It Looks Like a Cushion

I had to run into town again yesterday morning for chicken feed—I had tires in my car on Tuesday and no room for anything else—so I took the opportunity to drop some tomato plants off at Cathy’s on the way. We only had a short time to chat because she was on her way to the dentist, but it was good to see her (and her cows). After a stop to get food for both chickens and humans, I came home and tackled DD#2’s patio furniture cushion project. We got rain again yesterday, so this was a good inside project.

The first one, for one of the chairs, turned out okay. (That left front corner is a little wonky.)

Now I have a pattern—sort of—to follow. I also know how this fabric behaves, although it was obvious from the start that the edges would have to be finished to prevent fraying. All of the pieces went through the serger before I assembled them on the Necchi industrial. I followed the design of the cushions that came with the furniture. They did not have piping and I wasn’t going to offer that as a design option. The top and bottom pieces wrap over the front with a gusset only on three sides. If I were doing this again, I might change that, but I’ll stick to the same design for this batch. We’ll see how the covers hold up. I can always make another set, although this fabric is sold out and I only have enough for the cushions I need to make.

The foam I ordered is nice and thick, too. These cushions will be way more comfortable than the cheap ones that came with the furniture.

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I got a call at the beginning of last week from one of the quilt stores. They had a customer who wanted to hem a dress on her coverstitch machine—would I be willing to call her and see what she needed? (I very much appreciated that they did not just give out my number, but checked with me first.) I called the customer, we talked about the project, and she asked if I had some time to meet her at the store to look at the project. I said that yes, I could meet her on Tuesday (two days ago) at 10 am. I said that if she brought the extra fabric that was left over after shortening the dress, we could use that to test out the settings on her machine. She has the same serger/coverstitch machine that Tera does. She has been in several of the same classes that I’ve taken, although I have never had her as a student.

Somewhere along the line, I think there was a breakdown in communication, or else the customer had different expectations than I did. When I got there, I saw that she had her machine set up and the dress with her, but she hadn’t cut off any extra material. All she had done was pin it to the desired length. I said that I couldn’t tell her what settings would be appropriate without testing it on the dress material, first, especially because I have a different brand of coverstitch machine. I got the distinct impression that she was hoping that I would either offer to hem the dress for her or walk her through the process step by step.

I don’t mind giving a few minutes of my time. If she had cut off the extra fabric ahead of time, I would have been happy to run a few test hems through the machine to give her some suggestions on appropriate settings. I did not have time to stay and wait while she cut the extra fabric off, first. This time of year, when I’ve got a short window of opportunity to get the garden planted, my time is at a premium. I’ve got two tops sitting next to my coverstitch machine waiting to be hemmed. I also don’t give classes for free, and me walking her through the entire process of hemming the dress would have amounted to a class by the time we were done.

She probably wasn’t happy when I left, but I emphasized that all of us who have coverstitch machines have to go through the same process of testing, testing, and testing again to dial in the settings for different fabrics. There is no shortcut for that process. And the best way to learn the ins and outs of your machine is to practice with it.

I’m also trying to maintain boundaries, both for myself and the store. It isn’t fair for someone to expect a free class from me, nor is it fair to expect the store to make its classroom space available.

Boundaries with students/customers is something I learned from teaching knitting classes. It’s why I won’t accept social media friend requests from people who have taken classes from me or who are friends of other knitting designers. I don’t post much on Facebook, but I have lots of friends and family who do, and everyone in the world does not need to have access to that content. If I am friends with you on social media, it’s because you and I have a relationship that extends beyond knitting or sewing.

I’ll check in with the store owner and see what she thinks. I suspect she will back me 100% in not having given a free class on hemming a dress. I will put a coverstitch class on the schedule for the future, though.

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Today is our 32nd wedding anniversary. We might try to have date night this weekend. The husband has a customer who always sends along a restaurant gift card as an extra thank-you, and we got one from him last week. I look at that number, though, and it boggles my mind. Apparently, we’ve been having so much fun that time has flown by.