Re-Use, Recycle, Restore

I have a friend who's mother-in-law is an absolutely MAD sewist. She has multiple rooms full of cabinets stuffed with fat quarters, bolts of fabrics, and the most incredible collection of Liberty lawns that I have ever seen. She has MULTIPLE top of the line embroidery machines, sergers, sewing machines, machines just for quilting...she has such an incredible collection of machines and STASH that she has to rent an apartment for it. It won't fit in her house. How crazy is that? Of course, I adore her and think that she is a mad genius and am planning to make her my bestest friend so I can get a key to that apartment...

But I think that seeing her studio really serves to illustrate the different levels that you can become involved in this crazy hobby. It makes me think....Do I really need a $3000.00 sewing machine? Or a $5000.00 embroidery machine? Or a $1600.00 serger? Or what about $400.00 for an iron? And don't forget the ironing board...

Of course, I would LIKE all of that, friends who have seen what I make have accused me of running a sweat shop out of my basement, but does that really fit with the "Cheap and Picky" mantra? Isn't my whole purpose of this blog to show how you can do these things in an economical way? And for that reason, I can comfortably answer those questions with a resounding "NO!" I do just fine with my iron from Target, thankyewverymuch.

If Mrs. Keller is one end of the spectrum, then I am unabashedly at the other end. Not only was most of what is in my sewing room purchased used, but a lot of it was free and very, very little of it is younger than me. In fact, my main machine is a Singer 401 picked up on Craigslist for $75.00:


For the most part, I also confine not only my machines but my stash and projects to a single room...the front guest bedroom. As of yet it can still function as a bedroom if I drop the machines into their tables and put away the folding table that I use for cutting (although I have been known to relocate to the dining room for cutting out very large projects).


I have three workstations set up (although there are actually 5 machines in the room. It's kind of like a game of "Where's Waldo?" Don't tell Jeremy there are five machines in there. And definitely don't tell him about the ones in the basement. He REALLY doesn't want to know about those. Even though they were free).

The 401 and my dressform is where I do most of my own work. Yes, the dressform is wearing a bra. There is no way to make my clothes fit her, otherwise! So, she gets a little padding:


And while she has her own machine that lives downstairs, when my niece is here likes to work on the Singer 603e. That is her gigantic pile of crap lying on it right now.


This is my grandmother's machine, that she purchased in 1976. It is also the machine that I learned to sew on, perched on her lap. The cabinet that it is sitting on top of is the cabinet that she bought with it, although it is sitting on top right now because a crappy little free-arm machine that happens to make the prettiest zig-zag stitch in the world is inside it:


And here is my stash. All my fabrics are in the large plastic tubs, or is leaning against the wall behind them. You can also see my ancient relic of an ironing board, swiped from Grandma's house. It is actually made out of wood....big, heavy wooden legs, not flimsy sheet metal and tube steel like the ironing boards now. The little rolling cart to the left of the closet is chock full of thread, buttons, zippers, binding, hem tape, and measuring tapes.


My workspace and equipment is nowhere near as elaborate as some sewists. I don't have a space dedicated just to sewing...it sometimes has to be a guest room. The most that I have spent on any one item in the room is $129.00 (the dressform) and a lot of it was free or repurposed from other places in the house (cutting table, ironing board, Grandma's Singer) and a lot was purchased used ($75.00 for the Singer 401 in the giant desk, and $80.00 for the Singer 603e).

I also limit myself to $10.00 a yard for fabric, although a lot of it is purchased for much, much less. But don't confuse inexpensive fabric with cheap fabric! I love a good deal, but I hate crap fabric! Most of my patterns are purchased on sale for as little as $.99. Occasionally I will pay the full price for a Hot Patterns, Jalie, or Pamela's pattern. But even my Hot Patterns I buy on their ebay site once they are discontinued. So overall, I spend very little on my hobby.

Could I make awesome stuff on a multi-thousand dollar machine? Sure!! But, I do on occasion, manage to turn out some pretty good shit on those old machines. They are perfectly capable of doing all the same things that modern computerized machines do, they just do it in a different way. Also, since they are gear driven and not computerized, I can do all the maintenance and repairs myself. In fact, when I bought the 401, it was completely locked up, but two days of oil, cleaning and grease and it runs like a dream.

So, how does my bordering-on-ridiculous collection of machines adhere to the "Cheap and Picky" ideology? Well, for one, they were all cheap (or free) and two, those gear driven Singers will run and run and run. In fact, the 401 was a VERY lucky find for me, since finding one in working order, in a huge desk like that, and for only $75.00 is a real rarity. They are often advertised on Craigslist for as high as $200-300.00, and ebay they can go even higher.

I think that there is also another benefit to using the older machines rather than buying new ones and trashing the old: it allows you to lead a greener life. Re-use, Recycle, Restore...all of these are things I do every day in the sewing room.