Year: 2020

The first step in sewing is getting to know your sewing machine. No matter what brand or style you own, they are generally the same in functionality. I still own my very first machine from 30 years ago, and prefer to use it when constructing simple things. In order to know about sewing quitting machines, a visit should be made at the sewing machine buffs website. The amount of the benefits will be massive and enormous to get the desired results. The stitching of the clothes and fabric will be great with the sewing machines. 

Your machine should have come with a handbook or instruction book for using the machine. If you have lost it, don’t panic. Many times you can contact the manufacturer and request a replacement.

Basic Parts and Controls

Balance Wheel: each rotation forms one stitch; can be used to manually move needle up and down

Bobbin/Bobbin Case: case holds the bobbin and bobbin holds the lower thread

Feed Dogs: metal “teeth” that go up and down with a forward motion to move fabric through when sewing

Light Switch: is usually used in conjunction with power switch; light allows for better viewing in needle/feed area when stitching

Needle: moves up and down carrying thread through the fabric to form stitches

Needle Clamp: holds needle securely on machine

Needle (or Throat) Plate: a metal plate located on the machine under the Presser Foot with openings for feed dogs and the needle

Presser Foot: holds fabric in place when sewing

Presser Foot Lifter: raises and lowers the presser foot

Presser Foot Screw: allows for changing machine feet including zipper foot, buttonhole foot, cording foot and more

Reverse Lever: lever or button to reverse direction of sewing

Spool Pins: one or more vertical or horizontal rods designed to holds the spool(s) of thread

Stitch Length Regulator: determines the length of the stitches; suggest using 10 to 12 stitches per inch for general seams, 6 to 8 stitches per inch for machine basting

Stitch Width Regulator: determines width of stitch when using zigzag feature

Tension Control: a dial or disk that controls the tightness of the upper thread

Thread Guide: holds thread as it moves from thread spool to needle; total number varies between different machines

Thread Take-Up Lever: moves up and down with the needle, taking up thread slack with each stitch; should be left in highest position when sewing stops to prevent thread pull out.

For any plain straight stitch, there are common functions in all machines. First, there is the “precisely timed movement of needle and shuttle hook to manipulate a top thread and a bottom (bobbin) thread” that actually creates the stitch.

There is also the interaction between the presser foot, needle, and feed dog to help guide the material through the machine. As you familiarize yourself with your machine, you will notice that you have controls available to adjust all of these movements including thread tension, stitch length and width.

Some machines also offer special features including zigzag and stretch stitches. Be sure to consult your handbook before making any adjustments.

A few years back, I wrote an article on how to make your CafePress shop successful, which was true at the time, but now stands as a rather stunning example of just how dramatically things can change in online “partnerships.” I did not even mention the names of my shops in my original article and won’t in this one either, because the purpose of this article is not to promote them. It is also not my intent in this article to bemoan the events that took place earlier this year that resulted in a huge loss of income to many CafePress shopkeepers (including myself). The only purpose of this article is to point people to more current information.

Most of the “great” incentives that were mentioned in my previous article still exist, but there have been drastic changes as to how they are calculated so many people do not think they are that great anymore.

When there is a topic that involves incentives, there will be some important facts that come to mind on whether this is a safe path or not but rest assured that if you go for online marketing course like Evergreen Wealth Formula, then things will become easy to manage.

These are the changes that were rolled out one by one at CafePress since my article first appeared in March 2007:

Affiliate Program

The affiliate program was changed from in-house to Commission Junction. Affiliates earn 15% on sales they send to CafePress. This happened in 2007 but later on, in July of 2008, because of certain laws enacted by the State of New York, CafePress had to stop supporting its affiliate program in that State so that New York residents were no longer able to participate at all.

Shop size limits

New restrictions were imposed in the spring of 2008 and unlimited sections in premium shops became a thing of the past. People opening new premium shops would be allowed up to 500 sections and if they wanted to grow beyond that number, they would have to pay another fee for a new store to get another 500 sections. People who already had large shops were “grandfathered” in and given allowances for more sections. Free shops were and still are an option. One design per product in each free shop. This means you can have one of each product in your shop – one white tee, one mug, one mousepad, etc. You can use different designs on each, but let’s say you want to have 3 mugs, one for each design. Then you need to either open up 3 free shops or spring for a premium shop.

