Elna Special "Ella"

Ella was manufactured in Switzerland between 1970 and 1972.  This Elna Special is ivory coloured with a soft pink top cover.  She comes in an all metal gray case. 

The front half of the carrying case fits over the free arm to make a flat bed sewing surface.

The manual, accessories and accessory case were included. This is a better pdf of the manual.

At 27.5 pounds or  12.5 kilograms Ella is a very heavy machine, too heavy to be considered portable.  The carrying case is very solid and does an excellent job of protecting the Ella.

It has seven built-in practical stitches including blind hem and a four step button hole.  Stitch width, length and needle position are adjustable.  The machine uses drop in Elna metal bobbins, standard needles and low shank feet. The foot controller has a two speed range.

 

The manual is well written, with good pictures and easy to follow instructions.  Threading, bobbin winding and loading are simple. 

I have sewn leather/polar fleece booties with velcro and elastic fasteners for my dog as well as polyester grocery and lunch bags with Ella.  I also tested the free motion quilting on a sample and repaired a pair of jeans. The motor runs smoothly and quietly.

She sews beautiful, precise stitches on everything from fine sheer fabrics to heavy denim and leather.  There is a feed dog cover plate and darning foot for free motion quilting. 

I am downsizing my sewing machine collection.  Ella is for sale at Kijiji Brandon.

For more vintage treasures head over to Colorado Lady's blog.

Thread stash and the Magic closet!

 

I love thread, all kinds of thread.

 

I have so much thread that it is stored in two big drawers, a medium sized drawer, a little sewing machine drawer, a plastic storage box and in the seat of a sewing chair.  Then there are random spools on shelves and sewing machine work stations. 

I also have upholstery thread in dark green, blue, black, brown and beige which I forgot to take a photo of because it is stored in my treadle machine.

I will have to live to be 100 years old to use all this thread up! 

These are some of my ribbons and buttons.  The ribbons are for  baby quilts with tags and  handles on  nylon reusable bags.  I bought the ribbon holder for a stupid price of $22 CAD then I realized free chopsticks work just as well...grrrrrrrrrrrr! Below is a small drawer with safety pins, straight pins, velcro tape, sequence and little plastic rings (knitting row markers).  I knit 100% cotton dishcloths and the occasional wool hat or scarf.

Barb my quilting friend named it the magic closet!

  Yes, that is indeed floor to ceiling fabric!  The overflow is now stored in Shannon's closet.

And more...

This is not all of it!  We are in the process of renovating our basement and Shannon's closet is packed full of furniture, so my baby cottons, Christmas prints and metres of quilting cotton are stashed behind the furniture making it impossible to photograph.

I hope you enjoyed a peak into my world.  What's in your stash?

Looking inside my craft emporium...

My hubby gets all the credit for building this wonderful room.  This was Jason's bedroom, after he grew up and moved out I claimed it!  It is my favourite place in the world.  Thank goodness, the blue carpet will be replaced with laminate or vinyl flooring this year.

The cutting table, iron and ironing board are located just outside my emporium.  I have a small table top ironing board I sometimes use on the cabinet on the left-hand side of Big Bertha.

This little sign really is crooked! 

Bernina Nova 900 "Novalee" & Hand Kitchen Towel Tutorial

I have a new toy.  Well new to me anyway.  It was actually manufactured in Switzerland from 1982 to 1985.  But I have only had mine for one week.  Novalee arrived via Canada Post double boxed and wrapped in tons of bubble wrap.  Yvonne, the charming lady I bought her from did a most excellent job of packing her up.  Every foot and accessory was individually wrapped, plus she even put the electric plug in a wee bag and tied it shut.

Here she is

First I unpacked her, then I played with all the stitches.  Next, I hemmed a pair of denim jeans and did a sample of free motion quilting.  Novalee is not only ornamental, she is a beauty of a sewer.

Below are instructions for a kitchen towel that I made with Novalee.

Materials required are one kitchen towel, pot holder and a big button.  I usually pick these up at the dollar store or a liquidation store.

Machine baste across the middle of the kitchen towel.

Draw a line in the middle on  the wrong side of the pot holder.  The loop end is the top.

Pull the basting thread to gather the towel to fit the width of the pot holder.  With right sides together pin the pot holder to the towel.  Follow the line on the wrong side of the pot holder and sew the towel in place with two rows of stitches about 1/8 inch apart.

Sew the button on the end of the potholder opposite the loop.  Remove the basting thread and it is finished.

These are pretty, practical, fun to sew and make excellent gifts.

 Enjoy!