The Sewing Place
The Emporia => House Beautiful => Topic started by: Gavin e on October 20, 2020, 23:31:34 PM
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Hello again.
I introduced myself on the forum a couple of weeks ago - before I owned any sewing kit at all - and following the advice given by the lovely folk on here I can now officially confirm that I’m now the proud owner of a 1957 singer 201k, so I can start getting the other bits together that I need for my little project...
For those that missed my intro I should explain that I have zero sewing experience at all, except for the odd missing button. Other than that, nothing.
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So here’s my new purchase that I need to get to grips with so that I can set to work on the following projects....
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The plan is to reupholster the sofa and also to replace all of the outside canopy - yes, I know this will be challenging.
I won’t be starting too soon, as I have yet to work out what I need and then purchase everything I will require for the job, but I thought I may as well start a topic on here so that I can learn from any nuggets of advice that you may be able to provide. I’m learning, I’m happy to listen.
Even when I start I fully expect progress to be slow - but the existing canvas is still in reasonable condition so I will get at least one more year out of it, probably two or three, so I have plenty of time to take it slow, learn how to best use the machine, and hopefully end up with a high quality end product.
My wife is still choosing the material for the sofa - this is way above my pay grade and is not a decision I wish to be burdened with.
I hope to start with the canvas surround for the top of the boat (the dodgers) since they are fairly simple panels with very little technical requirements. That should, I hope, allow me to get used to the machine before I get to grips with the harder stuff.
So here I go.
I will post updates on here as I go, although as I have said it may well be a while before I am ready and equipped for the battle.
Any advice will be appreciated, and even if you don’t have anything to add I hope you can sit back and enjoy laughing and smiling at the weird exploits of a total novice as they attempt to work out how to stick two pieces of material together with some really thin string.....
Enjoy.
Gavin
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Ok.... so now I’ve got to work out how to add attachments....
Odd - I managed the first time!
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@Gavin e you need to have more posts before it's allowed. To prevent spammers of course. I believe it's 15 but don't quote me. Might be 12. It's surely less than 20. :laughing:
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Just as I posted you got it to work.
Maybe it's links we can't add. I need a nap..... :dance:
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@Gavin e are the dodgers zipped together? Or snaps? Learning curve for each. The longer the zipper the more can go wrong.
I'm back to suggesting some sturdy canvas tote bags to either stow gear on the boat or to haul things back and forth for outings. Be sure to do one or two with snaps and some with zips. Good chance to do flat felled seams too. Useful even if not total perfection.
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Forgot to push ‘done’....
The first of many minor errors I suspect....
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The dodgers are all individual and not zipped to anything - all held in place with eyelets.
I think I can use them to learn really basic patterning, cutting, turning the edge to sew and neaten, adding extra layers to add strength and get experience of sewing multiple layers of material - hopefully with straight lines of stitching, and then adding the eyelets...
Eventually I want to design and make additional covers for the top to protect the boat a little more from the elements and save a least a bit of cleaning. Your bag idea is one I am certainly going to take up, as I need a couple anyway.
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For attachment you need to be a subscriber (tick, VG ;) ), for links it's having been a member for 2 weeks and made 25 posts - but unfortunately the forum doesn't police that itself, we mods and admins have to do it. (It's not all champagne and roses you know... >< ) Using the img tags is fine (as long as it's not a dodgy image, or advertising, which is never OK.)
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Bl**dy he**, that's gong to be a job and a half! Good luck! I only made a cover for my embroidery machine from vinyl-type stuff and that was bad enough.
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress, with, of course, lots of pics.
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Ok.... so now I’ve got to work out how to add attachments....Odd - I managed the first time!
I read this and thought you were having problems changing the feet on the machine :|
The machine seems to have lots with it, but if the manual is missing, this model of the 201 is included in this free PDF manual (https://res.cloudinary.com/singer-sewing/image/upload/fl_attachment/Singer-Website-Library/outdated_product/SINGER_15K_66K_201K_99K_185K_327K_328K_329K_and_404K_Sewing_Machines.pdf) from the Singer website.
If you need fabric for practice, try looking in charity shops for cheap bedding and curtains. Heavier, canvas-type curtains would make strong bags and be similar to the upholstery fabric you might end up using for the sofa.
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Well we spent the weekend at the boat, which was basically my excuse to take our new machine with us and see exactly what I have purchased, so on Sunday I took over the dining table and started unpacking everything. I have of course added to my original purchase of the machine....
