Vintage Elna Swiss sewing machines
Ranked #532 in Arts & Design, #6,433 overall
History of antique Elna sewing machines
Elna sewing machines were first manufactured in 1940 in Switzerland by the Tavaro, S. A. company. Elna is known for its innovations in the sewing industry in addition to their reliability, quality, ease of operation, and design. Vintage Elna sewing machines have a unique cam system allowing for an infinitely expandable range for stitches to add to each machine that takes the cams.
All these things contribute to making Elna sewing machines a popular sewing collectible.
Table of Contents
- Elna #1
- Elna Supermatic
- Elna Zig-Zag
- Elna Automatic
- Elna Special
- Elna Lotus
- Elna Top Special (TSP)
- Elna Elnita
- Elna Air Electronic
- Elna Stella
- Pictures of Elna sewing machines
- Vintage Elna sewing machines for sale
- Vintage Elna sewing machine pictures
- Vintage Elna discs and cams
- Vintage Elna sewing machine accessories
- Elna sewing machine tutorials
- Vintage Elna sewing machine manuals
- Elna reference books
- Elna links
Elna sewing machines
Elna #1
Affectionately called the "Grasshopper", the first model of Elna was produced from 1940 to 1952. The small green machine has a free arm and knee lever, and came in a black or green metal case. It's a very sturdy basic machine that does a mean straight stitch.
Elna Supermatic
The Supermatic series was produced from 1952 to 1977.
- 1952 to 1956: dark green body with a green metal case. Accepts Elna discs. Option of knee lever or foot control.
- 1958 to 1963: beige body with beige metal case. Accepts Elna discs. Option of grey foot control or knee lever.
- 1956 to 1958: light green body with light green metal case. Accepts Elna discs. Option of knee lever or foot control.
- 1963 to 1964: light grey body with grey metal case. Accepts Elna discs. Option of grey foot control or knee lever.
- Star Series (1964 to 1972): white and light blue body with grey metal case. Accepts Elna discs. Foot control.
- SU (Super) Star Series (1972 to 1977): white and light blue body with blue metal case. Accepts Elna discs. Foot control.
Elna Zig-Zag
The Zig-Zag series was produced from 1956 to 1977.
- 1956 to 1958: light green body with light green metal case. Straight and zigzag stitches. Option of foot control or knee lever.
- 1958 to 1963: beige body with beige or grey metal case. Straight and zigzag stitches. Option of foot control or knee lever.
- 1963 to 1964: grey body with grey metal case. Straight and zigzag stitches. Option of foot control or knee lever.
- Star Series (1964 to 1977): white and grey body with grey metal case. Straight and zigzag stitches. Foot control only.
Elna Automatic
The Automatic series was produced from 1959 to 1973.
- 1959 to 1963: The body is beige with a beige metal case. It takes Elna discs, and it comes with either a foot control or knee lever.
- 1963 to 1964:The body is grey with a grey metal case. It takes Elna discs, and it comes with a grey or beige foot control or a knee level.
- Star Series (1964 to 1971): The body is white and green with a grey metal case. It has 7 built-in stitches and also takes Elna discs. It comes with a foot control.
- ST (Star) Star Series (1964 to 1971): The body is white and green with a grey metal case. It has 7 built-in stitches and also takes Elna discs. It comes with a foot control.
Elna Special
The Special series was produced from 1966 to 1977.
- Zig-Zag Special Star Series (1966 to 1967): The body is white and grey with a grey metal case. There are 4 built-in stitches, and it comes with a foot control.
- Special Star Series (1967 to 1972): The body is white and grey (rose after 1970) with a grey metal case. There are 4 built-in stitches, and it comes with a foot control.
- SP Star Series (1972 to 1977): The body is white and rose with a blue metal case. There are 7 built-in stitches, and it comes with a foot control.
Elna Lotus
The Lotus series was produced from 1968 to 1980.
- SP (1969 to 1977): The body is light grey with grey metal cover flaps. 4 built-in stitches. A foot control is included.
- Zig-Zag (1968 to 1977): The body is light grey with grey metal cover flaps. Straight and zig-zag stitches only. A foot control is included.
- EC (1969 to 1977): The body is light grey with grey metal cover flaps. Straight stitch only. A foot control is included.
- TSP (1975 to 1977): The body is beige with dark beige metal cover flaps. 8 built-in stitches. A foot control is included.
Elna Top Special (TSP)
The Star Series Top Special was produced from 1974 to 1977. Its body is white and ochre, and it comes with a blue metallic case. There are 14 built-in stitches to select from, and it comes with a foot control.
Elna Elnita
The Elnita series was produced from 1976 to 1980.
- SP (1976 to 1979): The body is light grey with a white plastic cover. 4 built-in stitches. A foot control is included.
