Tips for Preventing Quilting Injuries

Hi, my name is Erin Russek, and I'm an editor at "McCall's Quilting." And my name's Michael Engman. I'm a certified personal trainer. If you have a job like mine, you will obviously spend a lot of time sewing. And I also spend a lot of time watching other people sew. And you don't have to be at this for very long to realize that quilting is a very repetitive hobby, and it's very easy to hurt yourself or to get very sore and tired while you're doing it.

So I asked my friend Mike here if he could show us some ways to set up our sewing spaces so that we could be comfortable and efficient while we quilt and pain-free. So... That's right, so we're gonna move through the quilting process. We're gonna start with cutting. We're gonna go to sewing, pressing, machine quilting, and then we're gonna end with hand stitching.

And we're gonna cover some of the postural deviations and some of the body positioning and mechanics that we need to look at while we're doing this. Great, well, let's get started. So the first thing I do when I start a project is I like to cut. I like to cut out all my fabric at the same time. That way I know I have everything that I need.

And like a lot of you, I cut out... I set up my cutting on my dining room table. When I'm working on a large project or even a small project, I find that this can get uncomfortable really fast. I mean, this bending over and cutting is quite tiring after awhile. So what kinds of things could I do here that could make this a little bit more comfortable?

Sure, well, so go ahead and bend over like that again. So you're putting a lot of undue stress here on your lower back. And the way that we're gonna alleviate that is by actually bringing the table up because our dining room table here is a bit too low. So it's gonna kind of cause us to bend over, and that's not what we want. And that's exactly where I feel it when I'm doing this.

So why don't you show them the table riser? Yeah, so we actually found these. I think we just got them online, they're pretty inexpensive. And we actually have two different sizes here. So they come in all shapes and sizes.

And depending on your body height and the height of the table, you can make it sort of work for you. So we're gonna go set this table up at a better height, and we'll meet you back here in a few minutes. And we will continue on with some really great tips on how to cut and be comfortable. So we've adjusted our height, and I can already tell that this is gonna be much more comfortable for cutting. So in quilting, there seems to be two really main types of cutting.

There's long cutting when people are cutting strips for a quilt for strip piecing. And then there's the more precise cutting when people are cutting really precise shapes like triangles or diamonds. And both of those seem like they have different situations. Like here you're kind of extending out, and here you're kind of being a little fussy cutting like this. So can you tell me some things that would good to think about when you're cutting that would make this less strainful?

Sure, well, we've already adjusted the height of the table and that's gonna help us alleviate some of that tension in the back. But it's also important like you just mentioned to not overextend because when you do this, you do have a tension... Or you have a tendency to build up tension I suppose in your back and your shoulders so. One way that quilters can do this is that they can actually cut their strips... Fold their strips up and cut them.

If you're gonna do this, you wanna be really careful about making sure that your fabric is cut on grain so that you don't get weird wiggles in your strips. But this will bring your fabric into your sweet spot a little bit better. Yeah, so that's what I was about to say. So the sweet spot more or less is not too far out and not too close in because that's gonna- If you're too far out like we talked about, overextending isn't good. But also if you're too close in, you're gonna get an unnatural crimp through your wrists and that'll inflame some of the tendons and activate that carpal tunnel irritation so.

Okay, so do you wanna talk a little bit about a good way to use a rotary cutter that would cut down on wrist strain? Yeah, absolutely, so as you can see, we've got a number of different types of rotary cutters. Apparently they come in all different shapes and sizes. And it might feel natural to just hold it with more or less a closed grip. But actually again that's gonna cause us to bend the wrist at an unnatural angle.

And that downward pressure especially if we're doing this for upwards of an hour or whatever, it'll definitely hurt. So the way that we're gonna adjust that is actually just by placing it in the grip right here between the groove of the thumb and the palm of your hand. So right there? Yeah, exactly, and then keep by keeping our thumb up on the top of the tool, we're actually able to maintain better positive control over it and this neutral risk grip which is gonna allow us to do this for longer essentially. So keeping your wrists neutral and not death gripping it and holding it like that.

Great, well, that's really useful, and I can already tell that this is gonna be a lot more comfortable. So after we get our stuff all cut out, most quilters really love this part. They wanna sew, so we are gonna go set up for sewing and we'll be right back. Once you have your fabric all cut out and it's time to sew, most quilters spend a lot of time in front of their sewing machines. And it's usually the favorite part for a lot of people.

But because we spend so much time here, I definitely notice and many people have written to me asking about how to eliminate upper back strain, arm strain, and neck strain for this process. So what kind of things can we pay attention to here when we're setting up our sewing spaces to make it more comfortable? Sure, well, the first thing that you'll notice is that we're obviously we're in the seated position. So we've got our chairs, and we wanna make sure that we have the right sort of chair. So it's important that we have chairs without arms actually because when you do have arms on your chair, you have a tendency whether or not you're aware of it to slouch, and to lean on them, and to get comfortable.

