Friday, August 15

my new friend eva



Eva Automatic, made in Italy in 1960s, bought today at the charity shop sale for 7.50 euros (!). I'd have bought it even if there hadn't been a sale, but since I couldn't take the machine with me yesterday, I made sure I was there when the shop opened today and then lugged Eva home (I have to say taking a sewing machine this heavy - and these old ones are heavy - home by tram isn't in the top of my list of ways to spend the morning, especially if I have to spend 20 minutes waiting for a tram).

I didn't have a sewing machine of any kind before, though I've been looking for one for a while now. Sister has graciously let me borrow hers, but of course I can't take that one with me to Tampere, plus it seems it's impossible to get the tension even with that one. I decided I'd buy a used, older machine; those cheap new ones you can buy for a hundred euros don't seem to work that well, whereas my mother has a Toyota from 70s which is still as good as new. Plus I think these old machines have a distinct charm the new, plastic coated machines lack.

My machine even had it's manual still intact, a very good thing. This photo is for the amusement of Finnish-speaking readers...





It would be wise to buy a used machine from a sewing machine repair shop (because they work for sure), but their prices are still a bit high for me, as are the prices of good machines in a Finnish ebay-style website; so, charity shop to the rescue! (Funnily enough, two different shops from the same line of charity shops had their sewing machines priced completely differently - one from 45 to75 euros, the other from 15 to 25 euros; I'm glad I checked out two shops.)

I took Eva for a test drive immediately, and now I'm off to buy oil, bobbins, needles and hopefully a zipper foot (all this will surely cost more than the machine itself!). Looks like it's going to be another warm and humid day here. Have a good Friday!



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oi mikä löytö! Nuo vanhat koneet ovat kyllä nätimpiä kuin uudet, muuten tykkään uudehkosta Singeristäni jonka sain vanhemmiltani syntymäpäivälahjaksi pari vuotta sitten.

Tuo ohjekirjan teksti on kyllä huvittava. Nykyään ei tulisi kuuloonkaan tuolla tavalla olettaa, että ompelukoneen käyttäjä on ilman muuta nainen...

Tanja said...

Loisto-ostos! Ja olisihan se ihan mahtavaa, jos edelleenkin ohjekirjoissa teititeltäisiin. Nyt sitten vaan talousrahoja säästämään. Olen ihan tosi iloinen puolestasi!

scaredy-cat said...

Kiitos onnitteluista teille molemmille! Olen todella iloinen löydöstäni, vielä ei ole onnistanut vetoketjujalan kanssa, mutta jatkan etsintöjä. Ja olin erittäin iloinen siitä, että ohjekirja oli tallella - se on paitsi käytännöllistä, myös hauskaa.

Unknown said...

Annoying corrector Mary swoops in and ruins the day:

You took Eva for a test drive.


Sorry, compulsive habit, blame your sister for encouraging me ;)

Anonymous said...

Mun äidillä on tommonen kone. Sillä mä olen ensimmäiset ompeleeni joskus pienenä tehnyt ja myöhemmin monta kertaa kironnut, kun kone ei enää oikein suostunut yhteistyöhön. Toivottavasti sinun koneessa säädöt pelaa paremmin. :)

Anonymous said...

Hello. My girlfriend just bought the same one, but she´s having problems with attaching the thread. It kind of tangles up. Maybe you know how to operate it?

Anonymous said...

Heippa! Sain itse tuon saman koneen jonkin aikaa sitten, mutta ohjekirja puuttuu. Sen löytäminen näyttää olevan mahdotonta, joten olisiko sinulta mahdollista saada kopiota, esim. PDF-muodossa?