Creative Solutions

by Joi Mahon, Dress Forms Design Studio

Sewing funnies for the New Year

January is a serious time for businesses to evaluate the bottom line from the previous year, a time for cutting losses, a time for making decisions for the New Year, and of course, a time for preparing tax documents.

Regardless of what happened last year, 2007 is a new chapter in your business. Let’s learn from our mistakes, grow from our successes, and set some new goals for the New Year. Have a positive attitude and find something good in every situation.

Here are some Sewing Funnies contributed by several members of The Professional Association of Custom Clothiers to start your year off with a smile.

You know you’re a sewer when:
. . . the bag clerk at the supermarket asks “Do you know you have pins on your chest”?
. . . your scissors wear out and instead of sharpening them you buy the latest designer Ginger Sheers because they are cute.
. . . your two year old knows the color chartreuse and fabrics by name.
. . . you blow your nose on fusible interfacing, because you can.
. . . your husband comments that a shirt would look more finished with some topstitching.
. . . you forget to take off your measuring tape “necklace” and you get comments on it.
. . . you sit down in the car and almost puncture your spleen because you have forgotten that your scissors are hanging around your neck.
. . .you find straight pins in your coffee cup.
. . .your latest piece of jewelry is a magnetic pin cushion bracelet.
. . .you see the latest news report and cringe that the stripes don’t match on prison garb.
. . .you go to purchase a ready-to-wear garment and look at the inside construction.
. . . people greet you with the phrase “I have this dress I’d like you to look at.”
. . . no one says a word when the sewing machine shows up in a pile of stuff to go to the beach.
. . . you plan your vacation destination around a map of fabric stores.
. . . your kids think it’s normal to sew instead of sleep.
and finally . . . you know you’re a sewer when you have to apologize to whomever it was’ blouse, shirt, skirt, jacket etc . . . you grabbed and fondled in the middle of the store because you just needed to “feel the fabric.” Oops!

Contributors: Nick Coman, Linda Stewart, Vida Jones, Mary Jo Rymer, Barbara VanHouten, Dawn Jardine, Lisa Levaggi Rich, Barbara Deckert, Rena Pearson, and JoAnn Garfinkel.

Joi Mahon offers freelance creative design services to retailers and manufacturers. Utilizing your new products or current best sellers, consider a fresh approach to your promotional displays through eye-catching designs. For these services contact Joi at her studio by e-mail: customerservice@dressformsdesign.com  or call 1-712-239-9921 Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Reprinted from SQE Professional January 2007