And then your spinal posture becomes less than ideal. With in mind, we also want to make sure that our table... Or that our chair is the right height in relationship to the table. If it's too low, we'll have a tendency to lean forward and strain. And also if it's too high, it'll become awkward for us so.

So go ahead and hike your chair up because we don't have this 90-degree bend here through the knee yet. Okay. Go up. How's that? Nice, that's a lot better.

And how's the spine looking here? Yeah, so what we wanna pay attention to here is your neutral spine. And what I mean by that is you wanna keep your head position even with your shoulders and you wanna keep your shoulders even over your pelvis. Well, I can already tell that this is gonna be a lot more comfortable. I think when I'm sewing like this though, I will probably wanna stick my face right in there like this.

Are there some things I can take into consideration here that could keep me from doing things like this? 'Cause that's gonna make me sore really fast. Sure, so yeah, by craning your neck, you're placing undue stress on your neck and through your shoulders. And one tip that we can think of to alleviate that is it'll be helpful to have a table lamp here so your space is well lit. I know a lot of sewing machines do have lights on them, but oftentimes it's less than sufficient so.

Another thing we can do too is we actually have just these basic doorstops, they're cheap. And it's something that you might already have on hand at home. But we're actually gonna wedge these in here behind the sewing machine like this. And what that does is that changes the angle and allows you to... It brings the work to you as opposed to you having to go to the work.

Yeah, and this is much more comfortable. I can already tell that I'm having a neutral spine while I'm sewing this way. And it's still very easy to sew with your sewing machine at this angle, and these are very, very stable. So after we sew all our fabric together, we're gonna wanna press. I used to think that pressing was a non-issue, but it turns out that quilters spend a lot of time at their ironing boards, and it can be very uncomfortable.

So we're gonna set up to press, and we'll be right back. So once you have your fabric all sewn together, it's time to press. There are some considerations for pressing because quilters will spend a long time pressing, and it can also be a little bit fussy. So when I press, what kinds of things should I think about here for making this more comfortable? Definitely, well, so it might seem less obvious, but again, the height of the workspace here is important.

And the coolest thing about ironing boards is they're all completely adjustable. So no matter how short or how tall you are, we can get it to the perfect height. So this is actually a bit low, and we're gonna hike it up. Okay, so lets... Do that now.

Nice, that's a lot better. And a key for while you're positioning this is you want it right about waist height. So for Erin, this is perfect. Mmhmm, yeah, and I can tell that this is gonna be a lot more comfortable when I'm pressing. But sometimes when I'm pressing and I'm being a little fussy, like if I were to try to press these seams open, I'm gonna wanna do something like this where I lean over.

And that's not a very comfortable way to work for very long. So any ideas here? Right, well, you may need to bend over to get a good look at what you're doing, and it's okay to creep up on it for a second. But like you said, you don't wanna be working in that position for very long. So get in there, adjust, and then back back...

Zoom back out, and then you can get the iron in there so. Okay, great. You also wanna make sure that the workspace again is well lit, and that'll help alleviate some of the need for that. Mmhmm, another thing to consider when you're purchasing an iron is that irons come in different weights. So some irons can be really heavy, and some irons can be really light.

So you wanna consider that when you're picking an iron. A lighter iron is easier to move around and press, and a heavier iron will give you a nice press with little effort. But if you're gonna spend a lot of time sewing with a heavy iron or pressing with a heavy iron, it's gonna definitely build up arm strain and shoulder strain. Because like I said, quilters spend a lot of time doing all these things. Right.

So after we get everything all pressed, it's time to machine quilt. We're gonna set up for machine quilting, and we'll see you in a minute. So once you have your quilt all together, it's time to machine quilt. I love to machine quilt my own quilts as long as they're not too big. But I find that this can be really uncomfortable and strenuous.

And a lot of people ask me questions about how to make this more comfortable. People complain about their upper shoulders, their upper back, and their neck. So what kind of things can I do here to set up my sewing area for maximum comfort? Sure, so the first thing that I noticed is that you've got sort of the extended sewing table attached to the sewing machine here. And that's great 'cause that'll help you support your work.

But oftentimes if it's still isn't big enough, what you can do is you can bring in your ironing board because again it's perfectly adjustable, so you can set it up to the right height. And that'll allow you to remove the bulk of the static load, the rest of this quilt here. And that'll alleviate some of the tension. Okay, so when I'm setting up a quilt to machine quilt, I bring it under the needle and then I accordion fold it like this to get it in. You wanna start at the center, and you want to quilt in small increments so you're not hoisting this huge amount of of fabric around while you're sewing.

