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March 26, 2019
Do you get emails that start out like this:
You may not know me and you are probably wondering why you are getting this e mail, right?
I'm a hacker who cracked your devices a few months ago, yada, yada, yada......
I mean all this lacks is a ransom note:
It's fair to say, that this is obviously a scam - but what gives it away? Well, there's the bit about the address - from @#$%^@$!#$.com or that there's a reason you don't know this person, because you really DON'T know this person, or that they've recorded porn on your computer when you're sitting there thinking fabric porn and wondering if that counts, or that they know you are rich and have ooodles of $$$$
that you are simply so willing to hand over to them in the form of Bitcoin to keep them from publishing your fabric porn!
OK - well, all that's pretty obvious. But what about sewing scams. We would like to think that our little part of the world here in the sewing section of life, isn't fraught with this stuff, but unfortunately it is. And what's worse, is that many of us are desperate for lessons in better fitting, better shaping, better proportions, better looking clothes, better fabric sources, easier and faster ways to
make our clothes prettier, better looking and longer-lasting, that many of us fall into scams and cons that are not worth our resources, and time being the most valuable, having that stolen from us, is - well to me, it's criminal.
Unfortunately there are scams in almost every aspect of our lives, and we have to be careful of them. But how do you tell a sewing scam from the real deal. There are a couple of ways and even though they sound basic, they are really telling parts that can help you determine good classes, lessons and videos from the scams.
Volume
If you look at an instructor's videos and notice a lot of them over a number of years, it's a pretty good bet that they know what they are talking about. If they have a few "tuts" over a year or so, they are probably pretty novice.
Background
There's a lot to show for a background. One of the reasons this 81 y/o grandmother won was because of her wealth of experience. Age and time spent sewing actually does make you smarter, even though some of the other contestants may have appeared more creative or faster or more adept. When you have experience behind you, you understand that sewing is a process which means it goes step-by-step. Skipping
steps or lessons within a series, doesn't bode well for the finished product, much less your sanity.
Tracking
So what happens when you jump from one thing to another constantly during a lesson or project? You usually ended up with a jumble of problems is the short answer. The long one is that you end up on the shrink's couch for 2 years! Lessons should be easy to track and shouldn't skip around. As much as skipping parts is bad, so is skipping around bad. Part of the process is that sewing is linear - in that you
start with step1, then move to step 2, and step 3, etc., instead of doing the pockets, then doing the cuffs on the sleeve, then doing a buttonhole or two, then going back to putting in the interfacing - - makes my head just woozy thinking about working in that order.
Inspiring, Empowering and Emboldening
Teaching is a wonderful profession, but how many of us have sat in a class where the teacher is literally following a class plan right out of a book, and it's as if she/he is reading it with a monotone voice and I promise this drone voice is enough to lull even the most rested person into sleep. Teaching should be with passion - if the teacher loves his/her subject, - Katie-bar-the-door - there's nothing you can't
learn. Teaching should also empower you. The teacher shouldn't be doing everything for you. Now she/he can sit at your machine and show you a technique, but showing and you doing are two entirely different things and you doing the technique is what you will learn the fastest and the best from.
Equally as important is a teacher who will push you. Many times students are not only reticent, but do not know which path to take and if they are ready to take that path. A good teacher will plot out what a student can accomplish, and push that student to accomplish and take on more. There is no greater high for a teacher than to see a student take on something completely different and accomplish the project or task.
The light-bulb goes on in the student's eye and the student is off and running. It's important not to push too much, but that's what the teacher is there to gauge. The teacher, hopefully, knows what direction the student needs to take next and can push the student in that direction.
Chemistry
Although this is somewhat dependent upon both the teacher's and the student's personality, but hopefully the teacher can adapt well enough to teach the student in a way that the student will remember, but also in a way that the student can learn. I've always felt that it's the teacher's responsibility to get the lesson across the the student, the best possibly she/he can. Obviously there are some students who
really do not want to learn, and there's nothing a teacher can do about that. At the same time a simple modification in the presentation, or variation in the method, a student can fully grasp the concepts the teacher is passing on. I once saw a teacher be very pleasant when she taught one lesson, but if anyone in the class needed it repeated, she wasn't as nice. And, sometimes students don't get it on the first, second, third and even fourth pass, but being
irritated about having to say it again, doesn't help the learning process. Being gentle not only helps the message sink in, but encourages questions and enables the teacher to more tailor (no pun, I promise) the class to the students needs and experience level.
Feedback
As vital as it is that the teacher is approachable, and user friendly is the student is forthcoming with what she/he wants to learn. Asking questions along the way is a great way to get the best value possible from your time and money spent on the class. Of course this is impossible with online classes, but in person, at convention classes or virtual classes are great for giving feedback. Don't be afraid to
speak up. From a teacher's point of view, I can tell you - I love questions - it lets me know the student's level of expertise, and I can suddenly shape not only the answer to their question, but also the next tasks they need to take on and what they need to look out for. This also helps the teacher so she doesn't have to do any mind-reading. Getting feedback from the students in the form of questions is really a blessing! So ask away!
Appearance
Yeah, I know, this isn't supposed to count, but you know my story of going to Home Depot on Saturday afternoon with all my grubbies on (looking like not only do I know what I'm doing, but I'm in the middle of doing), looking for a pot to plant in, and getting no help, then the next day after church (more dressed up than in my gardening grubbies), and looking for a light bulb, and have about 4 people trip over themselves to get to
help me out - it's all about appearance. If your teacher's clothes are ill-fitting - uuummm, I'm not one to cast stones, but I would wonder if she can't fit herself, how is she going to fit a student? If her ensemble doesn't match or looks askew, if her seams are ripped, if the finishing she uses on her own clothes aren't up to snuff, that all indicates that's the quality of work that she accepts, but should that be the quality that you accept.
