters followed by six digits. On the very earliest Featherweights (the 1933 AD541***–AD542*** series) it will be stamped under the removable bottom drip pan instead.

The Serial NumberIs Stamped Underneath!

From Singer’s ledgers

THE RECORD BOOKS

The complete batch records, exactly as Singer commissioned them. The interactive tool above reads from these same tables.

Can’t find your number in the charts? Your Featherweight may be among the few that have numbers that are difficult to read properly OR it is miss-stamped. If your serial number is hard to decipher completely, then either take a pencil rubbing or closeup photo of the number for a better reading. If it falls outside of the charts below and you've verified that it is indeed a Featherweight model, then it may be a miss-stamped serial number. The only option then is to guesstimate the date, using the two letter prefix, by referencing the charts below and approximate the commission date based on the serial number sequences.

Browse the full serial-number charts

Model 221 (Black) — United States
Prefix	Serial range	Batch	Commissioned	Year	Factory
AD	541546–551545	10,000	October 3rd	1933	US
AD	720746–730745	10,000	September 10th	1934	US
AD	781846–791845	10,000	November 27th	1934	US
AD	880156–890155	10,000	March 18th	1935	US
AD	937406–947405	10,000	June 24th	1935	US
AD/AE	AD996956–AE007000	10,000	September 23rd	1935	US
AE	054366–064365	10,000	December 30th	1935	US
AE	076516–086515	10,000	March 25th	1936	US
AE	207616–222615	15,000	July 13th	1936	US
AE	294041–309040	15,000	November 5th	1936	US
AE	407941–422940	15,000	March 15th	1937	US
AE	536641–556640	20,000	June 11th	1937	US
AE	770591–790590	20,000	December 8th	1937	US
AE	973541–993540	20,000	May 24th	1938	US
AF	070706–090705	20,000	October 10th	1938	US
AF	161806–181805	20,000	February 15th	1939	US
AF	244106–264105	20,000	July 11th	1939	US
AF	371856–391855	20,000	December 5th	1939	US
AF	477181–497180	20,000	April 10th	1940	US
AF	571881–596880	25,000	August 15th	1940	US
AF	740751–760750	20,000	January 7th	1941	US
AF	863951–883950	20,000	April 1st	1941	US
AF	922451–942450	~20,000	May 14th	1941	US
AF/AG	AF998251–AG018250	19,999	July 1st	1941	US
AG	526101–546100	20,000	September 19th	1945	US
AG	602856–622855	20,000	February 18th	1946	US
AG	689391–709390	20,000	June 4th	1946	US
AG	804771–824770	20,000	September 16th	1946	US
AG	848346–858345	10,000	October 25th	1946	US
AG	869446–889445	20,000	November 22nd	1946	US
AG	970946–990945	20,000	February 19th	1947	US
AH	050371–070370	20,000	April 22nd	1947	US
AH	111971–131970	20,000	June 26th	1947	US
AH	193771–223770	30,000	August 19th	1947	US
AH	316071–346070	30,000	October 28th	1947	US
AH	413571–443570	30,000	January 22nd	1948	US
AH	550921–580920	30,000	April 20th	1948	US
AH	640321–670320	30,000	June 18th	1948	US
AH	799121–829120	30,000	October 1st	1948	US
AH/AJ	AH973921–AJ013920	39,999	December 9th	1948	US
AJ	103721–143720	40,000	March 15th	1949	US
AJ	189171–229170	40,000	November 18th	1949	US
AJ	348371–388370	40,000	January 23rd	1950	US
AJ	552721–592720	40,000	March 31st	1950	US
AJ	615621–655620	40,000	June 1st	1950	US
AJ	781321–821320	40,000	August 22nd	1950	US
AJ	887721–937720	50,000	October 26th	1950	US
AK	071321–121320	50,000	January 29th	1951	US
AK	389576–439575	50,000	May 10th	1951	US
AK	576776–626775	50,000	October 31st	1951	US
AK	745676–795675	50,000	February 20th	1952	US
AK/AL	AK984876–AL034875	49,999	August 11th	1952	US
AL	158501–208500	50,000	December 12th	1952	US
AL	389361–439360	50,000	May 4th	1953	US
AL	524941–574940	50,000	October 14th	1953	US
AL	689041–739040	50,000	April 22nd	1954	US
AL	900891–950890	50,000	January 17th	1955	US
AM	137761–187760	50,000	June 10th	1955	US
AM	361036–411035	50,000	February 27th	1956	US
AM	652586–702585	50,000	January 29th	1957	US
AM	771106–821105	50,000	September 27th	1957	US

