Cutting/Layout Board Pressing Station Computer (Scheduling and Music!) Juki DDL-8700-7 automatic straight-stitch - my main sewing machine
A close-up of my main workhorse machine. Note the magnetically attached Gingher snips, water-soluble marking pen, magnetic edge-guide, needle-threader (green), dual LED work lights, ripping razor blade, hand clamp (blue) to aid ripping, and rotating turret that allows me to have three separate presser feet at the ready. It has taken me three years to find and attach all of these pieces to my machine!
I am so in love with my ironing board! A Craigslist steal, I picked up my $1500 ironing board for a tenth of retail. It has a heated top and vacuum suction to help set creases. My iron is a Reliable i300R boiler with 30psi of steam power. Note some of my useful pressing aids on the table under the pressing board.
Just a small sampling of my color selection. I have over $1000-worth of thread, so I can match your clothes perfectly. I have (not pictured) heavy-duty threads for upholstery, UV-resistant thread for outdoor projects, metallic threads for accenting your embroidery project, and even glow-in-the-dark thread!
An elevated platform and tri-fold mirror. The mirror is for the convenience of customers, the elevated platform is for the convenience of my back! It only took one prom season of crawling around on my knees marking dress hems to convince me that I needed to create something better. I also have a curtain backdrop (not pictured) I can slide in front of the mirrors in order to take photographs.
Some of my cutting implements. The big (60mm) rotary cutter and black-handled shears (second from right) are my main workers. Not pictured: Dritz electric scissors and a big electric rotary cutter for ripping through stacks of fabric.
I don't use this beautiful machine, but it is ready for when the power fails! This 100-year-old beauty is treadle-operated and in perfect working order. I inherited it from a tailor in Louisville who used it as his every-day sewer.
SWF/B 1501T 15-needle embroidery machine. This beast of a machine is ready to stitch your logo onto anything from polos and handbags to leather jackets.
Juki MF-7523 flatbed 5-thread coverstich with top- and bottom-thread coverstitches. This machine is necessary for stitching stretchy fabrics without puckering and is used to add decorative stitching to sweatshirts and finishing hems (like on your t-shirt).
Electronically-controlled blind hemmer for perfect blind hems. Used on draperies and pant hems alike. This machine lets me put a perfect finish on your pants, just like the factory!
My Juki-6716S 5-thread safety-stitch serger. Heavy-duty finish for things like jeans.
My little Bernina Artista 180 does all of my button-holes and buttons. The Juki 1541S next to it is my heavy-duty walking-foot machine. I use this machine to replicate factory-finish jean hems, stitching right through the thickest seams with no problem. Also used for upholstery and canvas repair work.
I bought a second serger so I didn't have to keep switching between black and white threads on my big serger! The Brother has turned out to be extremely useful, providing more stitch options than my Juki. Great for rolled hems.
The main sewing area.