Enter Griffin Creek Structures, who made and delivered the little shed we bought when we first moved into our house. We carefully mapped out where we could place the building on our small lot, with an eye to getting the largest one we could. It worked out to be 14 x 20 foot building, and I opted for 3 windows, a man door with window and insulated floors.
]]>When we first went full time on the business, I sewed in a 7 x 10 foot room. The above photo was right after we moved in, as you can see below, it quickly spiralled into barely contained chaos.
Cutting was a chore, as I had to take over our kitchen one day a week. An 8 foot folding table nearly filled the available space, and it was challenging to work with my large rolls of fabric.
Last year we decided to take the plunge on a new shop space where I could cut, sew and store product. It needed to be large enough for a 5 x 8 foot cutting table, work stations for all four of my machines, and of course, room for my ever increasing fabric stash.
Enter Griffin Creek Structures, who made and delivered the little shed we bought when we first moved into our house. We carefully mapped out where we could place the building on our small lot, with an eye to getting the largest one we could. It worked out to be a 14 x 20 foot building, and I opted for 3 windows, a man door with window and insulated floors.
While we waited for the building to arrive, there was the matter of preparing the spot. A local friend performed all of the excavation in 2 days. We would finally have a sidewalk from our back door to Clint's shop, and a pad large enough for my shop and a small patio.
Getting service folk out to Wisdom is not an easy matter. We are 70 miles from anywhere, and people don't often want to make the drive to perform work. We were very lucky that Done Right Foundations out of Hamilton were willing to bring and lay our cement. A few hours of work and it would cure in time for the building to be delivered!
Our building arrived September 28th, 2017. Watching the guys from Griffin Creek install one of these is truly fun! The kids at school that day enjoyed watching from across the street too.
The building comes on a flat bed truck, which backs up to the site. They then use a combination of a two-wheeled mule and the articulating bed of the truck to move the building into position.
With the new shop in place, now we had to make plans to finish the interior.
Step one was getting our power put in. I would need lots of outlets for my machines, heaters and fans. I would also need to figure out how I was going to light it. I am not a big fan of fluorescent lighting, but I wanted this shop to be bright. There would be a loft on one end for storage, which would bring my lighting closer to the cutting table, but I wanted to maintain the rest of the ceiling at its original height. My initial plan was for plug in swag lamps and track lights, so we planned for outlets all the way around the top of the wall.
Another local fellow was kind enough to do the wiring for us in trade for me making him a boat cover. The wiring was finished up to the point it had to be hooked into the house, then we had a bit of a problem.
I broke my finger.
Side note: When you sew for a living, it's a bad idea to use a power auger in rocky, aspen root-filled ground, no matter how badly you want to plant those tulips.
I went in for surgery on my 40th birthday, and spent the next 4 weeks with a cast on my right arm. This was easily one of the worst experiences of my life. Having Clint to take care of me, and good books to keep from going stir crazy, got me through it. The cast came off 2 weeks before Christmas, and I started sewing again immediately. I had a lot of stock to catch up on, and some wonderfully patient customers who waited on their custom pieces until I was functional. By the end of January, I was itching to get going on the shop again.
I mentioned how difficult it is to get people out here to work on things, and winter compounds the problem. I made lots of phone calls to no avail, then serendipity came into play. I went down to the Antlers Saloon one day to pick up a pizza for dinner. I chatted with the bartender about the new shop, and she recommended a local man I didn't know. I know it sounds strange to not know everyone in a town of 100, but it is the case! I left him a message, and 3 days later he called back.
I can't say enough about Adam. After that Friday call, he was in the Bitterroot Valley for the weekend (just west of us) and called about insulation pricing. On Tuesday he arrived at 9 am and things began to move again.
Insulation was complete by the end of the week and he was ready to start hanging OMD.
Once the walls and ceiling were done, he built my storage loft. The power was hooked up at this point as well.
Then, on to framing the windows and door...
At last, we were to the most exciting part... COLOR!!!
To go with my beautiful orange and cream walls, I needed a spiffy floor. We chose Armstrong luxury vinyl tile in pumpkin, and Adam brought over a friend to help with the installation.
The floor and trim boards went in in two days. Next up, my big beefy cutting table. My plan was for a 5' x 8' table, 40 inches high, with a shelf on one end for fabric storage. The other end would have an opening large enough for a small dresser in the front, behind which I could stack my tubs of fabric and product.
Over the following weekend I cleaned and waxed the floor where the cutting table was going to sit permanently. When Adam returned, we moved it into place and he glued down the top. I cleaned and waxed the other half of the floor while the glue set, then I was ready to start moving in!
I had discovered by now that plug in track lights weren't meant to be installed on the ceiling, and I wasn't having much luck finding swag lamps in sufficient number. I decided to go with paper lanterns on cords. They could be hung at varying heights, and I could get several colors to add to the fun factor.
Now, the trickiest part: Would everything fit?
Four machines with tables, endless tubs of product and fabric, a steamer trunk, 3 shelving units and a set of stacking drawers...would my back give out before we were through?
My new cut shop took shape quickly.
I finally had stations for my vintage White Rotary and my serger.
I had so much more space sitting at the helm of Irene, my beloved Adler industrial. I think it might be the best seat in the house! My friend BriAnne calls this my Imaginarium.