My wife is finding it slightly surreal that I’m the one dragging her to the shops so that I can buy thread and scissors for my sewing machine, but she can never resist looking for new cushions so was quite happy to come along and browse, while I stood in front of hundreds of little plastic containers containing all sorts of weird stuff and tried to fathom out what I might need.
I settled for a few packets of various needles, some scissors, pins, and some heavy duty thread. I’m assuming I’ll have to go back a few times, but my wife does have her own sewing box (for her never used machine) and she told me to have a rummage and take what I want.
My machine did come complete with the original instruction book, so I had a read through and tried to set things up. As is often the case with these things, the instruction book was easy to understand once i worked out what it wanted me to do, but since I had no idea what that was I was initially a tad perplexed. So I switched to You Tube and found a really helpful video by a chap named Graham Wilson that I just followed until the machine was ready to go.
Within half an hour I had my bobbin wound, the machine threaded, and a bit of leatherette in my hands that was about to get mauled.
Things started ok. The needle went up and down and the leatherette was gently tugged away from me, with a neat little row of stitches forming behind the needle. Looked great to me.
I folded the material and decided to have a go with double thickness of the leatherette, and all was happy until everything stopped and jammed solid. I suddenly seemed to have about seven threads coming from inside the machine, and after a few minutes of gentle tugging it was obvious that they weren’t coming back out any time soon.
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So I decided it was time to take the machine to bits. Under the metal plate beneath the needle there was a lot of gunk. Probably decades worth of dust and fluff that had been gently marinating in sewing machine oil.
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I cleaned it out as best I could, put the machine back together and had another go at sewing. I realise I need to give the machine a more detailed clean and would welcome suggestions for a good tutorial on this and what type of oil I need to get hold of.
Since I’m planning some heavy duty sewing I thought it best to check that the machine has the required grunt for the job at hand, so had bought with me a roll of car seat belt strap that my dad had given me, working on the basis that if I can sew through that I should be ok with a couple of bits of marine canvas.
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As you can see, it did the job nicely.
However...
I noticed that the spacing of stitches varied depending upon the direction I was going on the material, and that the leatherette was fed through automatically in one direction but required help in the other. Is that normal? I tried fiddling with a lever that I think adjusts stitch length, but as far as I could tell that made no difference at all to anything - I was getting the same original stitch length in any direction regardless of whether the lever was set to 7 or 30, and nothing seemed to change that.
My other question is ‘how do I start?’
Do I have to go forwards and then back a bit to somehow tie the thread, or is it ok to just set off sewing? My brain keeps telling me that if I just set off then there is nothing to stop those first threads unraveling, but I’m not sure either way?
So that’s it. The machine works and seems to do exactly what I was told it would do.
My wife took one look at it in action and told me to sell her machine because she’ll never use it again, and then added that her sewing box was now my sewing box and any future thread based issues were now mine. In case you haven’t worked it out, sewing is not something she seems to enjoy.
I had fun. I’ve ordered some canvas to start practicing on, which should arrive this week, and she has ordered the material for the sofa (which won’t be here for around six weeks)
Decent marine canvas isn’t cheap - it seems to be around £25pm - which seems a tad pricey for a first attempt, so I’ve ordered some cheaper stuff from eBay for my first go and added another job to the sewing list for practice. That’s going to be a new canvas windscreen cover. Making one will let me have a go at all the techniques I’ll use for the rear canopy (I’m going to make it in three sections so I get to play with zips and velcro even though I don’t really need to) and i can afford to make a few mistakes on it as it’s something we will only use when we aren’t using the boat.
All being well I will start working on it next weekend.....
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That looks like a lot of gunge that you have poked out. Check online to see that you have got into all the little places that hold muck!
Is your thread heavy enough for the job? (Any experts here?).
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There was a lot of rubbish in there - and I do want to take the machine back home to give it a good going over once I have the oil I need.
The thread is the most heavy duty one they had, but I have ordered a large spool of proper marine thread for the actual work.
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So... We have a problem....
It was all going so well and I thought I had everything I needed. Last week I took a few measurements at the boat and had a more detailed look at how the existing screen shade is fitted to the hull.
