The Brooke Van Gory Guide to Sewing Products What is HOT and what is NOT!

Brooke here, and this is the post you all have been waiting for! The one where I tell you all my FAVORITE products to get you started to becoming a world class seamstress! Or at least, to have the tools that all of us love.

Getting your studio all set up can be a daunting task. Where do you even start? What do I need? Don't worry, this post will not only help you get all set with what you need, but it will also save you money in the long run.

First things first, you need to look into a machine. This is the #1 question people ask me. It can be the most daunting thing to purchase, because there is such a wide range of machines, with a huge range in price tags. I will tell you this first: you get what you pay for. When I first started sewing, I chewed through machines like it was no one's business. It was AWFUL. And each time it broke, I would have to take it to the repair guy, pay over 100$, and not have my machine for up to 3 weeks NOT GOOD! But, you also don't need to sell your first born for a decent machine. As far as brand loyalty, I am a Husquvarna Viking gal. I own two Emerald 116 machines (retail about 399$) and I love them.

But I have owned other machines, let me list them for you:

Singer: Horrible, not worth your money. The internal mechanics of the machine have plastic parts that will break over time, and most shops will not even repair them, they will just tell you to buy a new machine.
Brother: A step above Singer. Do NOT purchase these from Walmart,though. The models Walmart sells are made specifically for them, and contain more internal parts made of plastic then if you purchase a Brother or Singer from a sewing gallery! I would never purchase one, but...
Bernina:I have owned these, and still have one for my light sewing. They are awesome little machines for the price, and for a hobby seamstress, they are wonderful!
Kenmore: I had one, and returned it. But my good friend Jinx of MTCoffinz loves here, though it is one that is on the higher end.

Janome: I would say this is on par with a Bernina. I have never owned one, but I do know some amazing seamstress friends that love these machines, and own more then one.
Juki: This is the mother of all machines. If I win the lottery, a Juli will be the first thing I would buy. They DO sell some lower priced models, though I am not too sure how they perform, I don't know anyone that uses the non-industrial one.

Now on to scissors!A good pair of shears will cut your prep time in half, and cause less of a headache in piecing pattern pieces together. I use Marks shears, but they all are vintage, and not available anymore. Gingher shears are amazing, but carry a hefty price tag. But, as in the case of the machines, you get what you pay for. Fiskar shears are OK, you just will need to sharpen them often. The one thing to remember when purchasing shears is to get a pair with BOTH cutting edges smooth. I once made the mistake of getting a pair that had one side with tiny teeth on it. You can't sharpen those. ;)

Needles for me are usually whatever is on sale. Lately I love Schmetz needles, and I can get them 50% off about twice a month at Joanns. I also love Organ needles. Remember you will need to replace your needle every 6 hours of sewing, or it is breaks or bends.

Pins are a dime a dozen, I love the flower head type from Clover, because they are easy to sew over. Pins should vary depending on what you are sewing, and whether or not you take them out before your presser foot gets to them or not. You also will need a pin cushion. Get one. Use it. Thank me later.

For just the basics, this is a good guide to what you would need to get started. Of course, you need fabric, and thread. Also any other notions that your project might need, but that varies from project to project. If you have any questions on any specific products, please feel free to ask in the comments, I will be checking back to answer all questions! Happy sewing!

Brooke is the owner and seamstress at Brooke Van Gory Designs. She lives in The Chicago suburbs with her two kiddos, and her rock star husband! You can shop BVG here, and follow her on Google+ here.

Wenchkin's Equation for Pricing Handmade Goods or Art

Making the decision to start selling your handmade goods, and artwork can be stressful. Where do you sell, who is your target audience, do I make a website, HOW MUCH DO I CHARGE!?!?!??!  That last one is an issue even experienced sellers can have issues with. It can become very difficult to price your items, and make sure you are selling them for what they are worth, at the same time paying YOURSELF what YOU are worth. So Wenchkin came up with a pretty easy way to go about this difficult task.

In this last part of toy painting and modification, I go about establishing setting a price for a toy. Now pricing of hand made items in general may seem a daunting task in coming up with a fair price. Many people have many ways of approaching it. This is simply how I go about coming up with pricing for items I list in my ArtFire store.

Since I have mainly been addressing ponies I will pull a pony listing then rip it apart from there to explain how I got there. So for instance let's take this http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/3827288

One Day of the Dead Pony, 40 bucks
pony cost: 1 buck
paint cost: 1 buck
clear coat: 1 buck

It took me two days to finish due to paint drying times which I do not charge for but actual paint time it took me 8 hours of actual paint time to get two layers of basecoat, block out the bones, add in the color and clean up the line work

So say I am only charging 5 bucks an hour (which is way under minimum wage), then I have already come up with my 40 bucks.

But I am not done yet

I still need to spend another hour of labor photgraphing and listing
and I have not counted shipping materials, i.e. box, packing, tape.

So basically, in my mind I am giving you a cut-rate deal for me to be able to do what I love. I could charge more. I try to keep my prices reasonable for my fans.

Also with all of this said and done it never hurts to surf the competition to see what other people are selling equivalent items for. With that I have seen a lot of new people base their pricing off of other people's pricing when the items were not of the same quality. Just because I can get 40 bucks for a pony does not mean you might be able to if you are new and starting out. I have kicked out over 100 ponies now and my skill has increased.

Lastly, I hope this is maybe a little eye-opener for the people that have to ask why hand made is so expensive. Being asked that makes me want to raise my prices as this is my full time job and I do a good job and i know it. I would never go to someone else's job and say you are overpaid, it is rude. I am asking a bare minimum for what I provide - most artisans do, when you think about the time it took them to create any given item. 

You can find more of Wenchkin on her Facebook page, or over on G+.

How To Be Happy...And You May Just Change The World.

To be a Modern Rosie, you have to be willing to do it yourself. Sometimes, though, you have to admit defeat, and purchase items from outside sources (Some more then others). Sheika Lugtu is the perfect person to show you how you can do JUST THAT, and be a happier person for it. This video post has moved all of the Union Riveters, and we hope it inspires many of you to make a change, that may change the world!

Sheika Lugtu lives in Long Beach where she draws a semi-daily comic diary at OMGCow .

She is engaged, and mommy to a fur baby kitten. We are very honored to have Sheika submit to the Modern Rosies blog, as she is a huge inspiration and very dear friend to Brooke, one of our Union Riveters. Expect to see great things from Sheika in the near future, as well as more Modern Rosies posts.