With Mother's Day coming up there have been plenty of special deals advertised for sewing machines. The low prices combined with the recession trend towards frugality means quite a few women (and men) are considering buying one.
Having recently bought a new machine myself and talked to a number of shoppers, here are a few tips. They are in no particular order as different things are important for different people.
You get what you pay for
Kind of obvious really but it's worth thinking about how you are going to put your sewing machine to use. If it's just the odd bit of mending and moment of inspiration for a party costume then a pretty basic model is going to do the trick and you can consider machines in the $200 - $350 range. If you want to do any more than that, it's worth saving a few more pennies (or going in with a friend) and heading into the next price level if not higher.
The difference electronics make
The first sewing machine I bought (26 years ago this month!) had a 25 year guarentee. It was mechanical and the general rule was it would run better the more it was used. My mother's 45 year old earlier model is still going strong and had a lifetime guarentee for certain parts.
Then about 17 years ago I bought a secondhand (hardly used) early electronic machine. It is still going well although it has had a replacement motherboard ($400 was still cheaper than a new machine at that level) My wonder sewing machine repair man has taught me quite a bit in passing about machines over the years and there are some different things you need to consider.
Basically an electronic machine will not last as long as a mechanical machine - the components (like any computer) age. So save the investment into the super amazing one until you know you will have the time to use it - for instance I just bought a new middle range machine for the next 10 - 15 years and am planning on the wonder one for retirement.
Being electronic you need to get out of the habit of leaving your machine switched on when you aren't using it. Power equals heat and heat and electronics don't mix in the long term - so get into the habit of turning off your machine when you walk away for any length of time. Better still unplug it if you are leaving it out overnight.
Buy what you know
A couple of things here - many older women come in looking for a new machine because the machine they used a lot when their children were small needs replacing. They say they need something really basic because they wont be using it nearly as much. A great piece of advice I got when I was in the same position is to look for at least the same number and types of stitches your old machine has. You might think you wont use them but will get frustrated if they aren't there. This isn't that hard as even the most basic electronic machines have a pretty good range, but it is worth keeping in mind. For example I did used the alphabet function quite a bit on my old machine and that helped decide between similar options.
Brand loyalty is a big thing in sewing machines - having changed brands with my latest purchase I'm struggling a bit. My daughters love it and one of them might get lucky if I have sufficient cash to invest in my brand preference. So if you have sewn a lot/ grown up with a particular brand, start with that.
Trying it out
If your old machine had a front loading bobbin (and was mechanical or early electronic) the design and shape of many of the new machines with drop in bobbins can feel kind of odd. It's hard to describe and isn't confined to a particular brand but I have found the line of sight seems different. It's possibly due to the way top threading has been altered to make it easier. It can take a bit of getting used to.
I always like to check the buttonhole a machine sews, how easy it is and the general appearance. The bottom line machines aren't designed to deal with very heavy fabrics but anything up from that should sew that OK. If you are an experienced sewer (you probably wont be reading this!) you may need to take some fabric samples with you to test.
Last but not least one of the changes over time with electronics is that there is more scope for machines to specialise for different sewing requirements. Once you head over the $2000 mark the major brands tend to offer different versions for quilting or embroidery.
And don't forget that as well as a good machine you need good quality thread and the right needle for the job for sewing success.
Prices are in New Zealand dollars
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The art and science of housework
It is widely recognised that housework is a much maligned activity - very few people admit to liking it, and for most of us it is one of those chores that gets in the way of life.
I am certainly not a fan of housework (as my family can attest) and often pay someone to do it for me; but as I was vacuuming this morning it occurred to me that maybe, I was selling it short as a task of the nurturing economy.
For those of you who haven't heard me on this theme before - the nurturing economy is the work of being human, caring for others in all it's forms. This has traditionally been the work of women, and more frequently now the elderly, and is work that used to be unpaid and even now - where it is paid - is low paid. I have argued and continue to argue that in our drive for economic productivity - particularly the drive to have women returning to the work force - society has ignored the fundamental requirement of time such work takes. It would perhaps have been OK if an increase in the working hours of women had led to a corresponding decrease in the hours men worked so they could fill some of the gap. But no, men continue to work 50-60 hour weeks, and so do many women.
