I received an email from Shruti a few months back asking if I’d like to participate in this fun blog hop talking about my sewing machine. Well, who doesn’t love a good Q&A?!
1. What machine do you have?
I have an Elna 1000. She may be little, a runt if you will, but she gets the job done and lets me quilt!
2. When and where did you buy it? What were the reasons for selecting this(these) particular model(s)? What was its approximate cost?
It was around $100 on sale from Spotlight and she serves me well! I bought it over a year ago when my husband spontaneously asked if I wanted to get a sewing machine, and chose this one because I had sewn on Elnas in high school (the last time I had sewn!) and knew they were a good brand. I had been planning on making a quilt for each of my kids… maybe in a few years time for their 5th birthdays, but instead, my son has a small transport I-spy quilt for himself before he’s even 3, and my daughter… well, I suppose I had better get on one for her soon too with winter setting in!
3. What do you like about your machine? Have you named it? Have you made a cover for it?
Ellie the Elna is a good little thing. She goes at the right speed for me – I couldn’t handle a fast one just yet! She’s easy to thread, and when I’m a terrible machine-maintenance-er, she’s quite forgiving and forges on.
I was planning on making a cover but instead I won one from the Vintage Sheet blog! Although having said that, I use my machine almost daily and rarely put it on anymore. Partly because I share the kids‘ playroom and they’d just pull it off!
I was planning on making a cover but instead I won one from the Vintage Sheet blog! Although having said that, I use my machine almost daily and rarely put it on anymore. Partly because I share the kids‘ playroom and they’d just pull it off!
4. Does your machine give you any problems? Could you tell us a few?
She is known for being a little temperamental if I try to manually backstitch one stitch for turning corners or just needing the needle down in that particular spot. She’ll retaliate by breaking the thread if I turn the wheel back too far!
5. What do you sew on it mainly? Quilts, Clothes, Bags etc. How much time do you spend sewing on it? What are the features of the machine that help you improve your work?
I predominantly quilt. I have made one skirt for my daughter before, but it’s pretty much been quilts, cushions and zippered pouches. I try to spend at least some time each day on it, maybe an hour during afternoon naps? Other days, like on weekends or after the kids are in bed, I can spend a couple of hours at least on it until I need to stop and stretch and grab an iced coffee! As for what features help me improve my work… well, the edge of the feed dogs’ “hole” is spot on 1/4″, so I can only blame myself if and when I’m off!
6. What advice would you give others when deciding about which machine to buy?
For beginners, I would say start small. Don’t spend $100s until you know you’re going to stick with it. Buy a trusted, popular brand – Elna, Brother, Janome – to get quality so that you don’t get distracted by a crappy machine and can instead focus on developing skills. Once you’ve had a year or so under your belt of sewing, you’ll know just what you actually want in a machine and can start looking from an informed perspective!
7. Will you share with us a special memory associated with your machine?
Visually, this, taken over 6 months ago, baby mullet and all. It was taken during the packing and culling stage of moving to Japan, but my machine was still out so I could finish sewing gifts for my husband’s new colleagues.
As for something actually created with it? I think it would have to be when I finished my Ornamental cover quilt and was able to finish my first quilt pattern. Or maybe when I finished my son’s quilt and seeing him drag it all around the house because he loves it so much…
8. If you had unlimited resources in the world, which machine would you choose to buy and why?
Ooh that’s a tough one. Partly because there’s just so many to choose from! I’m planning on waiting until we move back to Australia to upgrade my machine, which will be in another 2.5-3 years time. So I haven’t even started window shopping for real, let alone day dreaming! I did see a Janome Horizon 7700 in real life a few weeks ago and drooled over its size and throat space. In reality though, I just want a reliable machine that has a knee lift, needle-down option, cool stitches, big throat space, comes with an extension table and lots of different feet including walking, 1/4″ and FMQ. You know, I’m not fussy!
If you head over to Shruti’s blog, you can answer a question about Ellie to be in the running for a $50 Fat Quarter Shop voucher!
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There’s only a couple of days left to get your Squeeze Your Own Bundle linked up!
Plus don’t forget to enter the Sew Seasonal blog hop giveaway for a chance to win a Blitzen layer cake, then head over and see Jane and Marieka to see what they’ve come up with using the patterns!
Holli says
The picture of your daughter “in” your sewing machine is adorable!
Cherie says
Such a great post. It’s so nice to see how quilters got into sewing and more about other machine makes!
Laura says
wow! Are you machining down paper pieces there? with the paper still in???