Aldershot Sewing Machines

03/12/2022

Yep!

29/11/2022

Please read! You gets what you pays for!!!

Thought we'd share the cause of a problem that a customer was having. Broken thread and skipping stitches was driving her crazy and changing needles over and over didn't make any difference. So we invited her to pop down and discovered that the cause of all the drama was these shockingly poor quality machine needles from a department store.

Have a close look...holes in different places, weird shaped points, needles bent, and half of them made backwards.

Now, I feel that if a store is selling you machine needles, you should be able to trust that the needles are ok, but sadly this pack demonstrates that this isn't always the case. We recommend SCHMETZneedles if you can😊😊.

Bright side...our customer was pretty stoked that all it cost her to fix the problem was $8 for a new pack of needles😊😊.

27/11/2022

26/11/2022

Love it!

Why I am reluctant to take on commissions....

I often get asked if I can 'make one of those' for people. whether it be a blanket, a poncho, or more recently a length of crochet chain.

I really hope I do not come across as rude or dismissive when I am reluctant to quote - but I will tell you exactly why I am reluctant to quote.

Let's use the crochet paper chain as an example....

I usually answer the question with ... "Well, I will quote you but just to let you know that this crochet chain took me just under ten hours to make." (35 links at 17 minutes per link = 595 minutes / by 60 = 9.91 hours)

At the point I don't even mention the material cost as I would expect that paying me a decent hourly rate for 10 hours would put them right off straight away :)

Sometimes it doesn't put them off so I go on to prepare the quote:

Yarn (100g of Twinkle DK) £2.70
Hourly rate - 10 hours at..... well, what is my time worth? Let's do minimum wage at around £8.00...
So, This piece of crochet chain, barely longer than a meter will cost £82.70, please and thank you :)

Let's be honest... you're not gonna pay that are you?
You're not even gonna pay me half... or even quarter.

The probable expected price would have been around a fiver... after all, that's more than what you would pay for a string of fairy lights in B&M.

In other words, the yarn price is covered and here's a little bit extra for your work.

Believe me, it happens.

What doesn't happen so often is the understanding that THIS is my work - I cannot afford to give 10 hours (or sometimes 100 hours if it is a blanket) for free. I need those hours to work on class samples, or at this time of year, gifts for family.

My offer of...."but I could happily teach you how to make your own" often falls flat.... which confuses me somewhat. So, you don't want to invest the time into making your own, but you also don't want to pay me to make it for you.

I once asked a bloke who asked me to make a 100 hour blanket for his wife (and nearly fainted at the price) what he did for a living.... he was a painter and decorator, so I offered to trade hours - I will give you 100 to make the blanket, you do 100 hours of decorating for me! (I would have LOVED that - always happy to do skill trades if anyone is still reading :) Anyway.. he laughed and said 'not a chance'... so his work was obviously worth so much more than mine. He didn't get his blanket... not from me anyway :)

So, after a long winded musing.... the moral of the story is, handmade doesn't necessarily mean cheap. And if you get something handmade this Christmas then that person REALLY, REALLY loves you. Treasure it :)

Oh, and come and learn a craft yourself, and you can have this rant next year :)

26/11/2022

Sunflowerstitches is on the move! Don’t worry, we’re not moving far!! But we are all packed up and ready to go. If you have an outstanding fabric order - please check your emails. If you’ve recently booked a workshop for next year - you’ve got a space and I will send out full details to you as soon as possible. Workshops for the remainder of the year will continue but in our new home - check your WhatsApp groups for the address.

And watch out for details of an exciting fabric sale in January as we open the doors to our new home!! 🌻🌻 Can’t wait to welcome you all to our new headquarters, love Karen and Mr Henry 🐶

25/11/2022

It's Market Day at The Shed this Saturday!

With the cold days getting even chillier, our market is moving inside, so this week we have a few of your favourite regulars in The Shed from 10am.

🍪Bakewicks
💍Bohowildandfree
⭐️MeeBee Design

We hope to see you all there!

25/11/2022

Ladies …….. just stop this nonsense 🙈

23/11/2022

Based in Woking. Jason's work is great!

21/11/2022

Going back to it's lucky owner.
Don't see many still this pretty!!❤️ Manufactured 25.2.1953.
And that is MY coffee by the way

17/11/2022