The obvious consequence of this is the rise in services to fill the gaps, early childhood services, before and after school care, cleaning and gardening. While acknowledging that not all families can afford such support, these services are not total solutions. And that's without touching on the hidden gaps of adults too tired to contribute to the vast array of voluntary services that enrich and support the life of our community.
Which brings me back to my starting point of my underestimation of housework in this equation. Over the 30 odd years that I have been responsible for the task for myself and others, there have been a number of highs and lows. In fact sometimes I think my rather slack approach has damaged my self image as a capable and competent person. It's as if when I hear congratulating me on a piece of work I have a mental tape playing reminding me of the state of the oven. My reflecting this morning started with a memory of a photocopy of an Australian Womens Weekly article from the mid 1970's, that was included in the resource material I acquired at an antenatal class with my eldest child. Basically it was a 45 minute routine that could be managed while the baby was napping that got your house in reasonable shape in case of unexpected visitors.
While some of the basic expectations of women have changed, the underlying principles are still incredibly practical and unconciously I had followed a similar pathway this morning. The focus is on the public face of the house and it identifies the key issues that tend to make us react with "not clean". Anyway from there my mind meandered to how hard it is to have a cleaner who cleans as well as you do, and the different feel when you have cleaned your house yourself. I am not surprised, but am comforted by the impact of order on the living in my house at the moment, simply because I currently have the luxury of time to sift through, de-clutter and organise while keeping the basics done.
I think one of the biggest differences between the cleaner, and someone with an emotional connection to the house doing the task, are the little finishing touches and extras that you do when it is your own space. It could be flowers, the sorting of craft materials and books into appropriate spaces rather than just stacking them, but the sense of making a home out of a house is an art and a skill which add to the quality of our lives in unexpected ways. And because it is such undervalued work, while uncomfortable in its absence, it is difficult to name and find the time to address.
I am certainly not a fan of housework (as my family can attest) and often pay someone to do it for me; but as I was vacuuming this morning it occurred to me that maybe, I was selling it short as a task of the nurturing economy.
For those of you who haven't heard me on this theme before - the nurturing economy is the work of being human, caring for others in all it's forms. This has traditionally been the work of women, and more frequently now the elderly, and is work that used to be unpaid and even now - where it is paid - is low paid. I have argued and continue to argue that in our drive for economic productivity - particularly the drive to have women returning to the work force - society has ignored the fundamental requirement of time such work takes. It would perhaps have been OK if an increase in the working hours of women had led to a corresponding decrease in the hours men worked so they could fill some of the gap. But no, men continue to work 50-60 hour weeks, and so do many women.
The obvious consequence of this is the rise in services to fill the gaps, early childhood services, before and after school care, cleaning and gardening. While acknowledging that not all families can afford such support, these services are not total solutions. And that's without touching on the hidden gaps of adults too tired to contribute to the vast array of voluntary services that enrich and support the life of our community.
Which brings me back to my starting point of my underestimation of housework in this equation. Over the 30 odd years that I have been responsible for the task for myself and others, there have been a number of highs and lows. In fact sometimes I think my rather slack approach has damaged my self image as a capable and competent person. It's as if when I hear congratulating me on a piece of work I have a mental tape playing reminding me of the state of the oven. My reflecting this morning started with a memory of a photocopy of an Australian Womens Weekly article from the mid 1970's, that was included in the resource material I acquired at an antenatal class with my eldest child. Basically it was a 45 minute routine that could be managed while the baby was napping that got your house in reasonable shape in case of unexpected visitors.