A few additions to the outside...
Move in was complete in April. Everything is working out so well, it was worth the wait. I hope you enjoyed seeing the process from lawn to Imaginarium!
]]>I learned on an industrial and so they are familiar beasts to me, I don't think I could live without one! But I often read on online forums about people who have taken the jump, only to get their new machine and....it is terrifying. I'd like to give you a few bits of advice that will help to decide if an industrial is right for you, and some helpful beginning tips if you've already got one and are having problems.
First off, do you need an industrial? If you are planning on sewing heavy fabrics or leather, yes. A basic straight stitch machine will do almost everything you need, and once you've experienced a knee lift you are going to love being able to sew with both hands. You can get industrials that will do a zig zag stitch, although that would be much more specialized.
Flat bed industrials come with either standard feet or walking feet. Walking feet are helpful if there are thick spots in your work.
If you are in the market for an industrial but the $1200-$4000 price tag has you concerned, I highly recommend Sailrite. They have some pretty boss "portable" industrials that can be put into a table later on if you wish. They also have great tutorials, and seem to be clean, polite folks for a bunch of seafaring hippies. Anyway, let's get down to it!
Not very inspiring, is it?
This is my Adler 067 industrial machine on the day I got it. Nicknamed Irene, this machine came from an upholstery shop. Irene is not stock. She's had some changes made, which means she takes parts that normally she wouldn't. This is handy to know if you are looking at a used machine.
I opted for a machine with a top loading bobbin, this is an important consideration based on what type of sewing you do. Both bobbin styles have merit, but a top loader is easiest for me. If you do very large items, an undermount bobbin may be a good choice if you don't want to have to move all of your work.
So here is Irene today. You'll notice I added some paint, because it's fun, and I've also swapped out the old incandescent light assembly. The old lamp lit the backside of the machine and also was in bad enough shape that the shade would become detached. It also put out an inhumane amount of heat. Having large pieces of canvas bunch up behind the machine and possibly touch that light made me afraid of having a conflagration.
There are a lot of lamp choices out there. This is an Uberlight 8000C LED gooseneck. I went with this one for several reasons.
A. The gooseneck is long enough to light the front of my workstation.
B. It isn't hot, even after hours of use.
C. It has a clamping base, but also has holes if you want to bolt it to your table. You can mount it just about anywhere.
D. It is very affordable, I think I paid around $60 for this guy a few years ago.
Here is my clutch motor. If you looking at a new machine you may have a choice between a clutch and a servo. Servo motors are nice in that they are virtually silent, don't put out heat, and you can set the top speed to avoid messy takeoffs. I am going to talk about clutch motors, since they seem to be the biggest issue folks have with industrial machines.
SPEED
The complaint I see the most is "The machine goes too fast! How can I slow it down?!"
The answer I see most often, is "Get a servo" or "Add a pulley and an extra belt". While both of these work, they're really much more work than a decent person should have to do.
Look at the photo again, see that wing nut in the lower right hand corner? That's it. That wing nut controls your speed. Run a few simple tests and you'll have your new baby dialed in in no time.
First off, set your pedal. All of those holes in the arm coming off of the bottom of the motor are for your pedal bar. You can adjust how far down you need to push to go from stop to full speed ahead. For example, I have my pedal set at the steepest angle for full stop, and I would have to stand on my toes to go full speed. I have the pedal bar set through the hole furthest from the nut, this gives me much more control. All of the speeds between stop and WHOA are easy to find with the full sweep of the pedal in use. The closer the hole is to the nut, the less play you have. So choose the hole you think is right for your style, and make sure to tighten the adjustment in the pedal bar itself.
Next up, time to play with your nut. First, run a test piece of fabric through the machine. Keep your hands clear and just see how fast she goes. To adjust the speed, turn the nut about halfway clockwise. Run your fabric again. This will give you an idea of how much that half turn changes things. So, you can speed up or slow down just by turning the nut either towards you or away. You may have to play with it for some time to get it feeling right, but it is simple to do. If you get more comfortable with your machine later on, you can always ramp it up!
CLUTCH
The clutch is a safety mechanism for your machine. If you get a nasty thread jam or have some other issue, you will pop your clutch. You'll know it has happened if you cannot pick up your bobbin thread.
FIRST: Check your machine to make sure that you haven't got a wad of thread under the plate or had a needle divert and strike your hook. If everything looks alright and is moving smoothly, you'll need to reset your clutch.
BUTTON: Some machines have a button on the bed, it's usually located near the body of the machine, right hand side, inside the throat. Simply press that button while turning the hand wheel forward (or back) until you hear a thunk. Your clutch has been reset.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS BUTTON: Open your bobbin case and grab the hook, careful not to let the end cut your fingers, hold it tight while turning the wheel backwards until you hear the thunk. Your clutch is now reset.
Lastly, and maybe this should have been first, read the manual. Make sure you are oiling your machine in all the right spots and know how to thread it. Take good care of it and it will take good care of you.
I will be adding more blogs on machines and hopefully will have some videos to help guide you in the future. Please let me know your questions!
Before you go, make sure to visit our new section full of fabric, notions and other crafting supplies: https://hbarncraftworks.com/collections/fabric-craft-supplies
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