Geekin’ Out About Sewing On Buttons

You know you are a nerd when you get excited about how well you can sew on a button using a sewing machine.  I can’t help it!   It’s like cutting a piece of wood with a power saw,  Or working on an engine….It’s still a machine after all.   And I refuse to accept the gender stereotype that says only females have to know how to use sewing machines and Men have to stick to power tools that can cut off appendages.   I’m not one to think men ONLY have to stick to dangerous tools to prove their bravado.  Call me civilized is you must…

And so it is that I stumbled upon a button foot for the sewing machine that closely resembles my own modified one.  You see.   The original looked like this with a blue rubber grippy to hold the button in place.   The problem is that the grippy gets in the way and eventually falls off.   Time to invent something new!   First I removed the blue part and ultimately the two tips that are meant to put even pressure on the sides.  Many of the smaller buttons do not even fit under these.   In the end,  my button foot looks fairly simple.   I see that they have a more specialized foot that hooks up directly to the shank of the foot holder.  I may want to get one of these for later. 

So.    In the event I have not blogged about this before,  Here is how it works!  I set the dial ( also modified to keep it within the button hole distance) to a zero distance.   I then make several stitches up and down to knot the thread. 

 

Then I click the stitch dial over to the end and make several stitches across the button.   If it has 4 holes, I rotate 90 degrees and continue doing the same.  

 

When it is done, I set it back to the number zero spot and knot off the thread.  Simple, easy, fun!  and much faster ( and safer) than sewing them all on by hand.

  After the buttons are on,  I trim the jump threads and do the same on the back.   Now here is the exciting part!   When the machine is in tune….the threads look like this on the back side!   Close.  Tight.  Neat!   

Then it goes to Cheryl to finish going around the edge and tops. 

So it was a fairly easy day today with only 25 stockings to sew up.  We somehow managed to take a mid-day break and head to Iowa City for some lunch and walk time.   Still.  It is nearing 8 pm and Cheryl is just finishing up the packing part.  She thinks that no matter how many we have,  or whether we head to Iowa City or not,  it still takes us till 8 pm to finish.  That might be true, but I feel much less stress than I did a few days ago.   Perhaps it is the weekend,  Or the Weather ( Which was rather pleasant for this time of year)

 

Or maybe it is because of the beer.   Beer seems to make everything a little less stressful.  I’m now seeing the wisdom of humanity in creating such a thing.  Today I’m drinking the “Hopped Up” version.   Which has a more sour citrus  taste than the “special bitters” version of yesterday.   It goes really well with chocolate covered almonds.   Then again,   Chocolate, Almonds and beer go with just about EVERYTHING at this point in the day. 

So there it is!  Cheryl says I should not “romanticize” the stocking business as it makes it look like it is so much fun.   However, every year we swear we are never going to do it again…..( and yet…here we are) It is like a career that keeps pulling you back in against your will.   So to all those folks that read this and think buttons are “fun” to sew on…and that you would like a crafting business of your own…..Think again and be warned!  

Besides,  the only person who reads this is usually future me just to see how things were back in 2014.   Oh,  And Barb from ACT.   I could always simply write Barb an Email I guess.  Then again,  There are a couple of reasons not to.   First…and perhaps the most important reason is….I’m lazy.   But only slightly more important than that is that people can track you and use everything you say in Emails against you.   ( I saw this actually happen on an episode of Law & Order!) And that is the truly terrifying part!   I read 1984 and know what happens when Big Brother invades your privacy.  They put you in a chair tickle you until you die!….or maybe that was something else.   Bottom line:   No written record of anything I write for the public!   

With that out of the way.  Time to post this to the internet. 

Sewing Machine Breakage, Fixture, and I Think It is Thursday…

Yesterday, I had a small hiccup with the button machine.   Basically I kept breaking needles and was forced to take it apart after struggling to get the last few stockings finished.  I have experience this before as the tension spring slips and causes the string to seize up.   This forced the needle to pull one way or another and hit the base plate…..”Plink!”   another broken needle.    At $1 each, it starts becoming expensive….and nerve wracking as the stash of emergency needles begins to dwindle and you are down to your last one with the nearest store closing in 10 minutes! 

Luckily  I survived.  We finished the stockings for the day using Cheryl’s Old sewing machine.   The back up to the back up.   It also pulls double duty as a bobbin threader.   Cheryl has been wanting to get rid of the thing…but yesterday….By “Pack- Rattery” paid off if only for a moment.  It is not as “customized” as my machine is for buttons…but It still managed to pull through.  After it was all over, I took both machines totally apart and oiled them up to a smooth running tick.

So today we had only 31 stockings, but still managed to finish around 7 pm.   yesterday we actually had more ( 34 total) and managed to fit in an Iowa City visit.  By the way…I think it is Thursday!   I swear the days are blending together now and I can’t seem to keep the cycle straight.    I guess time flies when you are having fun.   That would naturally lead you to believe that time slows down when you are NOT having fun.  ( i.e. working!)   By this definition….I guess making stockings is “fun” and not really “work”.  But I’m not really feeling that at the moment.