The Community
This is part of the reputation the teacher has. There are lots of sources online of teacher reviews and talking with other students through boards and Facebook Pages who have taken classes from a teacher or write reviews of a class are very informative and can help you determine if this class or teacher is the one from you.
From M Network
I have some friends I've made that teach who are real pros. I trust them and know the provenance from thence they come and know that they have a lot of knowledge they possess and pass it on, often very generously. I've also knowledge of what they consider good sources and some that you wouldn't suspect.
There's one online source that they all agree is not that great. This site is very famous for their crafts type videos and classes and has recent branded themselves (not sure why, but I can suspect). What they do is hire these "name" teachers and then have them sign a fairly typical contract, where they get a percentage (small, but more on that later),
and they do the filming, they do the promoting and accounting, collection, etc., and the teacher does the teaching. The contract allows the teacher to arrange their own course/class and for all their work they get the major percentage of the video. For most teachers this is OK, because they can benefit from the promotion of their name through the promoting of their classes/videos. This site also asks for exclusivity on the video - this means the teacher can't teach the
class while the video is active on their site. This is also pretty standard.
However what each teacher has found out through the extent of their contract, is that the site promises to sell at a certain price, but then immediately discounts the price often 50%, 60% and even 70%. That means that the price threshold that the teacher has worked very hard most of his/her life to set up, is immediately broken.
Here's what this does. I've worked hard to set a price for my classes. I include content that the students want/need. I take time for the techniques that are most important, and will demo the ones that are ancillary or peripheral. I also include specific information for the class and what they need, some need the FBA, some don't. This has taken not only decades of knowledge of sewing but hundreds of classes to set up
and develop. As a result, I charge a certain fee. So now someone comes to me and wants to video my most popular class and sell it on the internet for me, and they will promote me and my name and my talent and with that carry my reputation to more people. Sounds great - I'm in! Suddenly my most popular class that I have developed and worked on for decades is going to be even more popular and publicized. Wow! What a deal. So we set a price that's
pretty close to what I want the price to be. But after the site hits the internet, it's on for a week, and then is discounted 70% and not only that in the fine print the contract I've signed says I can't teach the class while the company wants to keep the video - they don't even have to show it or have it available.
Now, you get why the teachers are so livid about this. It's all about their work and their time and their effort is being discounted without them being able to do anything about it! When the site says they sell your
work at a discount and you can't even teach the subject - one of your classics till the site discontinues or releases you - whenever that is. Other lesser-known teachers get to come on and be on the same site, but these pro friends of mine don't really get anything, except their work discounted huge amounts.
This does not bode well for the site or future classes from pro-type teachers in the future. I was contacted by the site and asked to put together a certain class information and given 2 days to put something together on paper (that took years to develop), and if I couldn't do it in 2 days, then they didn't want it. That's one of the signs of a scam - you have to do it now or else. I called my pro friends and they all to a one said
that they didn't like the contract this site had them sign and couldn't wait to get out of the deal with them. They also said they had trouble getting paid - payment was slow or in some cases non-existent.
These are clear indications as to a site that is dealing strictly at the cheapest level for classes, short-cutting teacher's pay, payments, and this makes for no value at all. The value here is something that is instructive and helps you. If cost is the major factor, not only are the teacher's pay reduced, often the content is reduced, videos are edited and cut short, leaving out vital information.
Here's the deal about teaching sewing. It is linear. That means you have step 1, then step 2, then step 3. If you leave out step 2, you most likely not only can't complete step 3, but get disoriented, discombobulated, discouraged and finally
this. Their work, their development, their
***********
As a teacher, I find immense joy in being able to pass on my passion and joy. This becomes contagious in my classes and love to see my students excel at their own pace and at their own levels. Each student learns differently and at a different pace. Some get it immediately, and some need more encouragement and empowerment - that does not mean one is smarter than the other.
Here's a story that reflects that:
One day a very famous mathematician was invited to speak with Einstein about his new mathematical theory. The younger man was thrilled and as you might suspect a little nervous. He walked into Einstein's study and immediately started going through his theory. He had practiced his presentation and didn't want to seem slow or dumb so was going at a pretty good clip. Pretty soon Einstein stopped him and said, "Son, you're going to have to slow
down. I don't think that fast!" Here's the genius of the modern Physics era saying he simply doesn't think that fast. So thinking fast is not a sign of intelligence or of one's learning capability. It's simply a difference in learning and that's all.
NEWS FLASH
Right before I sent this out, this article appears in my feed - interesting read! It describes the change in the relationship with the instructors including change in the exclusivity agreement which goes even deeper than the former company (before re-branding). The contract now includes all classes by the instructor, so that the instructor much
contact the site before teaching any class. Again, if the company treats the instructors this way, one has to wonder what treatment the student or customer gets, especially if there's a problem or simply a question they want to ask.
I hate this cause this is the rip-off, internet-shiny-thing-first-and-service - last concept that ruins a student's learning process. Additional to making it harder than it has to be, this concept makes any class from any teacher on any subject having to do with sewing suspect.
Anyway wanted to share this before this went out this morning!
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