To be honest, now that I look at it the current shade is actually incorrectly fitted, and rather than be attached to the vertical surfaces of the boat it’s been folded and bent to make use of a few poppers that are seated on what is something like a windowsill. It’s not great, but nobody has ever noticed during the two years we’ve owned the boat - including me. I could make the new shades properly and add new poppers to fit it to - but that means drilling more holes into the boat which I’d rather avoid, so I’ve decided to make smaller panels and then velcro them to the existing sunscreen.
So I took the shade home, used it as a template and got set up to start.
I decided to try things on a few scraps of off cut before launching into the job, and instantly got a huge birds nest and the machine jammed. The stitches looked fine from above, but beneath they were just a series of hoops and snags.
The problem is the bobbin holder. The super dooper marine thread is just too thick for it to cope with and the thread isn’t running freely enough. I swapped for heavy duty thread and it sews fine, so I am sure I have diagnosed the issue correctly.
So I’ve had to put everything away again, and now I’ve got to find some thinner thread that is still suitable for use on outside projects... either that, or upgrade to an even more industrial machine, which I am considering.
Either way I’m keeping the singer. It’s such a pleasure to use. I’ve been practising French seams and semi flat felled seams, and it’s all rather fun.....
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Hi Gavin,
I just read your posts and realised you'd asked a few questions that haven't been answered.
So, sewing machines use, err, sewing machine oil. You will find that among all the packages of stuff that you didn't think you needed in the haberdashery department. Or possibly in your wife's sewing box; it is pretty generic stuff that comes in a flat plastic bottle. It's not used by modern machines (don't ask me why!) but is still readily available.
I've found a similar backwards and forwards inconsistency with sewing textured leatherettes. It seems to be whether the texture stops the "fabric" feeding evenly. There are a few solutions for this:
- sprinkling the fabric with talcum powder. I've never tried this as it just didn't seem a good idea
- use of a plastic foot designed for leather - solves the problem if the problem is with the foot
- placing tissue paper above and underneath the stitching line, and ripping it off after stitching.
I suspect you've diagnosed the thread problem correctly, but you might try losening the tension on the bobbin holder.
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There is a place called Pennine Outdoors and they specialise in exactly what they are called, i.e. fabrics, threads, sealants suitable for the great outdoors. They may well be able to help you on suitable threads and sealants etc. for what you are trying to make. Hope you soon get this sorted. If Pennine cannot help do you have a Ship's Chandler anywhere near you as they might have suitable threads and sealants.
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Hello again.
It’s been a while since I posted so I thought I should give a little progress report...
There has been swearing. Not as much as my wife was expecting, but I must confess to a small amount of profanity from time to time.
I somehow seem to have spent several days online trying to work out just what I need and I have managed to acquire a small mountain of kit.
I have also spent quite a lot of time getting to know my singer 201. At first i couldn’t get the stitches to work - sometimes they looked great, and then thirty seconds later the machine jammed and I’d have to get the screwdriver out to remove yet another birds nest. I just could not work out what to do to set the machine up in a way that gave me enough faith in my ability to produce a semi decent stitch every time.
In the end I decided that there must be something wrong - nothing terminal for the machine but something that wasn’t right - so I decided a really good service was required. I took the thing apart, following several videos that I found on you tube, and during this process noticed that all of the machines they were playing with had the foot tension spring wound down way way tighter than it was on my machine. This solved my issue with odd length stitches.
I then gradually worked out that my other issue was caused by my cotton reel being too heavy for the spring to really cope with. I’m not sure if there is a proper way to move thread from a large reel onto a standard smaller reel, but I found that an electric drill on slow speed with the right size drill bit did the job nicely....
I then played with yet more off cuts of fabric until I was happy that things seemed to be working, although by this time I had run out of spare material and was cutting lengths of fabric to practice on.
Then it was time to make a start on the boat sofa. I had planned to start with canvas work because that is all pretty much flat and lots of straight lines to sew - which sounds better to learn on - but I changed my mind for the simple reason that I was told to do the sofa first by my wife. Well, not exactly ‘told’ but it was made quite clear that she would be a happier bunny if she was looking at a nice new sofa.....
The first effort was not good. I tried various things. More swearing was required.
The sofa is made up of about twenty sections, and the first cushion I covered took a mere five hours... but I have worked out how to do it. Now each piece is taking about and hour and a half to strip, pattern, sew and staple. My ‘pin method’ is probably wrong and I am probably making something simple much more complicated than it needs to be, but I think the results are good enough for what we need. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
I’ve managed to complete the first six pieces I bought home, although I do want to re do the first piece I did because it’s not up to standard.
