I’ve recently taken up sewing again. My great aunt taught me to sew as a teenager and I also took classes at school. Apart from making a cushion for the ladybird’s nursery, 2 and a half years ago, I’ve not used a sewing machine in at least 15 years. Now that we have a bit more space, I have borrowed my great aunt’s sewing machine and I am teaching myself to sew again. I’ve had a few difficulties getting started with this vintage sewing machine so this post is a cumulation of all the advice I have found for this sewing machine.
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This sewing machine is a Necchi Lydia 3 and from the internet, I have discovered they were last made in 1977. This machine is older than I am! I learnt to sew on this machine and it might sound odd but when I use this machine it has a slight smell which takes me right back to my childhood. We spent a great deal of time with my great aunt when I was growing up. We cooked, baked, went on days out and did lots of crafts. She taught me to sew and attempted to teach me to knit (I remember a lot of scarfs with holes!). I started using the machine a couple of weeks ago, following the only diagram on the internet I could find for threading this machine and I found the tension to be completely off. My sister-in-law had a look at the machine and we tried and tried to get the tension right with no success. We eventually got it working ok enough to sew but over the next few times, I used it the tension was all over the place. Unfortunately, my great aunt now has dementia and the instruction book is nowhere to be seen. So I took to the internet. I found a really useful sewing forum, full of friendly and knowledgeable people who helped me out a lot so I am going to share what I found below for future reference and for anyone else who owns a Necchi Lydia 3. First off I found this useful video on youtube of how to load the bobbin.
An American facebook group for Necchi sewing machine users. Necchi oil for oiling the machine is no longer available but after a bit of research I found some sites recommending using any good quality sewing machine oil like Liberty oil or two options that have been suggested to me but these aren’t specifically sewing machine oils so I’d suggest doing a bit more research before resorting to these – TriFlow, an equivalent synthetic oil with Teflon added or Finish Line Ceramic Wet Lube.
Hi
I clicked your link to the PDF manual & all I get is a Facebook link?
Would really appreciate if you could restore link and make it available.
Thanks
Malcolm
Great post. Really nice review. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you found it useful.
Many thanks for sharing. I have a problem with the upper thread tensioner. It seems to be missing a spring somewhere as it doesn’t seem to tension the thread no matter what the tension is set to. Your link to the videos has confirmed that I am not doing anything wrong. Thanks again.
where can I buy necchi lydia 3 542-544 bobbins in uk
Sorry I don’t know
Hi .. I have this model in orange and I love it. I bought the original manual online for 9$ today, now I can try and fix myself since the manual has nice illustrations. All the best.
I have had a Lydia 3 sew machine since 1974, loved it until I bought a “modern” Brother Laura Ashely machine which can do so much more. I’ve been wondering, tho, on the Necchi I cannot do any free motion sewing on quilts when lowering the feed dogs, has anyone out there been able to do so? Thank you.
Also, the correct metal bobbins for Necchi can be purchased here in Minneapolis, MN, at my sewing center.
Yes! If you remove the flat work base, look for a white plastic “switch” or “slide” that you can toggle. This will move the feed dogs up or down.
The machine has a sliding knob at the back of the free arm almost at the bottom. If you slide it to the front, the feed dog will grab the material and feed it, if you slide it to the back, the feed dog stays below, and you can do quilting.