this machine is pretty special for me <3 so i wanted to share how it came to my hands!
Last year i was living in Holland for almost a year, i would always go to second hand warehouses either with my friend Brenda or by myself just to look because we don’t have those here in Portugal, i bought many things from there, like kitchen stuff and even my first bike when i got there!
It was only 2 days before leaving that i thought about buying a sewing machine, the one i had back in Portugal belonged to my aunt and i wanted to get one for me. It was a terrible rainy day in December when i decided to wake up early and go hunt for it, my friend Daniel came along and we took our bikes (as usual, we’d go by bike anywhere no matter what the weather was).
It was only at the second warehouse that i found good machines, and this one popped up right away! It look very sturdy and robust, all metal and not plastic like the others! It was the one i wanted! But we had to make sure it would work, right? in the lid it said “workds good” in dutch, but i wanted to try it out for myself, i wasn’t going to buy a heavy as hell machine take it on a bike all the way home and ship it to Portugal without making sure it would be working perfect! So i asked to try it, one knew english there, good thing Daniel came along… he would translate all my questions to the seller, but go figure the seller was not familiar with the machines (it was a second hand huge place so not a specialized store!) then a lady came and looked at us all busy trying to figure out the machine and started helping with putting in the tread and she said (in dutch) “you know you could buy a new, perfectly working one and not this old horse, right?” i said i wanted an old one, i trusted old much more than the new all plastic machines that make weird noises… so she understood and was of such help! I ended up deciding on getting it, even after i tried a few others… this was love at first sight!
The price marked was 25€! yes, 25€ for a sewing machine! i went ahead to pay for it and, because it was December and they were having a pre-Christmas sale… it ended up costing me 16€!!! WTF i wasn’t sure if i was doing the right thing but come on for that price? so i took it, in the bike, in the rain, all the way home trying hard to not fall from the bike because it was so heavy it could even fall from the seat!
On the way home i was only thinking, damn this is going to be hard to send to Portugal… how will i make sure it will get there intact? “BUT it is awesome! I have a machine of my own now! yeah!”
The next day i made sure to find a big/strong enough box to ship it and wrapped it in my duvet and pillows, a lot of tape (really a lot!) and the next challenge was to get to the post office… it had snowed the night before and the ice was making it hard to walk and bike… i fixed the box to the bike and tried walking and carrying the bike with the box on top… it was not easy but when i thought i was doing good i dropped the box on the floor!! big bump and i could hear pieces loose inside… getting up the bike again was hell as it would slip on the ice… crazy times i tell you! ahah it sounds so funny now!
I sent a total of 3 boxes to portugal and they were so big the man at the post already knew me and would laugh when i arrived with a new one!
So it was finally shipped! Just had to cross fingers for it to not bump too much during travel…
Sooo back in Portugal i went to pick up the big boxes and the first i opened was the machine, i feared for the worse! But all was good! only a little corner in the metal base was broken, nothing much! I tried it this time to see if it would work… and it was just pure perfection! Spent sometime cleaning it and my dad helped oiling the inside, all was good! i couldn’t believe i got a perfect machine for 16€! (ok plus shipping but oh well!)
So all this to say i love this machine, it works wonders for me, it has been making all the items i’v made this year and i wouldn’t replace it for a new one!
I’v never heard about this “brand” and searching on the web it doesn’t seem to exist anymore… it looks like a 60’s or 70’s machine, it is very heavy, came with a box with a handle for transporting it but it was rusty and i’ll send it to repair soon!
I love it! it is one of the best things i’v ever bought! and the best thing i got from Holland!
Sorry about the huge text… but thi is it! pure machine love! ;)
ma-poupee
