In The Beggining

[Mojo]

Has anyone ever revisited their meager start up in the upholstery business and shook their heads wondering how you ever made it to today ?

Bobbin mentioned something in another thread which got me thinking about how I got started. First, I never set out to be a stitcher. I used to sew on my Mom's old machine when I was a kid but that was about it. I actually got started due to the fact that I owned a classic car and wanted the interior re-done. I found one person in my area, a guy who wanted
$ 10,000 to do a headliner and two bench seats. He was also a real jerk to deal with ( read arrogant pompous ass here ). So I got on e-bay and bought my wife a commercial machine - a Tuff Sew ( the biggest POS chinese machine you can
buy ). Keyword here is I bought my " Wife " the machine ( A high school math teacher who has little time to even get groceries let alone sew ). She promptly told me to shove the machine and that she had no interest in doing upholstery work. Being an accomplished seamstress she was able to take time to teach me how to sew. That is what got me started.

My first " shop " was a 20 ft enclosed trailer located in an RV resort where we were living in our coach. I sewed in an area that was 8 ft x 6 ft. I had a few more feet used for material storage. That was my shop. The rest of the trailer held our belongings. Everyday I would sew with the rear ramp door open which looked out onto one of the interior roads in the park which attracted alot of attention from people walking by. Many used to stop to see what I was doing hearing the machine run. And many more would stop and ask " hey, can you fix this ? Can you make this ? ". It was like sewing in a store front window at a mini mall.

I also got distracted a great deal by people who wanted to just watch. Most were retired people who wanted to stop and chat and they would eat up an hour shooting the breeze. My projects and orders took a long time to complete back then. :) Most were RV or motorcycle related and that portion of the business just stuck with me. I liked it, I liked RV'ers, they had ready cash and I found that this market was sorely under serviced in my area.

I sometimes forget about my meager startup when I am out sewing in my climate controlled shop of today. I sometimes forget just how difficult it was to even move in my trailer without knocking something over. I forgot about the junk machine I owned that required constant tinkering and adjustments. And how can I forget patterning and cutting on the trailer ramp door ? When I do think of all of these things I am grateful for what I now have. :)

Footnote. I never got that classic car interior done. I got to busy sewing for everyone else and later sold the car....lol

Do you have memories of back when ?

Chris

[sofadoc]

I've told this story before about how my Grandmother saved for years to buy a Duo-Fast electric stapler. It was her most prized possession in the world. She would hide it under her dress when she walked home every evening. She just knew that someone was waiting in the bushes to steal it.

That stapler, and a Singer 16-188 were just about the ONLY professional tools that we had.
When we had to cut foam, I had to run to the house and fetch a large butcher knife out of the kitchen drawer.
Our main stripping tools were a slot screwdriver, a pair of slip-joint pliers, and an ice pick.
We had one set of button dies, but no press. We had to strike the dies with a hammer. About every 4th button came out alright.

Today, I have nearly every Osborne tool imaginable (mostly thanks to all the other shops that keep selling out to me).

Our shop, and the railroad tracks were separated only by a creek bed. The whole building shook violently when the train came through. And the horn was absolutely deafening.

That old broken down shop, and all of it's contents wouldn't even cover the property taxes on my shop today.

I remember how my Grandmother used to complain about the high cost of a Yellow pages ad....$12.50 per year.

Yeah, I guess we've all come a long way.

[bobbin]

Mum sewed when I was a kid.  She made most of her clothes and mine, too.  I used to play on the floor while she sewed, cutting scraps and "fitting" them to my Barbie dolls or my trolls.  She taught me to use the machine (a turn of century White Rotary with a complete attachment kit that I still have and is in perfect condition).  I had to trn the wheel by hand because I couldn't read the pedal.  I graduated to electricity and she would patiently read the directions with me, always stressing that everythibng you need to know how to assemble the garment is contained in the directions that come with a pattern.  BUT you had to make the time to read them and then digest them.  And sometimes you have to read them a few times before they make sense. 