  Of the 31 stockings today,  only three did NOT have names.  The rest were  a mix of ( mostly ) embroidery and even some old glitter names.   I’m almost ashamed of the old glitter names now that we have the PE 770 Embroidery  Machine.   The Embroidery looks WAY more professional. 

So, as mentioned previously,  I sew on the buttons with the sewing machine.   It’s fairly easy.    I modified the button foot to hold the buttons the way I want them to be.  It’s light years faster than if Cheryl has to sew them on by hand.  The only bad part is if the machine decided to mess around for a day and that sends us into panic mode until we figure out the problem. 

By this time though,  I have a pretty good idea on most of the “problems” associated with this particular machine ( the Singer tradition)   It is a simple machine and easy to take apart and put back together. Knowing the “in’s and out’s”  of the machine help you trouble shoot things rather than have to call an expensive repairman.   Also it helps that I’m a frugal scrooge that never wants to give hard earned money away when I have the opportunity to educate myself on something new.  Namely:   How to fix a sewing machine with nothing but a screwdriver! 

So now, we are caught up with several custom orders that have been waiting on the shelves for their “unique designer” to come purchase them.  We still have several custom orders on the shelves that I’m sure we will never see those people again.  It is moments like that that make me think that this “fun” argument  previously discussed is flawed somehow

And as I write this and wind down for the evening,  I’m drinking ESB Schlafly Beer.   The ESB stands for Extra Special Bitter.   Which is deceptive as it is actually quite smooth and fruity with only a faint hint of bitter at the end.  We found this in our “Schlafly Hopped UP” 6 pack as a stowaway.  I’m sure either somebody was haivng fun and slipped a few bottles into other 6 pack containers to “mix things up”  I’m not too upset about it.  After all I enjoy finding and tasting new beers and sometimes I don’t want to pay for a full 6 pack of an unknown.  However,  the Alcohol content on this guy is only 5.8 %.   It’s good for an “after work beer”  because I really don’t need any more help to feel drowsy at the moment.

So that is it!  Stockings, Sewing, and beer!   ( Sometimes…. And only after the work is finished.)  It was a fairly busy day and I’m looking forward to a nice hot bath and maybe an anime later.  In the mean time…I’ll leave you with the shop cat…who occasionally hangs out in the studio in his pile of ruffled packing paper.  

Tuesday After Cyber-Monday.

  Today was a little more challenging…we sold 44 stockings sometime after 7pm last night until this morning.   Even though we finished fairly early…I’m rather exhausted!   Perhaps because I refuse to submit to becoming  an overachiever,  I decided  I would take the night off from origami.   I simply do not have the mojo to tackle something that requires that much attention at this time.   Cheryl agrees as she is taking the rest of the night off and will answer questions tomorrow..perhaps. 

At least I have a little energy to write these little posts.   It helps knowing Barb from ACT reads them occasionally.  ( I think David might as well….Hi ya Dave!) 

Funny,  I’m actually at a loss for words…and apparently..every other word is misspelled.   Luckily  Windows Live tells me when I mess up and Hopefully I will not be to tired to miss them.   So…after 10 minutes of trying to type something coherent…I guess I should just make this post short and call it a night.  Hope everyone else is having a great Holiday Season.  And perhaps I will be able to come up with something witty tomorrow. 

Cyber-Monday Survival

Well,  it was not that bad actually.  Not so many orders were were flooded and driven mad, and not so few that  we were set to worrying about our future.   In short…Just enough to keep us both busy and sane for the day.

We actually accomplished quite a bit.    We worked for a couple hours this morning and then headed to Iowa City to visit the bank, run some errands and pay some bills.  Then back home to work.  We even had time for Bagels at the Bruegger’s Bagel place. 

Then it was run time for Cheryl and Bike time for me.  by the way, Cheryl turned in her best time yet for three full miles!   It was a little colder than a few days ago, so perhaps it was the desire to keep warm that helped push her to the new record. 

On top of all that, we managed to make 29 stockings today.  Not really that many, but a full day’s work non the less.

So now,  Cheryl is finishing the packing up and I just started folding 10 Koi for an origami customer.  I’m not sure if I will be done by Thursday..even though I told him that was wishful thinking.  Still….I will try my best without jeopardizing the stocking output.  We shall see how things turn out.

By the way, While in the bank…Honestly!   the news was reporting how “few” shoppers bought anything during Black Friday and that the “sales” were not enticing enough to get shoppers to buy.    Can I call it or What?!?   I could practically write the news BEFORE it happens WITHOUT  time travel. 

  

In the mean time….enjoy today’s cool Pet names: 

‘Twas the Night Before Cyber-Monday….

I can’t help it!   I guess I just like the word : ‘Twas.   It sounds so cool and romantic. 

