A friend told me years ago that her Orthopedic Doctor told her if she would switch to her left foot to sew with, her back wouldn't hurt as much when she sewed. (I guess if you ordinarily sew with your left foot, you would switch to your right foot) Anyway, I tried it for a while and it does seem to work, but lately, not as much as it once did. If I am sewing for a few hours now, I place a pillow to the back of my chair and drape a heating pad over the pillow. Once in a while I will lean back and rest my back against the pillow, and it feels so good!.........and it allows me to sew a while longer.

Interesting idea about sewing with the opposite foot on the pedal. I'll try that and the heating pad.
Thanks for sharing this! :D

Just make sure to stretch your back to ease the stiffness: http://www.bostonyoga.com/chair_yoga.html

I don't do any one thing very long at a time. I don't sit, stand, sew, cut, etc very long at a time. It seems to help with all the aches and pains.

Yes, stretching your back is important. Thanks for the reminder and the link.

don't forget ,you should only usea heating pad for 15-20 min .at a time!

That's why I bought my 6600 so I dont use a foot pedal.

I just turn mine on for a few minutes at a time when my back needs a rest, and then turn it off. If I forget, it cuts off automatically after a pretty short time, and I use it on the lowest setting.

Great suggestions all. I try to vary my activities so one set of muscles is not always in play and stretching is very important. Thanks, everyone.

Thank You for sharing this tip. My back & shoulders ache when I sew. I have a bad habit of scrunching my shoulders up to my ears. Got to break that! Don't know how it got started.