While some of the basic expectations of women have changed, the underlying principles are still incredibly practical and unconciously I had followed a similar pathway this morning. The focus is on the public face of the house and it identifies the key issues that tend to make us react with "not clean". Anyway from there my mind meandered to how hard it is to have a cleaner who cleans as well as you do, and the different feel when you have cleaned your house yourself. I am not surprised, but am comforted by the impact of order on the living in my house at the moment, simply because I currently have the luxury of time to sift through, de-clutter and organise while keeping the basics done.
I think one of the biggest differences between the cleaner, and someone with an emotional connection to the house doing the task, are the little finishing touches and extras that you do when it is your own space. It could be flowers, the sorting of craft materials and books into appropriate spaces rather than just stacking them, but the sense of making a home out of a house is an art and a skill which add to the quality of our lives in unexpected ways. And because it is such undervalued work, while uncomfortable in its absence, it is difficult to name and find the time to address.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Frugality
With all the talk about the credit crisis and money getting tighter I've been contemplating the concept of frugality. Obviously dropping our family down to one (albeit generous) income while I contemplate my next career steps has something to do with it too!
Anyway while it has been a while since I posted ideas for what I'd like on the new site have been perculoting away inspired by much that is going on around me. For instance when I was in internet silence at Arthur's Pass over early January I darned my socks. They are particularly lovely soft pink angora blend ones and they had developed annoying little holes on the toe - I noticed my mother had left some of her fine wool up there which was almost a perfect colour match so I decided to see how much of that heritage skill was left to me.
Now darning is not one of the things I would normally recommend as it is an incredibly fiddly, somewhat thankless task. But I must admit as I salvadged my quite expensive socks it crossed my mind that there was certainly a time and a place for the task - for instance Jon's wool school socks. I think that is the trick of it - choosing what it makes sense to darn rather than darning for it's own sake. Anyway it has inspired me to consider searching the web for good sock darning instructions that can be linked to from Wise Woman. And believe it or not it also inspired me to have a go at knitting a sock which is probably a story for another day.
Anyway while it has been a while since I posted ideas for what I'd like on the new site have been perculoting away inspired by much that is going on around me. For instance when I was in internet silence at Arthur's Pass over early January I darned my socks. They are particularly lovely soft pink angora blend ones and they had developed annoying little holes on the toe - I noticed my mother had left some of her fine wool up there which was almost a perfect colour match so I decided to see how much of that heritage skill was left to me.
Now darning is not one of the things I would normally recommend as it is an incredibly fiddly, somewhat thankless task. But I must admit as I salvadged my quite expensive socks it crossed my mind that there was certainly a time and a place for the task - for instance Jon's wool school socks. I think that is the trick of it - choosing what it makes sense to darn rather than darning for it's own sake. Anyway it has inspired me to consider searching the web for good sock darning instructions that can be linked to from Wise Woman. And believe it or not it also inspired me to have a go at knitting a sock which is probably a story for another day.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A word of wisdom for those younger women...
Or may be this post should be titled - "Dear men - tip one on how not to drive us crazy when it comes to housework."
We all know the term "boy look" don't we? You know when a male of any age or stage asks you "where is..." and you say "look there..." and they say "I can't find it" and you go and there it is - if not exactly where you said it was within a 10 cm radius. The kind of thing that makes most of us want to scream with frustration particularly if there is any suggestion that their inability to find it is because (a) you put it away, (b) you didn't put it away or (c) they don't think that is the best place to put it.
And of course that lack of competence seems to inevitably play out into other aspects of household management. Yesterday it struck me that maybe part of the core of "the boy look" and "the boy clean" is a fundamental lack of appreciation of household management as a planned sequence of tasks. So for instance my "helpful" male cleans up around me (and my daughter) when we are in the middle of cooking - this invariably leads to him putting things away before we have finished using them and almost as invariably creates a burning desire to attack him with the sharp knife which he has just helpfully put in the dishwasher 30 seconds before we reached for it.
So anyway - we have painters coming to our house prior to our new carpet being laid. In order for both these tasks to be completed some bookcases need to be moved. The carpet layer will move them as they go on the condition they are empty of books. So yesterday I suggested to my dearly beloved that we pack the books into some old packing boxes for the duration based on the information already mentioned. Oh yes he thought that was a good idea...
