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June 18, 2021
EQUIPMENT
Equipment in your sewing space can be a blessing or a curse. And yes, you guessed it, recently that's been a curse for me. But this isn't only a rant, it's also a cautionary tale.
Having good, sturdy and reputable equipment in your sewing space is like driving on a great interstate. When you are relegated to a two-lane blacktop or worse, a gravel road, your sewing can take a serious deceleration or come to a complete stop. Nothing is worse for the creative spirit. I'm all about communing with the muse and your creative juices, and anything that stops that, is not only stopping communication, but it seriously damages any future creativity.
You're relegated to fixing whatever is wrong just to get back into action.
The Value Significance
But there's another problem that we don't think about that often when we're dealing with equipment failure. There's a value issue to consider here. Part of what happens when we sew is that, yes, sometimes we may spend more for a garment - maybe as much as twice as much or more, but the use we get out of that garment -- the value -- is so far beyond anything that we could buy. If we were to purchase enough of the fast/cheap fashion clothes @ $5/item that
lasted for 2 or 3 weeks would be $85/year. When we make an item that may cost $25 and we are wearing and using it for 5 years that fast/cheap fashion garment would have costs $425 over five years which is about 17 times as much as the one we made. Of course, that assumes that you could find the same garment in the fast/cheap fashion store and doesn't count the time shopping.
The exact same rule can be applied for equipment in your sewing. Even the most mediocre and part-time sewists can benefit from this mind-set. As an instructor I've seen students who appear with a machine, "I bought it for $500 on Amazon - it was a close-out and it was on sale!!!!!" And are beyond excited at their prowess of finding, action on and having in their possession this wonderful, brilliant purchase. They bring it to class, don't know how
to thread it, the bobbin balls up, the stitches break, and all sorts of red hell is occurring in the innards of the machine. Suddenly questions like, service, instruction, and even "can I return it" are entering their mind. I take them by the hand (when I'm teaching at my favorite place a local sewing center), and introduce them to some used machines at the same price and often less, WITH instruction, WITH service, WITH help and they look at me like, why didn't I
think of this to begin with.
The Equipment
There are several ways to learn about good equipment and how to purchase it. There are the top names in machines which do not include Singer (unless is pre-1950). If you're not sure, do some research online, but some of my favorite brands are Bernina, Pfaff, Husqvarna Viking, Bably-Lock, Janome and other brands of industrial machines.
It's The Dealer
But the brands aren't the most important part, it's the dealer. I always, ALWAYS recommend buying the dealer. And how do you choose? By several categories:
- When you walk in the store, there's something going on
- Check out the tech/service staff - anyone, one, more than one
- Check out the class schedule, how many types of sewing: crafts, quilting, dressmaking
- Instruction for the machine - good dealers provide instruction at no cost
- Will they let you sew something - bring in samples of things you will be sewing on - will they let you see how the machine sews
- Is the staff knowledgeable
All of these are key points to make up a great dealer. And here's what you get: 1.) you need help with instruction, 2.) Something is hinky with the machine, noise, movement, 3.) You've been wanting to hone up your dressmaking or quilting skills, and can take classes, 4.) the staff can help you choose the machine for the sewing you like best.
Suddenly you're in clover, and yes you may have spent a bit more, but you not only have a machine that will perform regularly, but if something goes wrong, you have a clear action of what to take. And in the long run those value points that the good dealer can add to the longevity of the machine is always worth it. I recommend used high-quality, basic machines for newbies so that they can get the feel of the sewing process, and if they like it they can always
trade up (usually at the same dealer who is more than happy to take in the old machine for trade and make a great deal for new machine). If sewing isn't what the newbie was looking for, he/she can sell it for almost what they bought it for. Now, try and sell that bargain machine from Amazon close-out and you'll do good to get half of what you paid for it.
Location, location, location
The next problem a lot of you undertake is location. I know many of you are in areas that can't easily get to a good dealer. Believe me it is worth the drive and the find. For some of you that's a day trip and for some it's an overnight trip. I know that sounds like a lot, but to have good equipment it's worth it. Make a whole trip of it. Visit some upscale clothing boutiques and stores for ideas on style, fabric uses, notions and of
course pricing (it will do your sewing a world of good to see upscale pricing!) Do your equipment shopping, and by all means visit a fabric store or two - no telling what you will find. Staying at the most modest of places like a La Quinta, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express. I usually stay at a suburb on the outskirts of town to get a reduced rate. Remember you're not only saving aggravation but also time as you're not trying to troubleshoot, fix or otherwise mess
with the machine to make it work. So the time to drive or travel to get a good dealer is worth it. And here's the thing: you find a good dealer, you can establish a relationship with them and often you can work with them so they can ship parts, or even purchase a machine over the phone with them. This is the service you get with a great dealer!
Think of it this way, you get the notion to make something, and you find the perfect fabric. You go into your sewing space, cut it out, and turn on your machine and before you know it, you're into the fun of the assembly and watching your dream take shape before your very eyes. There's no trouble in your future. There's no wasting time trying to find out and fix a problem. There's no worrying about whether something's going to happen or
not. You and the muse are in Nirvana and singing in harmony!!!