I’m sure that I’ll find more head scratching moments as I try to get the seat cushions covered, but so far I’m happy.
Thanks again to all of those who helped with advice and suggestions, and gave me the belief that this was a project I could look at doing myself!
Gavin
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Well done @Gavin e they look wonderful. Glad you managed to sort out the machine. When you say the cotton reel is too heavy are you using a large cone. I have made a stand for the larger reels and using a wire coat hanger bent to a right angle and then a curly end so that the thread can be drawn from the top and directly to the machine. This takes the strain off. :vintage:
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Looking great. I think you were wise to start on the sofa, the fabric is a good deal easier to handle in spite of the curves, which you've completed very well. If I use a large cone of thread on my sewing machine I use a thread stand, but before I knew what that was ( thanks to enablers on this forum) I used to put it in a mug. Your idea to use an electric drill to wind smaller reels is brilliant.
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That looks a great job. Well done for persevering. There is no 'wrong' way - if it works, it's right. You will find your own ways of streamlining processes as you go along. Don't get hung up on tiny bits that you're not entirely happy with or point them out to other people (I know, I do it) remember that no one sitting on the sofa is going to be examining it with a magnifying glass :)
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Youre a better man than I am Gunga Din !!
Bravo! particularly by thinking outside the box I’m not sure if there is a proper way to move thread from a large reel onto a standard smaller reel, but I found that an electric drill on slow speed with the right size drill bit did the job nicely....
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Great job @Gavin e well done for persevering.
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Should the drill be required for more traditional activities, as others have said, you can put the cone of thread in a mug behind the machine. Adding a safety pin to the spool pin and running the thread through that can help the thread maintain the correct the path.
(https://blog.ajpadilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/2010-290-225x300.jpg)
(Photo taken from this blog post (https://blog.ajpadilla.com/2010/09/11/how-to-make-your-own-really-cheap-cone-thread-stand/))
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I have been known to wind a bobbin from a cone and used that instead on the spool pin :) :vintage:
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I have found it useful to have 2 bobbin cases and then I keep one set loose for thicker threads and the tension on the other one is never touched. This saves much swearing and thread breaking too.
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Congratulations! I’m not sure I would have been brave enough to tackle a sofa so early on in my sewing journey! To be fair I’m not even sure I could tackle one now. It looks great!
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Time for another update...
So the boat sofa is pretty much finished, other than the base unit which I need to work on in situ as I can’t get it home. Of course, what with one thing and another I can’t get to the boat to complete the work, meaning the final push will have to wait for a while - but what the hell, there are much worse problems to be had.
In the meantime I decided to have a go at making my wife some new boat luggage, using some white leatherette and then lining the inside with the excess sofa material. To add padding I snaffled a quilted mattress protector that my good lady wasn’t using, cut it to size and fitted it between the two.
A bit tricky to work out the shape, but I’m rather chuffed with the result!
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What a lovely idea. And a lovely result. You sure you have no sewing experience? :) :thinking:
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Very nice.
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What a lovely idea. And a lovely result. You sure you have no sewing experience? :) :thinking:
If I have any experience it was in a past life... although I will admit to sewing on the odd button before....
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@Gavin e you have done extremely well. You are a natural. that bag looks very professional, well done! :toast:
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I’m giving the dinghy cover a go - and I’ve deliberately over engineered it to make sure I practice all the techniques I need for the main boat covers.
All is going well, but my question is......
How am I supposed to know when the damn bobbin is about to run out of thread? It’s happened a couple of times now. Annoying.
I’ve then been unpicking that bit of work on the assumption that I’m supposed to? If I don’t I figure I run the risk of it all pulling apart in the future as the end isn’t backsewn or whatever it’s called?
Having to unpick six foot of nice stitches is demoralising... any handy hints, or do I just need to keep checking and waste the thread when things are running close?
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I’m just reading this thread for the first time, @Gavin e and I must admit when I read the first post with the pictures of the boat and read of your plans, I thought ‘oh dear’! I really thought you were being over ambitious.
You have done brilliantly and as others say you are obviously a natural: using a vintage machine for the first time, working out your own pattern pieces and sewing very difficult fabric. Amazing!
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Do you need to unpick it all? Could you overlap an inch or two of the new stitching sewing into the same holes then pull the threads through to the underside to tie off? It wouldn't notice once you're not looking at it close up.
