Stretch & Sew the Ann Person impact on sewing stretch fabrics
Stretch & Sew Sewing Machines & Ann Person
Stretch fabrics can be a challenge, even to an experienced seamstress, so learning the correct way to choose pattern sizes, based on the percentage of stretch in the fabric, is essential to successfully making a stretch fabric fit, properly, comfortably. Skipped stitches are a common, frustrating problem, which can be fixed, by choosing the right needle, a ball point, stretch, jersey, or knit needle (all of those names are used by various manufacturers).
TIP- I don't know if Ann Person taught people to use the liquid silicone, Thread Heaven, or Thread Magic types of needle and thread conditioner, to help people sew the new stretch fabrics, I'm not sure when they became available, but if you are sewing newer stretch knits, and microfibers, you definitely need to dip your needle in one of these, and possibly even dab a bit on your thread, if stitches won't form correctly.
By 1987, Person even designed and sold a Stretch & Sew sewing machine, manufactured by Nelco, though I have no idea if she was aware the man running Nelco, was pretending to be a Necchi dealer, and was successfully sued by Necchi, for trademark infringement, if I remember correctly. (I will try to look it up, & add more details, when I can.)
By 1987, Person even designed and sold a Stretch & Sew sewing machine, manufactured by Nelco, though I have no idea if she was aware the man running Nelco, was pretending to be a Necchi dealer, and was successfully sued by Necchi, for trademark infringement, if I remember correctly. (I will try to look it up, & add more details, when I can.)
This electronic model, is not the only Stretch & Sew model I found online, but this makes it seem ultra modern!
I LOVE the bright tangerine orange, she chose for some of her Stretch & Sew sewing machines, though I have seen at least one, with gray paint, instead of orange. These machines are hard to find.
Stretch & Sew models include E-76, E-75
From what I can see online, it appears that the same kind of political shenanigans which destroyed the textile, furniture making, and related industries in North Carolina, played a part in destroying the Stretch & Sew empire. Politicians change the import & export laws, & the excise taxes & tariffs, which were originally enacted to protect the United States economy, and jobs, were relaxed, or completely discarded (like the Free Trade Agreements), so clothing made in unsafe factories overseas, with no labor or wage protections
https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2015/08/20/ann-person-sewing-entrepreneur-dies-at-age-90
I LOVE the bright tangerine orange, she chose for some of her Stretch & Sew sewing machines, though I have seen at least one, with gray paint, instead of orange. These machines are hard to find.
Stretch & Sew models include E-76, E-75
From what I can see online, it appears that the same kind of political shenanigans which destroyed the textile, furniture making, and related industries in North Carolina, played a part in destroying the Stretch & Sew empire. Politicians change the import & export laws, & the excise taxes & tariffs, which were originally enacted to protect the United States economy, and jobs, were relaxed, or completely discarded (like the Free Trade Agreements), so clothing made in unsafe factories overseas, with no labor or wage protections
https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2015/08/20/ann-person-sewing-entrepreneur-dies-at-age-90