The Rest of Your Sewing Space
The same thing holds true of other items in your studio. Obviously your machine is the most important, but don't discount your other equpiment:
- pressing equipment or iron,
- your cutting equipment or scissors and rotary cutting tools,
- your fitting tools like mannequin,
- good mirror(s), full-length mirrors,
- any drafting or drawing tools like your tissue pencils, markers,
- your lighting,
- your space allocation - which can be temporary or permanent,
- idea farm - a place to keep all your ideas for inspiration later (Pinterest, I believe, was invented for this very purpose. I have a wealth of ideas on Pinterest for when I'm in the mood to create, but not sure what it will be).
Maintenance
All of these can make for a perfect creative environment. But there is one last thing I would like to recommend. The condition that you keep your working space in. And here I go to some Feng Shui (fung shway) principles because these work so well. I did a whole resource on Arranging the Studio, but within that resource, is how you maintain your studio, and that is key for keeping the muse close at hand.
Imagine coming into your studio every day and knowing exactly where you left off and in a matter of a few minutes you are working where you left off the day before. This is so remarkable that it's a shame it's not taught every day. I know I can waste up to an hour before I get started trying to remember where I was when I don't use this principle. And it's so easy, it almost makes it look like, it doesn't matter. But it does. When
you're on the clock and or you simply want to get something done quickly, this is an infallible method to get you started and productive.
Here it is:
At the end of your time in your studio, whether that's at the end of the day or at the end of the time you set aside for completing your project, stack everything in neat organized piles, and make a list of how to start the next day - what you need to do next in your project.
Using an Online Calendar
I also like to use a calendar here, and particularly if I have about 4 or 5 projects going at the same time for clients or other things - cleaning the house, weeding the garden bed, making dinner for guests, whatever. I will set aside 2 hours for this task, and 3 hours for another and 4 hours for sewing. I will set up my neatened stacks, quick to do list - not for the day, but to start the day, and set up my calendar hour-schedule for the next day. As a note here I use
Google Calendar and since I usually have my phone close by, it will ding about 10 minutes before my next task. Although this sounds like some sort of Simon-LeGree created way of breaking your spirit. Exactly the opposite is true and here's the real truth. You're not having to watch the clock all the time to check and see if you have 30 minutes left or an hour or anything like that. The muse doesn't like it if you are constantly clock-watching. That takes
your mind away from the flow of creativity and use the calendar as a gentle reminder that this time slot is passing and this time slot is coming up.
Schedule in breaks
A simple 2-3 minute break every hour or 1½ hours keeps you from becoming too tired and your intensity too high. A longer break 15 minutes in mid-morning and mid-afternoon can be anything from a mini-nap to a walk with your dog or anything that can be a nice quiet time for you to discuss new ideas with the muse (cause you and she are really singing in harmony now). A break mid-day - lunch or simply eating a salad outside or away from your sewing room, is also a good way
to take a simple break. If you're like me, I start in the morning at 8-ish and look at the clock and it's 9:30, then look up again and it's 4:30 and I wonder what happened? It was just 9:30 thirty minutes ago! Having breaks through the day doesn't stop your progress, it makes it easier and much better. This really is a great way to organize yourself and it's not torture - I promise.
This isn't to make me look like I'm busy, but it's to schedule out my day so that I spend the time where I need. Now, that said, stuff comes up and in life sh*t happens, so this isn't written in law, but on a day-to-day basis, this gets you organized and working where you want when you want.
Now here's the reality of this schedule. Things didn't go exactly on time, but that's OK. What did happen is that I got finished weeding ahead of schedule so I got a cool drink and sat outside to admire those beautifully weeded beds that looked so gorgeous. Then I had a little picnic lunch outside and admired them some more. THEN, at 1ish and I started working on my red shirt (I need a red shirt for some reason, I don't have
one!)
This started out as a rant, because my iron - one of my important pieces of equipment is playing games with me. But I called my dealer where I bought it, and guess what? They are either going to give me a loaner (I'm not really excited about that - whole new list of things to learn anew, so I'm using one of my backups), and they are going to contact the manufacturer to get it fixed and find out
what's going on. I have someone in my corner fighting for me, who has clout with the company and just that little bit has helped me get back into the swing of things working on things for my client. Have a fitting today and I'm looking good for the fitting cause the garment is altered and ready for her.
For the sewing space, it's all about you and your creativity. Don't take it for granted, and respect your creativity and your muse. You are one of the lucky few that have a rapport with your muse. Can you imagine? Many people go through life with out that creativity and that muse on their shoulder. What a loss!
The sleeve or more importantly the armscye seam - besides seam-ripping, I think, is what everyone perceives as the hardest seam alive. Well, mastering it does take some practice, but everything in sewing does, but once mastered, the sleeve is a beautiful thing. Yes, I know - I don't have a life when I think this is a beautiful thing, but there it is!!!
Watch me take this mess of a sleeve:
and turn it into this:
Don't purchase both of these resources - you only need one or the other.
What I've done here is that I know a lot of you already have the Entire Sleeve Resource. The one thing I've changed and updated and extended is the Armscye-Armhole Alteration Resource. So I'm offering both of them special this month.
If you don't have the Entire Sleeve Resource, it's at a tremendous discount. If you have the Sleeve Resource and want to update it, the Armscye-Armhole Alteration Resource is at discount as well.
Here's the Entire Sleeve Resource
Here's the newly updated Armscye-Armhole Alteration Resource
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