When I was 10, I used my mother's sewing machine without permission. The resulting tangle took her nearly 5 months to fix. I was henceforth banned from touching the machine, and my impressionable little self took that to heart. I do not use sewing machines because I still believe--20 years later--in my deadly touch.
For Christmas in 2014, I asked for a sewing lesson with Heather. We'd met at a street festival when she was manning a booth with her beautiful hand-sewn products, and she told me all about her classes. The prices are reasonable for a group class, and I thought this would be a good start to move from being banned from touching a sewing machine to actually using one.
A family member gave me a gift certificate for Sew Fabulous, and off we went! I called ahead and told Heather about the sewing machine I'd be bringing to class. She asked a few questions about the model and assured me that she could teach me to use that one.
The class was fun, but I personally had some issues. Despite assuring me that she could teach me to use the machine I brought, Heather actually couldn't. She had no idea how to make basic things go on this machine. If she'd told me that she had no idea, I would have done the class on one of her demo machines instead of hauling a sewing machine across town. Instead, I spent most of the class trying to trouble-shoot things myself and just being frustrated.
I don't feel like I learned a lot from this class because of the struggles with the machine. Were I to do it again, I'd use one of her demo machines until I felt like I had the skills to make things go on any machine. But I would take more classes with Heather, if that says anything.
(The machine I brought is a particular type of Pfaff that's modern but intended to be very manual. It's not one of the heavily computerized models that most sewers favor these days. This one is adjustable to the max, but adjustments require knowledge of the proper settings for each knob. In other words, it's a very particular machine. But as I type this, I am sitting in a room with both the sewing machine and multiple items that were sewn on that machine including some lovely curtains and a duvet cover. So. It does work.)
Accessibility notes: several steps up into shop. No lift or ramp. No Braille signage. read more