Are you one of those women who says, upon receiving a wardrobe compliment: “Oh, this? I got this for $14.98 at Marshall’s.” Me too. I recently read Overdressed by Elizabeth L. Cline, though, and it’s really got me thinking. I knew that we get low prices because our clothing is made overseas where labor rates are lower.
Cline says “we presume whoever offers us the lowest price is being fair and we give them our business.” Yet cheap clothing we demand has really derailed American business, and resulted in less style and poorer quality. Are we really fashionable, when “global chains are trying to take the risk out of fashion by selling the same carefully orchestrated trends, making our store-bought looks feel homogenous and generic”? I’m an advocate of home sewing, but of course I don’t make all of my clothing. The topstitching and fitting required for jeans, for instance, seems like too much work. I do, however, want quality. How long will it take the $8.00 garment from WalMart shown to the right to sprout holes or loose threads in the side seams and under the arms?
I can see poor quality on the racks and particularly on young women. The fabric is thin and tight in the wrong places. Here’s what Cline says about that: “A half century of competition based on low price has forced the fashion industry to cut corners on quality, construction, and detail, leaving most of us wearing painfully simple designs that are crudely slapped together.”
Cline turned to vintage clothing and repairing her own clothing — more on that later!
My new sewing room is coming along. Only one issue: I now have one fewer bedrooms in my house! Oops. Perhaps my subconscious is saying, “Everyone out!”? My inspiration from Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space continues, even though I’m not a quilter. It all began with this post: Measure Your Fabric… Say Whaaaat?. And it continued with Folding Fabric. Folding fabric, I have to say, turned out to be the most immensely rewarding thing I did for my sewing situation. If you are not even planning a redo, make a date with that fabric anyway. Just sit down, in front of the TV if you prefer, with a pile of fabric and the right size ruler (described in this post). Being able to see your fabric folded will make you will feel so organized!
I’ve been inspired by a book I got at the library, Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space, by Lois Hallock. I sew more clothing than quilts, but I have a tiny sewing area and I was looking for organizing ideas. Lois is a professional engineer and, as a second career, a professional organizer who specializes in organizing sewing rooms. She says: “Measure your fabric. I am not kidding.” It makes sense: you can’t figure out how much storage you need until you measure what you have. Lois also has ideas for how to fold your stash so you can see it — wow, what a concept. Thoroughly inspired, and determined to procrastinate from measuring the volume of all my fabric, I sat down one night with one of my small pieces box (I have two — one light fabrics and one dark fabrics) and tried what she suggested. The idea is to fold so pieces up to one yard can be visible in a clear box that is about 5″-6″ high. I didn’t have the 8″ x 24″ quilting ruler she specified, but I did have a 4″ by 18″ ruler, so I folded the fabric and voila! a box full of flat folded fabric was suddenly neat. She says put smaller scraps into a scrap basket, and I’ll do that too — or I might give them away since they are not big enough for apparel. She has another size recommended for cuts from 1-3 yards, and I plan to try that too.
Lois’ book is full of rooms of various sizes and ladies with various budgets, hence her subtitle, “Sewing rooms for any space and any budget.” Ergonomics are very important, she says, since you need to be productive with the time you have.
Here are my plans from her book: 1. Get an office chair that adjusts. Can you believe I’m using a folding chair?! 2. Measure the volume of my fabric. 3. Get a rolling cart for my serger so that I can create a “work triangle,” as recommended for kitchens.
Have a look at Lois’ lovely book on Amazon.com: Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space
Sales Job I often get asked which machines are the best value. But for most people it’s more about where they can get a machine. Locally, we have a chain of sewing and vacuum stores, and they are conveniently located in shopping centers near grocery and other stores. I recently stopped in to one of these stores, and that’s what most of this post is about. However, I’m noticing that online you can get a great machine without the sales pitch. There’s more on getting your very own sewing machine below.
Note bene: I am not a fan of being sold anything. I really dislike the sales process as it’s conducted, say in BestBuy and on used car lots. When I stopped into this sewing machine store, I clearly stated that I teach private lessons and I wanted to see if they had any new recommendations for reasonably-priced machines I can pass on to clients.
After telling her at least once that I myself use a ca. 1991 Singer Merritt machine (an inexpensive machine that was sold at Sam’s Club), and therefore was not the type to tell anyone that they NEED a brand-new expensive machine to learn to sew, she proceeded to encourage me to “put a bug” in my clients’ ears about buying an expensive machine that costs $599.00. I guess she didn’t hear me. She claimed that new sewers “get frustrated” on older machines. I’m wondering how that is possible when a) all machines are threaded the same and b) people are probably more frustrated at being new sewers than at the machine itself. On an earlier visit, another saleswoman from the same chain told me they are trained to sell the highest price machine. They are trained, of course, by the manufacturers themselves. Acquiring a New Machine
Far be it from me to discourage you, dear reader, from purchasing a new machine — you’re probably as tired of the “durable goods sales are way down” messages we hear on the news. (Sewing machines fall into the “durable goods” category of “home appliances” that economists track.) But with such a sales pitch, I think you might get the most value online. Amazon.com has a variety of sewing machine sellers. Brother machines are sold on Amazon.com, and having worked with a number of clients, all of the models offer a lot of features and seem solidly built.
Some manufacturers, such as Pfaff, forbid their models to be sold online, so you must go to a dealer. This subjects you to the sales pitch, but would give you a chance to try a number of machines. Approach the trip as you would a trip to a used car lot — with a budget and an “I know what I want out of life” attitude. The JoAnn Fabrics “superstores” sell machines in the same way as the local chain I mentioned above (probably on commission). Other store options include Best Buy and Sears. I would avoid Target, which sells the lower-quality end of models and the machines might be more trouble than they are worth. Adopt a Used Machine
You can also purchase machines locally on Craigslist. I am amazed at how many times I have searched and found “New in box sewing machine” on Craigslist. You can also get a used machine on Craigslist, but you should commit to 1) making the owner show you that it works and has most of the feet and accessories it came with and 2) having the machine serviced. And I mean right away — take it from your car to the shop so that you are not tempted to “just see how it goes.” A lube and repair is worth your money, and repair guys are worth getting to know. They are often nice and willing to fix small issues for free when the sewing goblins strike.
Here are some good used models to acquire: Brother, Pfaff, Huqsvarna Viking. An older Singer is a good machine, but the recent ones are crap. (They are the lowest quality product line of the company that now owns Viking/Huqsvarna and Pfaff.) This is too bad, because if you ask most people to name one sewing machine brand, they say “Singer!” Mr. Singer, after all, was the man who invented the sewing machine. However, the newer Singers are noisy and clunky and even eat fabric. (Fabric gets caught under the plate that’s under the needle.) Again, most older machines are good quality and will deliver many years of service if they are tuned up every once in a while. Kenmore is another older quality machine. Servicing a Used Adoptee
I will save the topic of getting a used machine serviced for another post. Briefly, some chain repair shops have recently jacked up prices to meet the “demand” that the trendy hobby of sewing has created.
And for those of you who have older machines, don’t get an inferiority complex — just keep on truckin’.
UPDATE: Here’s my abbreviated article on TeachStreet.com
SoundStitches Sewing Blog 