Since my very early days of sewing I’ve wondered if these presses were worth the investment. I often spend between 4 and 6 hours a day just ironing, and always thought that too much of it was simply too intricate to be handled by a press.

Fortunately being unemployed earns you a lot of sympathy from friends, two of whom gifted me with this Elna press and its power cable completely for free.

And the short answer to my prolonged wondering: abso-bloody-lutely is it worth the investment!! Although a large portion of the work can still only be done by hand (the robots won’t take over just yet, everybody relax) a great deal is possible on the press. And if I have to be honest some things actually turn out better than had I done them by hand due to the even pressure distribution.

The only downside so far is that the interval between closing the lid and Ilse beeping wildly for you to open her again is too brief to accomplish anything. No sooner have I closed the top and picked up a needle then I’m warned that my fabric is about to catch alight and I have to return to the press. Meaning that its use necessitates the boredom of sitting around idly. Not too fun. It also seems impossible not to burn your hands every now and then, but these are the most minor of my sewing injuries.

All in all though I’m entirely happy, and really grateful to Ilse and Onnie for this newest addition to the sweatshop.

Now to determine if I trust the slave enough to let him handle it…

After he wrecked the blades on my overlocker…