Are there some other things that we can think of while we're here? Like one of the things that's most different about machine quilting is that instead of your machine moving your fabric around, you are moving your fabric. And so it gets tiring rather quickly. Right, well, another thing that I'm noticing too is that you've got the accordion fold and you have to hold it with your hand. And so you're using all of those tiny little muscles in your hand, and your wrist, and your forearm.

So you've got actually quite a bit of your body is engaged in this process here. And so it's useful to also keep in mind that you should be taking breaks periodically as well. 'Cause I guess you can get into the zone and sit here for quite some time, right? Mmhmm, yeah, and get really, really sore and really, really tired. So I think you just need to make sure you break up your quilting in small increments, and a really good point is to make sure you're supporting your work.

So we're gonna show you my favorite part of sewing next. We're gonna set up and show some hand stitching. Most quilters like to finish their quilts with binding and hand binding. So we're gonna set up for that, and we'll be right back. For our final step is we've set up here for hand sewing.

A lot of quilters like to finish their quilts by hand sewing their binding on. That's my preferred technique. And I also love to applique which also involves a lot of hand sewing. So I will spend a lot of time doing processes like this. So what kind of things can I do here that would help me?

'Cause I get a really stiff neck when I do this, and I can get really uncomfortable. And I love to do this, so I wanna do it all day long. Sure, well, this is... The final step here is the position where you do kind of need to cozy in a bit. So there's some things we can talk about, and that's definitely bringing our work up to us.

And just by having a rolled up towel actually is how we're gonna do that. It's something everybody has on hand, and it's just a quick, simple fix. So go ahead and slide that under there and see if that makes a difference. Yeah, that makes a big difference in being able to see what I'm doing. And a lot of hand work is very fine, and so people tend to stick their heads in there and crane their necks.

So playing with this is really helpful for not hurting your neck. So I can already tell that this is gonna be a lot more comfortable for doing this technique. Great, so another tip is again we wanna make sure that our workspace is well lit, so we've got the table lamp here. But the other thing is this is the part where you do kind of wanna cozy in and focus on what you're doing. So we've got this pillow here so you can support your lumbar, and we'll actually just place this back here.

And that should give you some support so you can again alleviate some of that tension that'll build up in your small back. Mmhmm, and I can already tell that it's a lot harder to slouch when you have that pillow in there. And ever since I started doing this when Mike told me to do it, I've been a lot more comfortable when I've been sewing. So it really does help so. So one thing that I get asked a lot are for stretches for our hands and our wrists 'cause most quilters really do start to hurt in this area if they do a lot of quilting.

So can you show us some of those? Yeah, absolutely, so especially when you're gripping the needle, you're definitely engaging all of these tiny little hand muscles. So we'll go ahead and stand up and do some stretches. And feel free to stand up while you're doing this too because it'll give you a nice break from the seated position. So the first thing we're gonna do is gonna place our palm facing upward.

We're gonna grab our fingers and just gently pull them down towards the ground. And again, you don't wanna really torque them. You don't want it to hurt, but you should feel a slight pull. Mmhmm, that feels really good. Nice, go ahead and switch, do the other side.

Cool, and then with the back of our hand facing upward, we're gonna do the same thing. We're gonna pull our fingers downward, and you should feel it stretching all up in here. Yeah, that feels really nice. Cool, go ahead and do the other side, we'll switch. And then another key area too is the neck and the shoulders.

So we wanna stretch out some of that. So to that end, I'll flip around and show you what I'm gonna do here. So we're actually gonna clasp our hands behind our back. We're gonna make a chicken wing off to one side. And what this does is it puts our shoulder in position.

So we're gonna lower our head to our shoulder with the bent arm, and that's gonna open up all of this in the neck all the way through the shoulder and the top of your back. That feels really good. Go ahead and switch over, do the other side. And while you're in this position, feel free to look up slightly and look down slightly. And again, you don't wanna force it.

You just wanna sort of let it sink into the stretch here. That's great, yeah, that feels wonderful. Well, thanks for watching. This has been really useful information. We wanted to make this very accessible for all quilters, so these are very simple things that you can do that will make your sewing much more comfortable.

My mission in life is to make sure people are happy when they're sewing. So we covered the entire quilting process from cutting, to sewing and pressing, machine quilting. And then we finished off here with some hand stitching. And again, it's important to remember your body mechanics. Try to make sure you've got that neutral spine, neutral wrist whenever it's possible.

Make sure your workspace is well lit. And yeah, and then make sure you're taking breaks and stretching periodically so. Thanks for watching. Yeah, thank you.