- Zig-Zag (1976 to 1979): The body is light grey with a white plastic cover. Straight and zig-zag stitches only. A foot control is included.
- EC (1976 to 1979): The body is light grey with a white plastic cover. Straight stitch only. A foot control is included.
- Zig-Zag Air Electronic (1980 to 1989): The body is white with a beige fabric cover. Straight and zig-zag stitches only. A foot control is included.
Elna Air Electronic
The Air Electronic series was produced from 1978 to 1982. All machines are white with white accessory box. A plastic cover was also provided, as was a foot control.
- SU Air Electronic: 14 built-in stitches, and also takes Elna discs.
- TSP Air Electronic: 14 built-in stitches.
- SP Air Electronic: 7 built-in stitches.
Elna Stella
The Stella series was produced from 1980 to 1989. All machines are white with dark brown side panels that function as a protective case. A foot control is included.
- TSP Air Electronic: 8 built-in stitches.
- SP Air Electronic: 4 built-in stitches.
- Zig-Zag Air Electronic: Straight and zigzag built-in stitches only.
Pictures of Elna sewing machines
- Sewing Machine
- Elna pictures
- Vintage Elna Sewing Machine
- Vintage Elna Sewing Machine
- Elna Sewing Machine.
- This is a Swiss Elna sewing machine, circa unknown. Shot with a 1953 Soviet Jupiter-3 lens at f/2.8 and ISO800, using ambient window light.
- Piedini Elna
- My Elna Supermatic sewing machines footers
- elna sewing machine
- elna sewing machine
- Elna Sewing Machine
- Elna Sewing Machine 2
- Green Elna Super-Matic Sewing Machine 1956 In Perfect Working Order
- Oh My Goddess! It's a classic mid 1950s Elna Super-matic Tailor machine in Traffic-Stopping Bright Green! Meticulously refurbished from the outside to the inside in our Raymond Maine workshop, this awesome vintage sewing machine comes mounted in it's very own baked enamel crinkle finish steel carry
- Green Elna Super-Matic Sewing Machine 1956 In Perfect Working Order
- Oh My Goddess! It's a classic mid 1950s Elna Super-matic Tailor machine in Traffic-Stopping Bright Green! Meticulously refurbished from the outside to the inside in our Raymond Maine workshop, this awesome vintage sewing machine comes mounted in it's very own baked enamel crinkle finish steel carry
- Machine à coudre Supermatic Elnn
- Supermatic.
- elna grasshopper
- elna grasshopper
- The Elna Machine
- Very fifties I guess this one but the company has it's origins in the Spanish Civil War when a fleeing refugee , Dr. Ramon Casas, took his sewing machine knowhow to a Swiss manufacture of precision timing gear and the rest is history. It has one of those neat on-off switches that you actuate with yo
- Elna Grasshopper Sewing Machine - 1955
- Elna Grasshopper Sewing Machine - 1955
Vintage Elna sewing machines for sale
Vintage Elna discs and cams
Vintage Elna sewing machine accessories
Elna sewing machine tutorials
- Elna Supermatic Cam installation and removal
- Tutorial.
- Elnita motor repair
- Tutorial.
- Elnita bobbin winder repair
- Tutorial.
- How to remove cover for Elnita
- Tutorial.
- Elna SP ST SU repair tips
- Tutorial.
- Elna Supermatic repair
- Tutorial.
- How to thread an Elna sewing machine
- Tutorial.
Vintage Elna sewing machine manuals
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Elna reference books
Elna links
- Elna Swiss Designs
- Elna's official website.
Thanks for visiting!
Did you enjoy reading this lens? Would you like to leave some feedback, or just make a suggestion? I'm always glad to hear what more you'd like to see here!
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Netlexis
Feb 11, 2012 @ 10:49 am | delete
- When sewing machines were actually machines and not a piece of lightweight plastic. I wasn't familiar with this brand of sewing machine, so thanks for sharing.
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LoveEmbroidery
Jan 29, 2012 @ 4:39 pm | delete
- Thanks for this lens. I had an Elna SU (Super) Star I bought in the mid-70s. It's still going strong. The motor just hums along. Solid medal. It never needed any service. I just oiled it now and then. They don't make them like that any more. At least not that I can afford.
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karmicchristian
Sep 5, 2011 @ 12:35 pm | delete
- I'm all sewn up and tied up for words here! ;)
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TheTravelGal
Apr 7, 2011 @ 11:45 pm | delete
- My aunt still has my great grandmothers singer machine, and until about 10 years ago it was used regularly by my grandmother. They made them so much better those days.
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Margo_Arrowsmith
Apr 5, 2011 @ 5:59 am | delete
- They used to make some amazingly difficult and complicated creations on those old pre-computer machines.
Beautiful lens!
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