Volume Bonus Changes

Toward the end of July 2008, the volume bonus program was renamed to Shop Performance Bonus. Credit for a sale toward the bonus would be determined by where it came. If it came from the CafePress Marketplace, there is no credit. Lower thresholds were put in place to qualify for the bonus, but the sale has to come from the shop. CafePress began absorbing all costs of affiliate driven sales.

Commission Structure

In July of 2009, Cafepress instituted the most drastic change: the way shopkeepers could earn money from their designs. Any sale originating from the CafePress marketplace would earn a 10% commission on prices that Cafepress sets. Shopkeepers are still free to control their markup in their online shops, and, as always, have the option to opt out of the marketplace entirely and only offer their design through their own shops.

The last change caused quite a dramatic drop in income for a great many shopkeepers. Many designers chose to opt out of the marketplace, while others opened stores at competitors like Zazzle. Others had already been selling merchandise at other print on demand sites, in an effort not to “put all their eggs in one basket.”

Whether it is worth continuing or beginning a CafePress venture is, of course, a highly personal decision because only you can figure out the best use of your time and resources and where your designs will likely sell the best.

I first smelled this perfume in a Sephora catalog that was mailed to my home. It was the only one that caught my attention out of the ten samples. There are very few scents that appeal to my selective taste. What I generally seek is a fragrance that is not flowery because I am allergic to many of the strong flowery scents plus they just smell horrible on me. What I need is a fragrance that is more oriental with base notes of vanilla. There are very few scents that agree with my body chemistry. Angel by Thierry Mugler is one that I love and there is another called Flowerbomb by Viktor  amp; Rolf. This L de Lolita Lempicka is pretty much in the same family as those. The good thing is that this fragrance is less expensive.

Angel costs $160.00

Flowerbomb costs $150.00

L de Lolita Lempicka costs $89.00 almost half the price

Concept

The marketing concept of this perfume left me a bit confused but that is the only questionable trait of this perfume. Let me explain. The perfume is supposed to be based upon a mermaid and the sea. When I think of the sea I consider smelling something like Sand and Sable (an old perfume that smells like the beach) If not that then perhaps something with coconut. I really don’t know that much about marketing a perfume but I surely wouldn’t link a woodsy oriental to the sea.

Packaging

The bottle is supposed to look like a pebble but I think it resembles a whimsical heart. The aqua blue bottle is embellished with a starfish caught in a golden net and a gold letter L charm. I believe that the actual perfume inside the bottle is what is colored bluish-green, I am pretty sure the actual bottle is clear. The bottle comes packaged in an orange box which is not very pretty in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier it is not what I would expect the bottle or packaging to look like. I don’t think I would even consider this to be a negative it just leaves me with a huge question mark, that is all.

Fragrance

Top Notes: Bitter Orange, Orange Flower, and Cinnamon

Mid Notes: Immortal Flower and Vanilla

Base Notes: Woods, Amber, and Musk

This fragrance is delightfully well blended. The smell just works, it is a tad spicy but not overpowering. It flirtatiously lingers without being nauseating.

The scent lasts for about 8 hours without having to reapply.

You can smell each layer clearly and they are all perfectly combined. The orange smells more like an orange blossom than the actual fruit it is subtle but it still there, The vanilla smells sort of like a toasty marshmallow sprinkled with cinnamon. I just love how each of the notes are obviously present but none of them dominate. It is perfection, they really knew just when to back off of certain smells to create the ideal composition.

I would most often wear this in the winter during the daytime.

Where to buy

You can purchase it at Sephora but I have recently found it at Amazon.com and Ebay for much less than the retail price. You just need to make sure that you are buying the real Eau de Parfum and not a tester. The difference between the perfume and the tester is that the tester wears off much quicker. I like my perfume to linger so I don’t have to reapply. You will also see a lot of old bottles on Ebay in which the scent has turned. These are easy to spot because the perfume will change color. The old ones turn into a greenish-brown you will want to go for a more green/blue color. The less brown the better and fresher.

There is no dearth to the brand of perfumes that you get to find in the market but most of them are expensive and people too are spoilt for choice as they get many recommendations from friends that relieve their own experience of having tried out a brand new perfume that came out in recent times.