finally unpacked the Grasshopper

[sewaddicted]

I have finally unpacked the Elna grasshopper sewing machine that I brought back with me from the easter long weekend in NZ.    The long time lag was a mix of time constraint (sewing for Brisnova & the 1850s), procrastination and delayed gratification.    Last night instead of sewing, or cutting out the bodice toile for CrazyCatLady, I sat on the

Comments

[faerie_mistress]

Shiny! :D

[sewaddicted]

:bounces:
It's better than the sprinkles on cupcakes.

[last_chael]

Oh that is soooo cute! I can see why you love it :D And the colour is very gorgeous! My mum's straight sewer has the same thing with the bobbin, though it's an industrial machine and I HATES it! So Fast!

[sewaddicted]

I'm going to oil it on the weekend, and see how it runs.

[lahoo88]

WHOA WHAT A BIG GREEN GLORIOUS BEAST!!!!!! :)

Bet it will still be going long after todays 'machines' *cough* have long hit the scrap heap.

[sewaddicted]

I <3 green

It's the first sewing machine I have that's definitely older than me. Not counting the treadle that I had to leave in NZ when I moved here.

[missmuffettwo1]

You forgot to mention the very best bit, the knee lifter. I'm presuming of course that it IS the knee lifter and not the throttle mechanism like I had on my mums old Singer machine? That's why I've stuck to Bernina when I've had a choice, although some Elna's now come with an optional knee lifter. Having learnt on an old Singer you can imagine what happened the first time I sat at an industrial machine at TAFE, very hard to re-learn the habit of using one's knee to stop and go!
Hooroo,
Chritine.

[sewaddicted]

No knee lifter! That's the throttle, and a big reason for hunting down one of them. I switched to knee throttles when I broke my right foot.

I learned to sew with mum's three machines.
An old singer with an electric motor AND the original hand crank; A bernina record 730 - just like mine - but with the foot throttle; and an Elna supermatic with a knee throttle.

My first job was in a sewing room making curtains. So I'd go from sewing at work with foot throttle & knee lift, to sewing that night at home with a knee throttle and no foot lift.

Scary that my brain only took a couple of seconds at night to adjust. :eeep:

[saraic]

ah, yes...
and according to Master Po
"The more you practice, the better you get, grasshopper"
(would sound better with an accent, of course)
love the green! (esp with a name like mine!)

[sewaddicted]

I used to looooooove watching Grasshopper. Ahh, how we date ourselves.

[saraic]

ahhh, no, grasshopper
I married a third dan,
sensei has never left that era...it's always the 70's (badly dubbed action movie) around here -
and 'everybody was kung-fu fighting - ni ni ni ni ni na na, na na ni!'
(shogun is another that makes its appearance...oh, and monkey....and do you wonder why I do costuming?)

[sewaddicted]

ohhh I loooooooove Monkey the mostest. I didn't see it til I moved to Sydney and my flatmates watched it devotedly.