Quilt in a Day Forums

Hi Again Ladies, Just wondering what kind of chair you use when sewing at your machine. My son and I both quilt and both had spinal fusions within the last few years and find after sewing for a little while our backs start to hurt. Wondering if it could be the chair we are using. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks for any suggestions.

I bought a regular swivel office chair with adjustable lift. I took the back off of it. No arms. I like to sit very straight so I prefer a comfortable stool.

I have a high backed exec. chair I got at Sam's several years ago. It is comfortable and I have had no problems w/ it. It does have arms on it. I don't like to have them not supported when I am doing a lot of unsewing.
I had a Horn chair and it literally fell apart after 2 years. This was less expensive and seems to be of much better quality.

Your problem might not be your chair but the height of your sewing table. I read in a magazine once that this is a problem for many sewers. It gave a chart of how high your sewing table should be for your height. It also had similiar charts for cutting tables. Sorry I can't remember the magazine, but you might be able to find something on line about this and see if changing that might help. I kept the measurements for my height, so if you are 5 feet nothing, this chart said the sewing surface should be 25 inches. Good luck! maryz

I did the same thing as Sewbug. Got mine at Walmart. Not expensive. It adjusts up and down. Very handy.

I also have a high back executive's chair - one for an office. I just love it. Tried on many and found this one at Office Depot. What is nice is that I can roll from my sewing machine to the serger or to my desk that is also right there. I bought a bar stool with a back on it that also swivels so that I can machine quilt on my long arm. I have a foot rest so that my legs don't pull on my back. When I hand quilt on my frames, I can roll the office chair over there too. If I remember right I paid around 60 dollars for this one about 5 years ago and use it all the time. It can be adjusted up and down to many different heights. Hope this helps

Jana

Rosie - I'm glad you mentioned that your Horn chair fell apart after 2 yrs. I was very close to buying one a few weeks ago and decided to wait and see if they were less expensive at the quilt show. Looks like y'all recommend going to Office Depot and trying their chairs? The Horn chair I was looking at was $150. I think I can get one at a better price than that at Office Depot. I'm picky about my chair. I don't like the ones that make you feel like you are going to slide out of it. I just got an office chair for my desk at home and I didn't realize that some chairs felt like that until I sat in 10 or 12 chairs and made the comparison there in Office Depot. I don't want arms on my sewing chair and some of the chairs have permanent arms - you can't take them off. That is limiting.

Purrfect Lady - I read the same article and don't remember which magazine either. I'm 5'1" so I'm going home tonight and see if my sewing cabinet is over 25 or 26" high.

If you have a pull out a keyboard tray on a computer table, and it's comfortable for you to type, then the keyboard tray is the height your sewing machine bed needs to be. Your arms should be exactly 90º from your waist to the sewing machine feed dogs. It makes a big difference in comfort to have correct posture when sewing.

Thanks to everyone for all the information.