221K — Made in Scotland
Prefix	Serial range	Batch	Commissioned	Year	Factory
EE	152221–152720	500	August 25th	1947	SCO
EE	452721–453220	500	December 24th	1947	SCO
EE	458241–459240	1,000	January 22nd	1948	SCO
EE	573424–578423	5,000	May 14th	1948	SCO
EE	802479–807478	5,000	September 21st	1948	SCO
EE	853479–863478	10,000	December 10th	1948	SCO
EF	154176–164175	10,000	May 23rd	1949	SCO
EF	278731–288730	10,000	August 17th	1949	SCO
EF	558931–568930	10,000	November 7th	1949	SCO
EF	688016–698015	10,000	February 14th	1950	SCO
EF	700569–710568	10,000	April 24th	1950	SCO
EF	907629–917628	10,000	July 19th	1950	SCO
EG	072001–082000	10,000	October 9th	1950	SCO
EG	302861–312860	10,000	December 18th	1950	SCO
EG	343861–353860	10,000	February 15th	1951	SCO
EG	433821–444820	11,000	March 29th	1951	SCO
EG	637821–647820	10,000	May 16th	1951	SCO
EG	703321–713320	10,000	July 17th	1951	SCO
EG	957781–967780	10,000	October 17th	1951	SCO
EH	001027–011026	10,000	December 18th	1951	SCO
EH	132547–142546	10,000	February 29th	1952	SCO
EH	236097–246096	10,000	April 28th	1952	SCO
EH	370347–380346	10,000	July 22nd	1952	SCO
EH	625778–635777	10,000	October 8th	1952	SCO
EH	890433–900432	10,000	March 4th	1953	SCO
EJ	211989–216988	5,000	September 4th	1953	SCO
EK	203139–213138	10,000	February 14th	1955	SCO
EK	986373–991372	5,000	December 20th	1955	SCO
EL	537735–542734	5,000	June 13th	1956	SCO
EM	016257–021256	5,000	January 8th	1957	SCO
EM	596007–601006	5,000	August 2nd	1957	SCO
EN	235134–238133	3,000	April 17th	1958	SCO
EN	826834–829333	2,500	October 27th	1958	SCO
EP	256021–257520	1,500	May 18th	1959	SCO
ES	170544–175543	5,000	November 3rd	1960	SCO
ES	239244–249243	10,000	January 10th	1961	SCO
ES	648144–658143	10,000	May 15th	1961	SCO
ES	873744–883743	10,000	August 19th	1961	SCO
ET	061345–071344	10,000	November 2nd	1961	SCO

Model 222K Free-Arm — Scotland
Prefix	Serial range	Batch	Commissioned	Year	Factory
EJ	142734–142833	100	July 23rd	1953	SCO
EJ	211839–211988	150	September 2nd	1953	SCO
EJ	219989–220138	150	September 22nd	1953	SCO
EJ	223639–223838	200	October 1st	1953	SCO
EJ	225839–226038	200	October 14th	1953	SCO
EJ	226039–226438	400	October 21st	1953	SCO
EJ	236439–236638	200	October 29th	1953	SCO
EJ	266639–271638	5,000	November 18th	1953	SCO
EJ	616272–626271	10,000	March 31st	1954	SCO
EJ	908425–918424	10,000	September 10th	1954	SCO
EK	319939–329938	10,000	March 14th	1955	SCO
EK	628163–638162	10,000	August 16th	1955	SCO
EL	176520–186519	10,000	March 2nd	1956	SCO
EL	681756–686755	5,000	September 17th	1956	SCO
EM	234470–239469	5,000	February 26th	1957	SCO
EM	601007–606006	5,000	August 2nd	1957	SCO
EM	957021–962020	5,000	November 15th	1957	SCO
EN	134513–139512	5,000	March 17th	1958	SCO
EP	131001–133500	2,500	March 3rd	1959	SCO
EP	541572–544071	2,500	September 22nd	1959	SCO
EP	758473–760972	2,500	December 18th	1959	SCO
ER	022034–024533	2,500	March 15th	1960	SCO
ER	316034–318533	2,500	May 30th	1960	SCO
ER	900043–902542	2,500	September 7th	1960	SCO
ES	165344–167843	2,500	October 19th	1960	SCO
ES	352344–357343	5,000	January 31st	1961	SCO
ES	522944–527943	5,000	March 30th	1961	SCO

