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63110For my money you can't go past an Elna Supermatic. Mine just celebrated her 40th birthday, i got it for my first wedding anniversary March 1968. I have used it to sew absolutely everything from the finest silk baby clothes to leather horse's halters & bridles; canvas horse blankets; leather dog leads; leather handbags, you name it, she has sewn it. It has manual or automatic, buttonholes, button stiches, even an overlock and stretch stitch, it has a free arm and the metal carry case serves as a flat bed around the free-arm. You can still get parts for it from Elna and fancy stitch cams are still available on Ebay. Check out my video and you will see it still takes pride of place even over my brand new $7,000 Elna embroidery machine. They come up occasionally on Ebay. just my opinion, but a workhorse at it's best. hnr, M
by mops
22 Jul 2008
I can't agree more. I bought my Elna Supermatic November 1963, and it's still going strong. Those mechanical machines (as opposed to computerized ones) are hard to beat and easily serviced.
by meganne
22 Jul 2008
Hey Mops, have you ever needed to have yours serviced? (Touch wood) i've never even needed to replace the light globe or tighten the chain drive, i clean and oil mine regularly, myself. Only thing i needed to replace was the foot pedal: i bought a generic one, cut the lead from the Elna foot pedal and attached a plug to the lead to plug it into generic pedal, cost me all of $10 to fix. I love my Elna and in all honesty I truly prefer to sew on it than my Computerised XQ2. But you would understand that love affair.
by stitchship
22 Jul 2008
Wow, thanks for these comments, I will look into it. I never even thought of Elna. I will definitely check for it.
by mops
22 Jul 2008
I never had it serviced either, just did the regular things myself. I opted for a knee handle instead of a foot pedal, that's still fine. Once bought a spare lightbulb, just in case, it's still in a cardboard tube!! It cost about 350 euros at the time, 3 weeks salary then, but was it worth it!
by shirleysisson
22 Jul 2008
My Elna SU is 35 yrs old, but the fly wheel is starting to slip a bit. I hope this can be fixed easily, Because I love my Elna and wouldn't want to replace her.
122864They also have some old singers that are very good. I had one for many years and still have it.........does button holes and plenty of decor stitches. Good luck finding what you want. A *4u
by stitchship
22 Jul 2008
I agree there are some singers that are good. I had one for 15 years, and loved it. But... alas, one day it died, and no matter how many surgeries were attempted, she could not be "revived" she had to be retired. Her gears just gave out after so many years of loving and caring service! Sniff...
27608My pick would be a bernina record/830... but you would have to get one second hand - they are about 30 years old - but still go well if you get a good one. Try E-Bay. My mum got one recently on trademe the NZ version of ebay. I got mine secondhand about 15 yrs ago, and I will never part with it. They have a hard plastic carry case, a bit heavy compared to new plastic machines, but a reliable workhorse.
by minnieb
22 Jul 2008
I have a old bernina it has lasted me many years I have used it to sew anything from silk to canvis it has been dropped rolled around in the back of a van I would buy one any day as a work horse
by stitchship
22 Jul 2008
Thanks for sharing this, I love my Bernina. I will check the local stores and see if they have one!
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