So what happened? In the afternoon I was clearing out youngest child's bedroom which involved implementing the logical process of checking that DVDs and games were in the right covers before they were packed away, that library books were sorted out so they could be returned rather than put in the boxes for a month collecting overdue fines, that clean clothes and dirty clothes, summer and winter clothes all had their appropriate home. DB came in to help and what does he start to do? Repeat the task already 90% complete with the DVD's which included asking me where the cover was for the one that I hadn't already found, put books in the bookcase and then put the library books in the bookcase. Hello - which part of "we're packing the books up so we can move empty bookcases did we miss here?"
Anyway to my tip - Boys please learn to walk in to a significant cleaning task and ask "what's the plan?" and then "which bit do you want me to do?" OK I acknowledge that in a perfect world you should have an itemised household management list in your head as well and I shouldn't have to ask or direct but sometimes you have to go with the flow. I also think it's a two way thing and in this respect we can be just as guilty walking into a task they have started and applying our approach without checking first. The main point is - the whole thing will go a whole lot better and a whole lot smoother if one person has a plan and the other person cooperates>
We all know the term "boy look" don't we? You know when a male of any age or stage asks you "where is..." and you say "look there..." and they say "I can't find it" and you go and there it is - if not exactly where you said it was within a 10 cm radius. The kind of thing that makes most of us want to scream with frustration particularly if there is any suggestion that their inability to find it is because (a) you put it away, (b) you didn't put it away or (c) they don't think that is the best place to put it.
And of course that lack of competence seems to inevitably play out into other aspects of household management. Yesterday it struck me that maybe part of the core of "the boy look" and "the boy clean" is a fundamental lack of appreciation of household management as a planned sequence of tasks. So for instance my "helpful" male cleans up around me (and my daughter) when we are in the middle of cooking - this invariably leads to him putting things away before we have finished using them and almost as invariably creates a burning desire to attack him with the sharp knife which he has just helpfully put in the dishwasher 30 seconds before we reached for it.
So anyway - we have painters coming to our house prior to our new carpet being laid. In order for both these tasks to be completed some bookcases need to be moved. The carpet layer will move them as they go on the condition they are empty of books. So yesterday I suggested to my dearly beloved that we pack the books into some old packing boxes for the duration based on the information already mentioned. Oh yes he thought that was a good idea...
So what happened? In the afternoon I was clearing out youngest child's bedroom which involved implementing the logical process of checking that DVDs and games were in the right covers before they were packed away, that library books were sorted out so they could be returned rather than put in the boxes for a month collecting overdue fines, that clean clothes and dirty clothes, summer and winter clothes all had their appropriate home. DB came in to help and what does he start to do? Repeat the task already 90% complete with the DVD's which included asking me where the cover was for the one that I hadn't already found, put books in the bookcase and then put the library books in the bookcase. Hello - which part of "we're packing the books up so we can move empty bookcases did we miss here?"
Anyway to my tip - Boys please learn to walk in to a significant cleaning task and ask "what's the plan?" and then "which bit do you want me to do?" OK I acknowledge that in a perfect world you should have an itemised household management list in your head as well and I shouldn't have to ask or direct but sometimes you have to go with the flow. I also think it's a two way thing and in this respect we can be just as guilty walking into a task they have started and applying our approach without checking first. The main point is - the whole thing will go a whole lot better and a whole lot smoother if one person has a plan and the other person cooperates>
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Well we did baking so now onto some craft
OK so there will be the kitchen section - with all the useful stuff about making Christmas cakes by now so they have time to mature by Christmas (favorite family Christmas cake recipes anyone?)
My daughters have been unimpressed with early Christmas decorations in the mall but I must admit that at least it gets me thinking about the plan for the season. My favorite site coming up to Christmas has got to be Organized Christmas - unfortunately with each passing year it gets more ads but there are some wonderful ideas there underneath the Americanisms. I particularly like a planning task for around this time of the year where you think about what went well and not so well the year before and think of areas you want to focus on.