I had Home Ec. (required at the time) and loathed it.   :'(  I loved to sew.  I was the kid who knew how to turn a pair of jeans into a jean skirt and properly add 2" braid to the hemline of bell bottoms.  Later, in need of a job, I answered an ad. for a repair seamstress and was hired on the strength of my clothing construction skills.  It was there that I really learned about proper fit and classic tailoring techniques.  I loved it.  And was thrilled with the introduction to industrial sewing equipment.  I've been at it ever since and have remained fascinated by all the different directions sewing can take you.  And while I've not maxed out my my earning potential by a long shot I've never been bored and I've managed a comfortable lifestyle that lets me work on my own terms.  Not so bad. 

And I hate having to "make do" and reinvent the wheel  for want of a a time saving tool or mechanically neglected machinnery!

[Mike8560]

I like that " shove it ".
I started in a 14' x '24 shop with a bathroom adjacent to a bait shop my table was against one 3 walls and my pipe benxder I used to have to go outside after I  e t one corner to turn it around. Croe ing I ran the pipe into  the bait shop fto
the canvas.  Then I  worked out of a 16' trailer and had  two larger but now I'm down again with my workshop here it tight  having the table in the middle of the space but I'm used to small spaces even though I'm not as small myself. 

[JuneC]

Bobbin, your childhood years sound a lot like mine. I don't think I owned store-bought clothes till I was 9 or 10 and even after that, most were hand made by my mother or me.  I learned to sew Barbie doll clothes on a hand-crank Singer (no treadle) and today, still frequently sew with only my left hand on the fabric just because I got so used to using the right to turn the flywheel.  I didn't pursue sewing as a career until about 6 years ago, but when I was in the corporate world, I used to make a lot of my business suits because I was expected to dress professionally, but not paid enough to buy those professional suits  :( 

I love to sew, though I'd prefer to do a little for myself rather than customers.  Unfortunately, one has to eat...

June

[gene]

I'm still in my meager start up. 1800 sq. ft. I don't know if I will ever move to more space. It fits me well. Room for two saw horses and two sewing machines and a big cutting table. My word working is done in the back 600 or so square feet that is walled off from the rest of my shop. And I can have a sewing person or a helper working in there with me and it's at all crowded. But, if I grow I will have to find something a bigger. And I'm not sure I have the interest in trying to grow bigger.

gene

[Mike8560]

Speaking  of clothes bobbin when I was a kid I used to go over to my aunts for s visit before we left I had a new shirt many times
  Must have been where I got my talent 

[PDQ]

In the begining there was this huge flash, then the dinosaurs came...

;)

[bobbin]

And then there was another big flash and the dinosaurs began to disappear...

There was a time when I had a 3 room apartment and there was a commercial sewing machine in every room.  The mechanic still has a laugh about that when he comes here to service a machine.  It was on the second floor and I really knew who my friends were on moving day. 

[kodydog]

Our first shop was kinda cool. It was in the old train station in Conover, North Carolina. It was really kind of a dump. No A/C. Wood burning stove for heat. 8' wall separating the front from back but the ceiling was 16' high.
The bathroom had no ceiling so everyone could hear your going ons. Behind the building was the train tracks and behind that was a huge Broyhill plant.

The neat thing was two large windows on each side of the front door. A previous renter built display platforms behind each window. We would display furniture for sale and try to rearrange it often. One day a lady came in just to tell us she walks her dog by our window every night and loves to see our window display.

The bad thing was Conover is right next to Hickory and we soon learned we couldn't compete with new furniture being sold out the back door of the factories.

The good thing was we met a lot of good contacts for supplies and tools. One day a fellow walked in and said he was closing his factory and asked if I would  like to buy some supplies. That's how I got my button press, Crimping gun for spring edge and another gun with a magnet on the tip that holds a spring clip while you shoot it into the frame.

After one year we left for greener pastures.

[kodydog]

And then there was another big flash and the dinosaurs began to disappear...

Its amazing how many large meteors narrowly miss earth.
this one passed 8000 miles last January
http://news.discovery.com/space/asteroid-2011-md-near-miss-monday-110624.html

And here's one a few weeks ago missed by 14000 km
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/07/close-call-asteroid-near-miss-for-earth-yesterday/