You'll have to get in the habit of checking the bobbin before you start on a long seam. If you are doing a lot of stitching it's useful to have a couple of bobbins already wound before you start. It saves unthreading the machine in the middle of the job.
Oh, I've just seen the bag! Absolutely fabulous!
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How am I supposed to know when the damn bobbin is about to run out of thread?
The Splurgess makes a different sound .... which is inevitably followed by a different sound from myself!!!! :laughing:
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You have done brilliantly and as others say you are obviously a natural: using a vintage machine for the first time, working out your own pattern pieces and sewing very difficult fabric. Amazing!
Thanks, but while I appreciate the positive comments and they are encouraging, I must point out that it would be a mistake to assume I am some kind of sewing natural who just whizzes this stuff out... it’s all rather tricky, there has been much swearing, many mistakes, and frequent times where the work has required a ‘good hard stare....’
I’ve fitted the wrong zips, sewn bits together the wrong way up, made the machine go bang (still don’t know what that was but nothing seems broken?), melted a foot pedal (the smell of burning plastic was the first clue I had that my foot was shortly going to catch fire) , cut handles too short.... the list goes on, with plenty of sewing debris floating in my wake.
But hey - we learn.
It’s also all taken a lot of hours. Many many hours...
The idea that the noise changes when the bobbin is low on thread is interesting, but I tend to sew while listening to podcasts so I guess that’s why I haven’t noticed.
And as for ‘pulling threads through to the underside to tie off’..... I’ll have to research that as I’m not sure my fingers can cope with trying such tiny knots - I’m used to boat ropes! I need the stitches to be firm because things are going to have to cope with gale force winds, the weight of water etc.....the pressures will be strong at times.
I guess I’ll just need to keep checking, even though that means removing the bobbin case each time to check - or am I missing a trick there too?
Hoping to finish the dinghy cover in the next couple of days, so will add photos when finished. But don’t be surprised if it’s not finished soon - every time it seems to be going well I come across the next unforeseen setback....
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I have had an idea, which may or may not work.. When you are going to fill a bobbin, perhaps you could get a marker and colour the second 30cm or so, let it dry and then wind it on to the bobbin. When you see the coloured bit come through, you are that close to the end. You can stop there and pull the coloured bit back, if you want, but get ready to fit a new full bobbin. Of course, it would depend on if you mind a bit of coloured stitching and if you can see the bobbin thread peeking through. Or check underneath once in a while when you suspect it is getting low. If you use washable colour, then no problem, if you are going to wash the item. Anyhow, off to try that on my next attempt.
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Yes, Toileandtroubles idea is a good one - use a Frixion pen to mark it and waft the iron near it afterwards to make the mark disappear. If you can't manage to tie off threads after pulling them through to the underside, dab a bit of fabric glue on where they come through. If you've given it a good overlap it should be just as good.
My machine doesn't make a different noise when the bobbin runs out. It's a top loading bobbin though and you can lift the fabric you're stitching out of the way to see if it's running low.
All of those mistakes you made will have been the best way to learn and every one of us on here will have made the same ones.
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@Gavin e , have only just come across your thread, it's good to see another boat owner on the forum. I too have completely reupholstered our boat. If you haven't already seen this site (https://www.profabrics.co.uk/products/sauleda-acrylic-canvas-marine-grade-pvc-coated?variant=22056675573849) and this (https://www.hawkehouse.co.uk/cover-fabrics-2/)
i can recommend both of them, the chap at Hawke House is very helpful
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@Gavin e , have only just come across your thread, it's good to see another boat owner on the forum. I too have completely reupholstered our boat. If you haven't already seen this site (https://www.profabrics.co.uk/products/sauleda-acrylic-canvas-marine-grade-pvc-coated?variant=22056675573849) and this (https://www.hawkehouse.co.uk/cover-fabrics-2/)
i can recommend both of them, the chap at Hawke House is very helpful
I’ve already spent money with Pro fabrics.... but hawke house is new to me and well worth looking at. Thanks.
I like the idea of a little colour change thread to give me bobbin warning time - but it will only work if I can find something that shows up against dark navy thread on dark navy canvas. I’ll see what I can find and look up a frixion pen too - never heard of one!
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@Gavin e the Frixion pen won't work if it's dark navy I'm afraid - it won't show up. I have been using a sliver of soap to mark dark fabrics with (somebody's tip on here a while a go). You could try that on a stretch of the thread but it might be rubbed off when it pulls through the fabric.