However every year I get caught in the trap of the Christmas craft magazines - the Christmas quilting and cross stitch magazines have an irresistible lure that sucks me in every time. Not only that but they are the ones I find hardest to throw away. It was no different this year - I even commented to the newsagent that I had to overcome the addiction as I never actually got to do the projects (and in this case I'm not convinced my newly balanced lifestyle will make much difference) However his response to my joking comment about contributing to his profits was a really insightful question in the context. He asked me if I enjoyed reading them and when I said I did, he suggested that maybe they had served there purpose well for that alone. So this year I am going to just enjoy the browsing and not create a mental list of all the things I am going to make.
Choosing how to use effort wisely is a much under recognised skill.
My daughters have been unimpressed with early Christmas decorations in the mall but I must admit that at least it gets me thinking about the plan for the season. My favorite site coming up to Christmas has got to be Organized Christmas - unfortunately with each passing year it gets more ads but there are some wonderful ideas there underneath the Americanisms. I particularly like a planning task for around this time of the year where you think about what went well and not so well the year before and think of areas you want to focus on.
However every year I get caught in the trap of the Christmas craft magazines - the Christmas quilting and cross stitch magazines have an irresistible lure that sucks me in every time. Not only that but they are the ones I find hardest to throw away. It was no different this year - I even commented to the newsagent that I had to overcome the addiction as I never actually got to do the projects (and in this case I'm not convinced my newly balanced lifestyle will make much difference) However his response to my joking comment about contributing to his profits was a really insightful question in the context. He asked me if I enjoyed reading them and when I said I did, he suggested that maybe they had served there purpose well for that alone. So this year I am going to just enjoy the browsing and not create a mental list of all the things I am going to make.
Choosing how to use effort wisely is a much under recognised skill.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Why do we do this to ourselves?
I was just thinking today that the third term for any political party is the killer ... every time we have had a three term cycle (in my memory and thats about 4 occasions) the last three years is the killer. The party with the majority just cant get it right. I think we have a short attention span - we get bored, the politicans get bored and then being back in opposition sharpens them up.
I dont know if there is a better way and still be democratic - I wonder what would happen if we made grand coalitions a requirement for the third term e.g. National or Labour would hold the majority and get to have the prime minister but the coalition partner would have to be the next highest polling party. Then the next election cycle the leadership would probably still swing but the whole process would be more informed - plus we'd probably get a few more decent ministers in the meantime.
I mean, honestly, in the 21st century - do we really need black/white (or red/blue) partisan politics to this degree? And in a country the size of ours can we really afford to have decent talent languishing on opposition benchs for years at a time. I grew up in a family which was very clear about the difference between party politics and choosing someone who would represent the electorate fairly. One of the great things about MMP is being able to have that choice. But I think we need to take MMP a step further - many of us are still voting with a two party viewpoint (even voting Act or Green for instance is couched in terms of influencing a major party)
One of my delights this election was watching two nine year olds who each had a strong loyalty to opposite sides in the major party stakes get totally engrossed in tracking the Bill and Ben party vote particularly in the electorate seats of candidates they knew. I'm really grateful for a system that allows that kind of idiosyncrasy to happen. Bill and Ben actually achieved their party goal in our house.
In my total idealism I just wish that in some way we could have elections where the outcome is about balancing the values and goals of all New Zealander's into a collaboration that moves our country forward, rather than having winners and losers. We were the first country to give women the vote - maybe we could be the first country that could have a genuine negotiated representative democracy.
I dont know if there is a better way and still be democratic - I wonder what would happen if we made grand coalitions a requirement for the third term e.g. National or Labour would hold the majority and get to have the prime minister but the coalition partner would have to be the next highest polling party. Then the next election cycle the leadership would probably still swing but the whole process would be more informed - plus we'd probably get a few more decent ministers in the meantime.
