As I was in the sewing room this weekend, I was reminded of
the fact that a simple upgrade to a basic sewing tool can make all the
difference.
As years go by, I have come to the conclusion that buying
quality is more important to me than buying quantity. Gone are the days of grabbing up as much cheap
sale fabric as I can get my hands on.
The frustration that comes from working with poor quality is not for me. So I am going to work with the best that I
can afford.
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| Another one bites the dust . . . |
What, you may ask, brought all this on? Well, in the past year I have gone through
three, yes three, tracing wheels. Not
only were they inexpensive, they were cheap.
The thing is, I had the first one for almost ten years without
issue. The second one died in a little more than one month, and the third lasted an equally pathetic amount of time. Did the quality of the same blue
plastic tool from the same company change significantly in the past ten
years? Could I be that much harder on
things these days? Well, after the third one broke apart in my hands, I went to my local fabric store with a huge chip on my shoulder. And wouldn't you know - the notions wall was not currently on sale – there goes another few wasted dollars.
But before I had a need to rip open the package, I made a
purchase from Vogue Fabrics and decided to see what they had in stock before I completed my transaction. And there was the solution.
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| My savior! |
Yes, I could buy a few more of the plastic version for the
price, but I believe this will last a lifetime (I hope!), and at the rate I have
been going through the plastic junk, I believe this was money well spent!
Have you had any good/bad experiences with less than stellar
quality notions? Are you willing to spend two or three times as much for something that is truly of better quality? And is there a way to tell the difference between inexpensive and cheap before purchasing an item?
Oh, the notion conundrum! Over the years I have slowly realized that sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and put down the cash for better quality items. Items I've upgraded myself? Good quality pins, chalk pens, quilting rulers, rotary cutters and of course, the dress-form. Also - interfacing and lining!
ReplyDeletePins are SO important! And I learned the hard way years ago about interfacing - never could understand that weird bubbling that happened with the fusible and ruined my collar pieces . . .
DeleteI have seen sturdy wooden tracing wheels for sale in Antique Shops and they were still in good condition, so yours should definitely last.
ReplyDeleteI have a wooden tracing wheel that I either bought as a teen, or it belonged to my Mom, and it's still perfect :) Of course, there were those 25 years or so that I didn't sew, but still, I know it got heavy use when I was young!
ReplyDeleteI have always believed in quality tools - not just sewing! So yes, I buy the best I can afford. That may not be TOL, but life is too short for cheap plastic (and cheap polyester!)
Oh, and I might add that I'm a frugal spender and a bargain hunter, but that just means I'll find the sources for good quality at the cheapest price (estate sales, for instance....)
Sing it, soul sister! Polyester is EVIL (well, most of the time) and so is cheap plastic. I find the idea of creating fabric (fleece) from plastic bottles too disturbing for words. Although I suppose it is nice that the plastic is being reused. Just keep it out of my sewing room!
DeleteFrugal is fabulous! And I keep meaning to get to estate sales . . . the ultimate way to recycle and reuse!
I definitely agree.This is one sewing rule we all learn the hard way!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you! I discovered it with poor quality interfacing: the good stuff really makes a difference!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. My tracing wheel was of such low quality that I didn't even bother to use it, what was the point in that? I recently invested in a clover adjustable double tracing wheel and I really love it as you have the option to include the seam allowance.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% and learned very quickly on in my crafting life just how often this point can ring true (one shoddy paper cutter was all it took for me to forgo being super frugal with my oft-used paper crafting tools).
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
That's a great tracing wheel. Be careful when rooting around in the drawer where you keep it, though. It can hurt.
ReplyDeleteI am done with cheap! three years ago I bought a cheap China made sewing machine it has given me so much trouble! its loud and cumbersome (20kgs!), incorrect tension did I mention loud?. I don't sew as often as I would like because of this! This year I decided enough is enough am hoping to get a proper and gorgeous Brother machine end of this month!I tested it at the shop, I couldn't imagine a machine can run without sounding like a herd of buffalos (drunk buffalos)running for dear life.
ReplyDeleteI can finally put joy back into sewing.
cheap tools in my opinion make a hobby to become a chore.
I love your blog.
I think your last question is the crucial one: the difference between inexpensive and cheap! It's especially hard when we buy so much online, and between discounts and sales and things that look the same but aren't, what are we really paying for and what are we really getting?
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any really awful experiences, but I've noticed that things don't seem to stay sharp for very long - scissors, cutting wheel blades, even seam rippers! Maybe I'm using them much more often than I used to.
Oh my goodness, don't get me started on seam rippers! I waste more time looking for the darn things, and when I do find one, it is no longer sharp. I wonder if the scissors and seam rippers have parties while we are away - what other explanation is there for all of the dull blades!
DeleteThe quality HAS gone down in the past ten years. I noticed it on Dritz self-covered buttons, too, and since going into manufacturing, I've learned that all kinds of issues pop up in production. Companies and factories have to deal with the rising price of everything - labor, transportation, and materials - but the consumer doesn't want to pay proportionally higher for the same tool. This leads to corner cutting, and often with ill effects - like tracing wheels falling apart, or shanks pulling out of the backs of those self-covered buttons. Annoying, and all the more reason, as you point out here, to buy something with greater quality for a few dollars more.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I'm still using the same tracing wheel I bought in the FIT bookstore when I was a student in the mid 90s....(ooh that sounds like ages ago). Mine looks rather like yours so I'm sure it'll be around for ages. And am still using the same tracing papers if you can believe that. Happy marking!
ReplyDelete