Sewing in Comfort
March 26, 2013
Hello
After spending the past days in agony with a very sore back, I decided it was time for a new sewing chair. Unfortunately my back has been a problem for me at the best of times, I had an accident on the farm a few years back and have had surgery which is semi successful. Most of the time I am fine, but I do feel it when I am doing certain things and sitting in a chair that does not support my back is definitely not good for me. Also I was finding that at the end of the day my toes were numb and I had an awful pain at the back of my leg just above my knee. The chair was cutting my circulation off.
This lead me to look at ergonomics and here is what I learnt:
When buying a chair look for one that slopes down in the front, this helps with your circulation. Also one that you can tilt the front of your chair.
Look for a chair with lumbar support and one that you can adjust the height of the back of the chair and the tilt of the back of the chair.
Also a chair that you can adjust the height of the whole chair.
One other thing I learnt besides the chair itself is to get up and walk around every 15 mins to stretch your legs and help with circulation etc.
Sit at your sewing machine with your arms at 90 degrees. your legs at 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor. The needle of your machine directly centered in front of you.
Support your left leg when using the foot pedal with a foot rest or a memory pillow.
The chair I brought is a spectrum three, it has wonderful lumbar support and it feels like a Rolls Royce compared to my old chair. My back pain has gone and and I am happy sewing again.
I have found that I have to think also about my conduct and be aware of my sitting position. It is easy to slip into old habits and find myself slouching and not sitting correctly which also causes the back pain. My new chair seems to help with this habit also as it is very hard to slouch while sitting in it..
Getting older has its draw backs, I never would have considered these things before. I guess its the pain that makes you look for the solutions.
You can see how the seat is well cushioned and fits perfectly. Haha
The back has a great Lumbar support, you can make this out in the photo, really comfortable, like sitting in a Rolls Royce. ( Not that I ever have and maybe showing my age LOL )
You can also see where Loki has given it the approval and left his fur to let me know, so I have quickly had to make a makeshift cover as the cats fight for the seat when I am not using it.
Loki now has his own chair and he's loving it.
Rosie is not the tiniest bit interested.
Happy Stitching
Sharon
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