I hope you find something that works for you, Lois. Although, I can't see that anything has stopped you from going from one project to another. lol

Lois, I have an exercise that relieves sciatic pain that an old chiropractor showed me many years ago. You stand in a doorway (to catch yourself if you lose your balance). Place your right heel in the arch of your left foot (-l). Then you bend over. Don't push or reach- just hang there for a little while. Then do it in the other direction. That opens up that area of your hips and relieves the pressure on that nerve. It helps me.

bkay

My hubby has sciatica. Was wondering, Lois..do you just keep your ankle against the arch or do you lift the left foot a bit and 'tuck' the heel in there? Thanks. Geraldine

I posted that idea for Lois. No, you don't keep your ankle against the arch. You keep your heel against the arch so that your feet are at right angles to each other (like forming a T). Don't try to reach the floor. Just bend over and hang there, totally relaxed. Let the area in your hips relax and "open up", for lack of a better description. Then reverse your feet and hang the other way.

bkay

If it works go fo it. You obviously will need a much different chair at your machine.But being comfortable is just as important as fabric.

loisflan...the thing that helped me more than anything else was doing away with the foot pedal...most of the new machines have the option of not using the foot pedal, just the start/stop button. I am in my 60's and took to it immediately..so much better...I have my machine set up so that I can put my feet on a footstool while I sew....heaven! Go to a dealer and ask to try one out...or maybe you know someone who has a machine with that feature. You can get anything from a cheap Brother,Singer,etc, all the way up to a high end machine.

Thank you for all the ideas for relieving my back pain. Happily, I have no problem at this time with the foot pedal. I do have a knee control as well as a start/stop button if that becomes necessary. Right now, it's the standing that is problematic, and my new leaning chair really helps with that. Hanging as Bkay suggested does relieve the pain temporarily too.

Thank you for the information, Bkay. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. I mistyped with the word ankle. I did mean heel. Maybe I was wrong to ask this question in this thread. If so, I apologize to Lois and others who replied to her. I didn't mean to hijack the thread. Geraldine

We're all easy here. I'm glad you understand what I was saying. It has helped me in the past.

bkay

Geraldine, no need to apologize for anything. You are welcome here. Are you a quilter or seamstress?

I bought a backless stool from Amazon a few while back to do micro quilting on my long arm. I've found I love it at my sit down machine as well! I had an armless secretary type chair I was using. i haven't used it at my cutting table, but I don't know why it wouldn't work. My chair was pretty inexpensive and haven't had any problems with it.