On the topic of portables, there are two Singers that stand tall above all others, the famous 1/2 size Singer 221 Featherweight (including it's various incarnations) and it's full size cousin the Singer 301a. Today I'll discuss the later.
The Elna Stella TSP is a retro-modern 80s update of the ever-so-cute Lotus. The white with black accents is super stylish and less industrial looking than the matte gray of its older sibling.
I'm going to take a break from portables for a bit and talk about one of my all time favorite vintage domestic machines, the Bernina 730 Record. It seems everyone sings praises about the quality of Swiss engineering and the 730 definitely ranks among the top in terms of features, construction and stitch quality.
Who would have guessed that the world's first transformer was actually a sewing machine? Meet the Elna Lotus SP, the first sewing machine to incorporate its own case in its design. This clever little piece of Swiss engineering represented the peak of innovation in the late 60s and can be found on permanent display in the New York Museum of Modern Art.
The 158.1060 is the last incarnation of the series 1040 Kenmores, closely resembling the 1050 in both function and appearance. While strictly part of the 1040 series, it mixes things up by ditching the iconic extension bed and rolling accessories tray. And while it shares the same footprint as it's earlier brethren, the 1060 is quite a bit taller which excludes it from fitting in the rose embossed carrying case.