So Cheryl and I have been thinking that Cyber-Monday is actually Cyber-Weekend after Thanksgiving.  Today was not too bad as far as work goes.  We were pretty much able to get caught up by 3 pm….without any Iowa City Visits to distract us. 

Currently we are just waiting for Labels to arrive in the Mail tomorrow.  It’s always a tough thing when you run out of materials during a weekend.   Luckily,  This is one issue we can side step as Cheryl pre-packs things and gets them ready before the labels arrive.     Simply packing things up is quite an endeavor.   Cheryl has to put on the tags and labels and put each order in a clear plastic bag….then seal it with a sticker.  Ultimately we put them in a Blue mailer with the shipping label and then they are ready to go.

As for me.   I guess it ends up being rather easy.   I had to put the embroidery on as well as the buttons as usual.    Many of the stockings were either old custom or premade.   I did not fold anything today, but I have been folding when I could for the Ohio financial request.   If they purchase them tomorrow, I’ll have to ship them out all the while facing the omen of Cyber Monday.  

 

 

 

It could be that Cyber Monday is just something that the Media uses to scare people or trump up news on these slow news days.  Every year we hear the same story that businesses are “concerned” that sales are lower then “expected.”  While this IS true  ( EVERY YEAR)     it is not really “news” that shoppers need to worry about.  Yeah, Yeah!  We get it!   The Economy is in the pits!   It always is!   Go find a celebrity scandal to report.

 

 

 

   Anyway,  I’m still hoping for crazy sales tomorrow.  Although I’m sure things will remain at the steady pace they currently are now.   No matter what happens,  tomorrow is going to be pretty busy for us.   We have to go to Iowa City to do some errands and then hopefully UPS will deliver the goods so we can ship this latest batch of stockings.   We may not get to actually making anything until late.   We shall see how things play out…  In the mean time…enjoy the eagles. 

What Happened to Black Friday?

   You may have noticed that I failed to blog yesterday.   There are a couple of fairly good reasons for this.    First….I guess I forgot that 24 hours comes and goes so quickly during the holidays.   Second…we were a little busy making stockings.   This is actually bitter sweet because we enjoy the sales…like the money…..even like the work…however!   Our customers make us work far more than we should have to.  

 

Case in point:   With a little research and statistics from previous years, we stock-piled up a few designs that we were sure were going to be the “main sellers”. Every Christmas,  Rudolph and fox stockings are popular.   Red and green are popular Christmas colors as well.   If you have to invest in designs and colors for your “pre-made” stockings…these guys are the ones.   So.   With several years of sales at our fingertips,   we created a fair number of these stockings ( along with some others)  so that the Christmas rush will not be so hectic.   I knew it was going to be a little more challenging now that I have the embroidery machine and have never tried it out on this large of a scale.   I thought we were at the very least, prepared slightly so we would not have any long crazy days.( By the way :   We sold 38 today, and 26 yesterday…..And there are currently 39 more orders with even more processing!)

Enter the customer!     No,  not the previous customers that made those statistics that we were counting on.   Oh no!  These customers put the “custom” in customers.   They all want something different..   Something NOT on the menu.  Not in the store.   Something NOT prepared in advance.

Cheryl made the observation that the items we have ready in the closet are actually being selected AGAINST!    Why is this?   Is there an eye in the closet making sure that those are not the stockings sold?   Is the universe making us look bad or just messing with out minds?

Probably the later.   I mean,   we ARE still making the stockings and they are getting out.   But I feel like we have wasted all that time and money trying to prepare for a good year.  And it makes us look bad because we seem “unprepared”  when we actually were!   Cheryl thinks we should just avoid thinking about stockings altogether until October next year.  I am beginning to see the wisdom in this thinking.

 

So.  After all that complaining….I still want to say that I’m happy to be finally making sales at this level.   And I’m sure that the jury is still out as we get closer to Christmas as to how the closet stockings will sell.   Everyone still wants their custom pets I guess.   Perhaps we traded one customer that bought for families and traded them for the customer that buys for their pets.  We were HOPING for BOTH.   What better way to double our sales!

So it is currently 9PM and Cheryl is still wrapping up the remaining orders up for the day….and that is when it happened….I realized it is Saturday!  Where did Friday go?   I mentioned I could time travel….Well occasionally I leap forward.   Which is slightly better than leaping back in time in that I can actually remember more from future jumps.  It’s a bit complicated to explain.   I seriously have to write that blog posting about my time travels.  But I digress…..

I’m sure in a couple of hours,  after cutting some felt and ironing some blank stockings,   I will wonder where Saturday went and will not believe it is Sunday already.   We shall see how things go.   And I should probably end this post as I’m probably in the wrong “mood” to be writing.   I’m somewhere between giddy and sore and exhausted.   

I leave you with some of the creative names that people are putting on the stockings.   I can only imagine they are pet names or else these kids are going to be scarred for life