White & Tan late machines
Prefix	Serial range	Batch	Commissioned	Year	Factory
EV	776991–826990	50,000	March 3rd	1964	SCO
EV	846*–99**	inconclusive ※	(records limited)	1964	SCO
EW	061691–071690	10,000	August 6th	1968	SCO
EY	84**–99**	inconclusive ※	(records limited)	? ※ see text below ※	SCO
FA	096*–132*	inconclusive ※	(records limited)	1968 / 69	SCO
FA	202*–288*	inconclusive ※	(records limited)	1968 / 69	SCO
JE	150000–162000**	~12,000	(records limited)	1961	CAN

**Singer Sewing Machine models within this JE batch of serial numbers were made in 1961. A few Singer Featherweights were included in this series.

※ The dates provided cannot be guaranteed, of course, but are probably as good as we will ever find. Some of the fine details are officially inconclusive (serial numbers were either misrecorded, applied to the wrong batch or the records were lost/destroyed with the old factories). Graham Forsdyke worked with the Singer Company directly to remove some of the errors and fix the anomalies in the old chart records, but some have still been found, especially in the post-ET serial number sequences. Sometimes you might find a rogue 221, for example, in a batch of 50,000 99K machines. That simply means that there were some Featherweights within that group of numbers, but it doesn't indicate with which number the group started or ended or how many 221 machines were involved.

Graham did not include data on his website for the white/green machines or the few Featherweights made in Canada because dating records were apparently too inaccurate to source. For additional reference and a few more dates for those later year machines, however, we have included some of these dating records in the charts above, sourced from JJ & Leo's Featherweight 221 Factory site as well as singersewinginfo.co.uk's site. We would be pleased to receive any comments or corrections, just be aware that most of the seeming anomalies come from inaccurate readings of the original documentation which were sometimes taken from poorly stamped serial numbers.

Good to know

COMMON QUESTIONS

How do I find my Singer Featherweight's serial number?

Tip the machine gently back and look underneath, near a corner, for a raised part of the casting where the serial is stamped — two capital letters followed by six digits (for example, AF863951). On the earliest 1933 machines it may be under the removable bottom drip pan. The "221" or "222K" on the front of the machine is the model, not the serial.

What year was my Featherweight made?

Enter your serial number in the tool above. The two-letter prefix and the digits place your machine in a specific batch that Singer commissioned on a known date — which gives you the manufacture year. Featherweights were made from 1933 (US) through the late 1960s (Scotland).

Does the serial number tell me where my machine was made?

Yes. The prefix reveals the factory: A-series (AD–AM) was made in Elizabethport, New Jersey; E-series and F-series (EE onward) in Kilbowie, Scotland; J-series tan machines in St. Jean, Québec, Canada. The tool shows the factory automatically.

Is the date exact?

It's an excellent approximation. The date shown is when Singer assigned that batch of serial numbers to the factory — your specific machine was typically assembled within the following weeks. For dating a vintage Featherweight, the year is reliable.

How do I tell a 221 from a 222K?

The 222K has a removable "free arm" — slide off the bed extension and you can sew around cuffs and sleeves. The 221 has a fixed flat bed. The 222K was made only in Scotland (1953–1961). Full 221-vs-222 comparison →

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FEATHERWEIGHT

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