Frixion pens are great on lighter colours. When you apply heat to the mark it disappears. You need to try it on a scrap first though, because on some fabrics it leaves a "shadow".
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You might find a regular coloured pencil works on dark thread - try white, yellow or orange? I use them to mark dark fabrics in areas that will eventually be hidden at the end of the job.
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So the sofa is finished....
Took a little longer than anticipated what with one thing and another and general ‘pesky virus’ related boat access issues, but hey, there are worse things to worry about than restricted boat visits. My good lady wife is as pleased as punch with the results and that’s all that really matters.
I learned a hell of a lot on this project and had a few head scratchy moments as I tried to work out how to do certain jobs, but I got there in the end. My original plan had been to keep the design as plain and simple as possible, and to ignore the ‘fancy stitching’ on the sofa seats that give them enhanced shaping, but as soon as I stripped off the first of the original covers it was clear that the foam underneath had been sliced into separate pieces to create those shapes and so I would have to work out how to copy the original designs or the sofa base would lose a lot of its support strength. In the end it wasn’t all that tricky, but as a newbie I found I had to really carefully deconstruct the old covers so I could see how they had been folded and sewn so that the stitches would not be visible in the end.
I’m very pleased with the end results. With materials and labour we were quoted around £2000 to have the sofa re-covered, and I’ve spent around £800, which includes the sewing machine and scissors and thread and...... you can probably guess the rest of what I needed. So not a cheap project, but still an absolute bargain in many ways.
I love my new electric staple gun.
I hate removing old staples, and there were lots of them.... really really lots.
If I have any concern it is a little self doubt as to whether the new covers will stretch or go baggy with time - but I don’t think they should. I copied the original sizes exactly and they were pretty tight to get on, so should be fine. I hope.
To be honest, if you look closely at each section you can see which were the first ones as I gradually got better, but they are all good enough and nobody will ever notice except me.
I had lots of help from the people on here, and would not have attempted this without you all, so thank you so so much for all of the advice and tips.
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Very impressive - well done! I'm not surprised your wife is pleased with it. I hope that won't be the end of your journey though - what's next?
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Well done, you are right to feel extremely proud of your effort, and delighted that your wife has approved of the sofa as well. Good luck with the next part of this mammoth job.
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:toast:
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That looks simply stunning @Gavin e a fantastic achievement. The cost of the sewing machine doesn't really count because it will get used for many other things ......won't it? ;)
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Wow. That is a first attempt from someone who didn't even own a sewing machine?
Serious respect :toast:
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Wow. That's great.
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Excellent work. :thumbsup: I'd run a mile if anyone asked me to tackle such a big job.
Sandra.
xxx
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Amazing, well done.
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Great bag (and I do love a bag!) If your machine will happily go through that leatherette it is a keeper! That is what would put many beginners off - particularly when it comes to top stitching and attaching the handles. (Not that I am at all jealous of anyone who has a machine that does that lol).
The big question is... what next?!
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@Gavin e would you kindly let me know which brand of electric staple gun you have please? Many thanks.
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Thanks for all of the kind comments ladies and gents.
This will not be the last project - in fact I will soon be posting pics of the dinghy cover, but I think I will be upgrading to an industrial machine. Don’t get me wrong, I love my singer and will be keeping it, but it’s not tough enough for the jobs I plan on doing.
The dinghy cover has been a real fight. It looks ok but the singer just doesn’t have the strength to pull that much weight and I’ve had to feed it through by hand, with varying success. I think I only managed it because I’m a stubborn so and so and wasn’t going to let it beat me, but while the sofa was a pleasure the dinghy cover was a real...... not pleasure.
But the finished result is good enough for what I need - a cover to last a couple of years. It’s not good enough for the actual boat canopy though. Not good enough at all.
However, I’ve learned that I will be able to cope with the job and the measurements and the sewing if I have the right tool for the job, so I’m buying one, which sounds extravagant but makes sense. I think the material costs will be around £1000, maybe a bit more, and the machines look like they come in at a similar price, so call it £2000 - £2500 for the finished canopy which will save me at least a thousand pounds from quoted prices. I can then use the machine to make new covers and canopies for the top deck, saving me more money, and then sell the machine second hand with little use and probably get back half of the cost...
That’s the plan anyway.
Even my wife thinks it’s a good plan - and she was initially dubious about me spending fifty quid on the singer! She has a little more faith now it seems...
