The Sewing Room

hazy_baby

Just out of interest, where are the best places to buy Cath Kidson-esque material (ie generic flowery material) at moneysaving prices? I love the design but I dont want to pay for the brand if there are similar products out there? and also the best place to buy funky, printed material (by that i mean cute animals, foodstuff, nature, spots and stripes etc)

amandada

karmacookie wrote: »

I think I would have considered it. I paid £40 (1/2 price concession rate) for a 10 week course, I stopped going half way through. There were 12 people and only 2 sewing machines. a lot of time was taken up drawing patterns. Now that I can use the machine (a bit) i can see that pattern drawing would be a good skill to learn but when you are a total dunce with a sewing machine there didn't seem much point. I recon if I spent £40 for someone to come to my home and teach me for 2 hours on my own machine I would have learned more!

That's exactly where I'm coming from....it's just an idea I'm mulling over just now....I've been sewing for not far off 30 years (eek!:eek: ) initially taught by my mum, then I learned the real technical aspects at school and college (am a Home Economist)
My 12 year old is learning at school just now, and has reminded me of the problems of 4 machines shared between a whole class-so I'm teaching her at home.

I'm thinking along the lines of starting with the basics of how to use your machine, then how to use and "read" a pattern, fitting, altering patterns to fit etc....would that be the sort of thing that would appeal to people do you think?

Then there's the whole other world of curtains and soft furnishings....

Sunshine12

Definately amandada. I would love to have someone like that. My classes are quite good in that there are 12 of us and we pretty much always have a machine each but the teacher cant spend time with everyone so there are times when you cant do anything until you wait on her being able to help you.

How much were you thinking of charging per hour?

amandada

Sunshine12 wrote: »

Definately amandada. I would love to have someone like that. My classes are quite good in that there are 12 of us and we pretty much always have a machine each but the teacher cant spend time with everyone so there are times when you cant do anything until you wait on her being able to help you.

How much were you thinking of charging per hour?

I'm thinking probably something like £12/hour, but I've not really researched it yet.

Sunshine12

Few linkies here and here for some online fabric shops (Gone to Earth and Gaga fabrics). I havent ordered yet but have been told that their service is great and from what I see they have some lovely fabric (especially like the kids section from gaga fabrics.)

Now all i need is an unlimited amount of cash!!

karmacookie

amandada wrote: »

I'm thinking probably something like £12/hour, but I've not really researched it yet.

That sounds like good value, I'm sure lots of people would be interested, you would be able to teach people on their own machines and tailor the lesson to suit individual needs. I think it's a great idea!

babyboysmommy

amandada wrote: »

That's exactly where I'm coming from....it's just an idea I'm mulling over just now....I've been sewing for not far off 30 years (eek!:eek: ) initially taught by my mum, then I learned the real technical aspects at school and college (am a Home Economist)
My 12 year old is learning at school just now, and has reminded me of the problems of 4 machines shared between a whole class-so I'm teaching her at home.

I'm thinking along the lines of starting with the basics of how to use your machine, then how to use and "read" a pattern, fitting, altering patterns to fit etc....would that be the sort of thing that would appeal to people do you think?

Then there's the whole other world of curtains and soft furnishings....

Yes very helpful & the more I think about it the more I'd prefer to pay for less hours but 1:1 tuition as I'm sure I'd learn more. Also I'd lean what I wanted/needed to rather than what the whole class had to learn. The fact I could learn on my own machine is a huge plus. As I said my mum is going to teach me, if it wasn't for her I'd be looking elsewhere. I'd hate to spend money on a machine & it to get little use just because I didn't know how to get the most out of it.

babyboysmommy

amandada wrote: »

I'm thinking probably something like £12/hour, but I've not really researched it yet.

I'd pay that. I couldn't afford to pay much more though. You need to factor in your travelling expenses & the time it take to get to your job to really work out what you would earn.

babyboysmommy

Kandipandi wrote: »

I would definately shop about - those local shops are brilliant for good advice but not always the best price. Ask what are the most reliable easiest to use makes (brother, singer spring to mind) and then shop about for one of those at the best price.
I love mine and would rather give up my TV than my sewing machine

I plan on using them for advice only. Having said that they are considered a good place if you want to buy second hand. My Mum takes some classes & belongs to a few clubs & quite a few going have bought their machines from this shop. Feel quite excited about getting one now I did think about waiting as I'm 40 in the summer so could get a better machine if I had it for my birthday, decisions, decisions...

amandada

babyboysmommy wrote: »

I plan on using them for advice only. Having said that they are considered a good place if you want to buy second hand. My Mum takes some classes & belongs to a few clubs & quite a few going have bought their machines from this shop. Feel quite excited about getting one now I did think about waiting as I'm 40 in the summer so could get a better machine if I had it for my birthday, decisions, decisions...

Oh I think I'd be waiting for my birthday!:D