Sewing table height
 

How does one determine the best height for a sewing table? Marigold 86

I sit in a comfortable chair. Mine is a task chair which is adjustable (lever underneath). You would want your sewing table to be almost like working at a desk. It all depends on your height. My 401 is at the right height, it's in a desk cabinet. My other machine sits lower by a couple inches. It's on a folding utility table. Your arms should be bent level a the elbow.

Ideal for a cutting table should be at the hips so you don't have to bend over a lot. If I'm wrong I'lll stand to be corrected. Just be nice if one does.

My unofficial rule of thumb is that if you're shrugging your shoulders, the table is too high. Either get a lower table or raise your chair height.

Here are some good sites for reference:
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/sewing/
http://www.sewing.org/files/guidelin...thy_sewing.pdf
Google sewing ergonomics for more links.

It's probably just me, but a cutting table at hip height puts a major strain on my back. I am 5' 2.5" and use the 5" bed risers from BBB with one of those fold up buffet tables. This puts the table almost at waist height for me, about 34" - just about the same as regular kitchen counter height. My friend who is 5'6" tall likes the 7" risers.

My Singer Golden Touch N Sew came with a cabinet that is 30.5" tall. The sewing machine sits level in the cabinet and is a very good height for me. I always use a pneumatic chair that turns. Anything else gives me a backache very quickly.

My kitchen table is about 28" tall. Having a sewing machine on it puts the level sewing area at 31" to 32". Not as good, but not a horrible height. The key for me is being able to push my foot pedal without having to reach for it.

Edited to add: At the age most of us are.....it's whatever works that doesn't cause us a lot of aches and pains as we are doing it or afterwards.

Being short, too, I have a difficult time with getting a sewing cabinet that's a good height. If I raise my chair up, I have trouble reaching the foot pedal. In my next life, I'd like to be six feet tall!

Short person agreement, I am the same height as Barb in Louisiana, and I have my cutting table on 5" bed risers too. It's perfect. My sewing table, well, it works - I use the foot pedal and have to reach it without stretching down. Stretching down strains/pulls the lower back.

Could you put your pedal up on a block of some kind?

I'm exactly average height, I think, but I think my legs are shorter than average for my height because I have trouble reaching my pedal sometimes too. I've fixed things up since I got an adjustable table that I could set lower, but for awhile there with my old table, I took a brick we had laying around, wrapped a towel around it (to protect my bare toes, and to give the velcro on my pedal something to grab) and put my pedal on top of that. The brick was nice and stable and it was just high enough that it put the pedal in easier reach.

I think I have a good set-up now, but I still catch myself hunching my shoulders when I'm quilting. I don't think it's my station as I ONLY do it when quilting (not during piecing or any other sewing), I think it's me stressing about the finishing stages of the quilt and clenching my shoulders up. I used to do that when I was a new driver, too.

It's not the table height that matters, ir's the relationship of your body to the sewing surface that matters. Your chair should be at a level that puts your arms at just slightly lower than a 90º angle when sewing. For cutting, the table should be a couple inches lower than your waist.

I sew and cut on the same surface (a hollow core door) that is set at my cutting height (33") which puts my sewing level at 37". Because that's too high for a regular chair, I use one of those old Cosco flip seat kitchen step stools when I sew (I padded the seat with batting and covered it with batik). The pedal stays on the floor and I'm not actually 'sitting' on the stool, it's more of a 'butt rest'. With my legs at an angle like that, it's better for my circulation, makes it quicker to get to the ironing board/cutting area, and is extremely comfortable. I love it and can sew or cut for hours and hours without any back pain at all. I'm 5'3" tall.