@Gavin e would you kindly let me know which brand of electric staple gun you have please? Many thanks.
The staple gun I used was a Stanley TRE550 - about £30 on eBay and a great gadget.
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Thanks @Gavin e
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Your calculations make a lot of sense. Then you'll have a second career/side hustle making covers & doing repairs. Anything boaty, like anything golf related, carries a hefty price tag.
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Hello again. I'm back.
Its been a busy few months for me - got hit by a car, had to quit my job, got hit by a lump of falling concrete, moving house, etc etc - and I've not had time for sewing.
But now its time to start the next project. However, my machine isnt sewing right and I'm not sure how to fix it.
Top stitch looks like this.. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Bottom like this [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
What is the issue and how is it solved??
I'm assuming that something isn't at the right tension, but is it too tight, too lose? Or simply user error...
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You can see the top thread is pulled through to the underside, so the tension needs to be higher.
If the bottom thread is pulled up, then the top tension would be too high. You will soon get back into the swing of things.
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Looks like just a tiny tweak will solve it
BUT FIRST
Take all threads out ... test your bobbin is wound correctly, not too tight, defo not loose .. Wind another bobbin if necessary.
Re-thread the top thread ... Holding the thread at the spool end take the thread through the guides, maintaining tension on the thread until its through the needle.
Put the bobbin in the shuttle, with your finger on the bobbin case pull the thread through the guides maintaining the tension until its threaded.
Now have a sew start on a leader or hold the threads as you start and see if you still have a problem.
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Thank you for those answers. Both have helped me to understand the way the machine works much more, which is something i am finding hard to grasp - i find it easy to see the pattern i need in my head, but i cant get my head around what the needle is doing to create a stitch.
Following the advice given i think things have improved, but i still seem to get a much better stitch sewing the leatherette than i do the canvas?
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
The leatherette seems happy both sides, but the canvas seems to have tiny lumps of the canvas on the underside. Is this simply just that I'm using too thick a needle? Or is there another possibility?
It certainly doesnt look or feel right....
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Are you using the same needle for both? If the little blue bobbles on the canvas are fabric ( I thought they were the top thread) then I'd suggest either your needle is blunt, pushing threads instead of piercing, or too big. I don't have any experience of sewing faux leather but I'd have guessed a 100. I've sewn heavy duty canvas, stitching transparent vinyl to it to repair a boat awning. I bought special needles for this & used a heavy duty thread. It was very successful, I don't remember needing to adjust tension on my old Pfaff.
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Same needle for both and it’s brand new. I think a size 121? Whatever that means….
I’ll have a look in the sewing box to see where I’ve hidden the other needles, because this packet did look rather chunky. I’m sure I bought a selection of sizes!
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The tension is not far out with the leatheret but with the canvas the top needs tightening.
Each fabric will have its own tension requirement and it's nearly always the top that you adjust, especially if you are not sure of what you are doing.
A balanced tension looks the same on both sides. If the bottom thread is pulling tighter and/or allowing the top thread to show then tighten that top thread. If the top thread is tight and pulling the lower one up then loosen the top tension.
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Thank you for those answers. Both have helped me to understand the way the machine works much more..... but i cant get my head around what the needle is doing to create a stitch.
@Gavin e if you have time, there are some good videos and animations on line showing how a sewing machine creates a stitch if that helps.....YouTube and elsewhere
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Just to be sure I'm understanding the terminology correctly.... as far as i see it i have two adjustable dials on the machine - a small dial near the top of the machine that the thread goes through first, then a larger dial beneath this with the little springy wire thing.
Am i correct in thinking these are the 'top' and 'bottom ' tensions and that i am not adjusting or touching the bobbin tension as 'bottom' tension???
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Bottom tension refers to the bobbin tension. It's adjusted with a screw on the bobbin case & shouldn't need to be touched. Don't touch this unless you fully understand what you're doing. Without seeing a photo it's difficult to know which is which of the top dials, often one is for stitch length and one for stitch width but if your thread is feeding through then I'd guess that's the upper thread tension.
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Having read everything above I'm now assuming the bottom of these is the adjustment dial for upper tension? And therefore the upper one is just there to confuse me.. >:)
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@Gavin e the dial with numbers is your upper tension, it works by closing the gap of the two disks that take the thread.
Edit: the upper one is a guide for the thread and as far as I know there is no adjustment on that.