I mean, honestly, in the 21st century - do we really need black/white (or red/blue) partisan politics to this degree? And in a country the size of ours can we really afford to have decent talent languishing on opposition benchs for years at a time. I grew up in a family which was very clear about the difference between party politics and choosing someone who would represent the electorate fairly. One of the great things about MMP is being able to have that choice. But I think we need to take MMP a step further - many of us are still voting with a two party viewpoint (even voting Act or Green for instance is couched in terms of influencing a major party)
One of my delights this election was watching two nine year olds who each had a strong loyalty to opposite sides in the major party stakes get totally engrossed in tracking the Bill and Ben party vote particularly in the electorate seats of candidates they knew. I'm really grateful for a system that allows that kind of idiosyncrasy to happen. Bill and Ben actually achieved their party goal in our house.
In my total idealism I just wish that in some way we could have elections where the outcome is about balancing the values and goals of all New Zealander's into a collaboration that moves our country forward, rather than having winners and losers. We were the first country to give women the vote - maybe we could be the first country that could have a genuine negotiated representative democracy.
Monday, October 27, 2008
It's been a typical busy weekend
With lots of food for thought.
I've been working on developing the skeleton site structure which has been a bit of a learning curve on Dreamweaver. In the meantime I've been thinking about the kinds of content to start with.
This weekend, perhaps because I was set on the path during the week, I was thinking about kitchen wise. I was smiling at all the retro kinds of kitchenware hitting the shops for Christmas and remembering the things we used to laugh about in the 80's from the 60's books that were still stashed away in our mothers piles of cookbooks. But even in the 80's we still had some rites of passage, 21st parties and weddings that were our key "setting up house time". We might have flatted before then but there was usually some event of significance in our early 20's that established our future home.
I was wondering how much that really happens today? I was doing some first steps in Christmas shopping and as I walked through Farmers had a vivid memory of my 21 year old daughter checking out the cookbooks for a new cake recipe. She is planning on going flatting next year and it occurred to me that maybe we could get her a decent cake mixer for Christmas. (Piece of woman wise trivia - check out the power rating when you buy a mixer - if you use it for anything heavy like biscuits, you can strip the gears of the cheaper ones) She was a bit surprised when I suggested to her - it's one of those things she just takes for granted in the kitchen, and hadn't really thought about missing.
Those 60's lists we laughed about in the 80's included the lists of what you needed to set up a kitchen. I'm not sure that is such a bad idea having discovered just how much that takes just recently. I think that could be quite a cool section for our new site - the basics of what you need to set up a kitchen and choosing quality kitchen ware.
I've been working on developing the skeleton site structure which has been a bit of a learning curve on Dreamweaver. In the meantime I've been thinking about the kinds of content to start with.
This weekend, perhaps because I was set on the path during the week, I was thinking about kitchen wise. I was smiling at all the retro kinds of kitchenware hitting the shops for Christmas and remembering the things we used to laugh about in the 80's from the 60's books that were still stashed away in our mothers piles of cookbooks. But even in the 80's we still had some rites of passage, 21st parties and weddings that were our key "setting up house time". We might have flatted before then but there was usually some event of significance in our early 20's that established our future home.
I was wondering how much that really happens today? I was doing some first steps in Christmas shopping and as I walked through Farmers had a vivid memory of my 21 year old daughter checking out the cookbooks for a new cake recipe. She is planning on going flatting next year and it occurred to me that maybe we could get her a decent cake mixer for Christmas. (Piece of woman wise trivia - check out the power rating when you buy a mixer - if you use it for anything heavy like biscuits, you can strip the gears of the cheaper ones) She was a bit surprised when I suggested to her - it's one of those things she just takes for granted in the kitchen, and hadn't really thought about missing.
Those 60's lists we laughed about in the 80's included the lists of what you needed to set up a kitchen. I'm not sure that is such a bad idea having discovered just how much that takes just recently. I think that could be quite a cool section for our new site - the basics of what you need to set up a kitchen and choosing quality kitchen ware.
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