Questions

[elkhound]

#1 is there a book of basics for hand sewing and more for beginners.one with lots of pictures or diagrams and possibly a section on doing repairs?


#2 what sewing machine can sew cloth like backpacks are made from or more heavy duty stuff and is not outrageous in price? or what machine would you recommend for a bachelor wanting to sew and fix things.i was looking at ones where 'table' drops away or whatever you call it and you can do selves or slide stuff up on it etc.

sorry i dont know enough to even ask correct questions. i do have a very old sewing machine my great grandmother had.looking for something and dont really know what it is...thoughts?

 

[dademoss]

I had this PDF in my files, it might not go into enough detail, but it's a start.

 

[Patchouli]

A couple of thoughts, @elkhound
Any sewing machine that you want to use for heavier fabrics or textiles would most likely need to have sturdier “dog feed.” That’s where your fabric is sort of grabbed and pulled along on the underside. While you’d also need to use a larger needle, be aware of your settings and the tension, and use longer stitches.
I tried using a heavier thread once and there was a revolution within the machine, so be careful of that!
Yeah, I can’t remember stuff too. My circa 1984/85 Singer still works okay, have had it in for tune ups just 2 or 3 times. I’ve sewn thick fabric, like denim, in layers with this machine, but you have to make sure your needle size is correct for the fabric type. Part of the platform can be removed so I can put sleeves or pants legs on it, I know what you meant.
@Frodo posts about his machines occasionally and he uses heavy duty ones.

 

[DrPrepper]

A couple of thoughts, @elkhound
Any sewing machine that you want to use for heavier fabrics or textiles would most likely need to have sturdier “dog feed.” That’s where your fabric is sort of grabbed and pulled along on the underside. While you’d also need to use a larger needle, be aware of your settings and the tension, and use longer stitches.
I tried using a heavier thread once and there was a revolution within the machine, so be careful of that!
Yeah, I can’t remember stuff too. My circa 1984/85 Singer still works okay, have had it in for tune ups just 2 or 3 times. I’ve sewn thick fabric, like denim, in layers with this machine, but you have to make sure your needle size is correct for the fabric type. Part of the platform can be removed so I can put sleeves or pants legs on it, I know what you meant.
@Frodo posts about his machines occasionally and he uses heavy duty ones.

While your needle size is important, it's also important to use the right type of needle. I usually use a "sharp" or "microtex" type of needle, designed for woven medium weight fabric (quilting fabric). For jersey, you would use a ball point needle. I'm attaching a handout that talks about needle sizes and types. Surprisingly, many simple domestic machines can handle canvas repair- I recently repaired the flap on my ALICE pack on my domestic Brother machine (bought at Walmart for under $200). The keys to being successful with this are to use the correct type and size of needle, avoid sewing too many layers at a time, use appropriate thread that is not too thick for your machine (I used plain old Coats and Clark thread found in Walmart for my pack), use longer stitches, and, probably most important, sew SLOWLY! Another consideration is the presser foot on your machine. I first used a walking foot, which is designed to sew multiple layers together. It has additional feed dogs (those are the bumpy things under the needle that move the fabric through) on top of the fabric to help move all layers through together. This works well on moving quilts through, but not so much on canvas. I wound up dropping the feed dogs and used my open-toed quilting foot, and this worked much better. I just had to manually push the canvas under the needle.

My computerized Husqvarna machine can be set to sew heavy fabrics like canvas, but I don't want to risk doing anything to mess it up, as it would cost thousands to replace (it's also an embroidery machine). That's why I use the Brother for more rugged repairs.

I would not try to sew too many layers of canvas, or to sew leather with a domestic machine, because I don't think it has enough power to push the needle through a lot of layers. If you want to do things involving more than 2 or 3 layers of canvas, you would probably need to get a heavy duty or commercial machine made for that.

 

[Frodo]

#1 is there a book of basics for hand sewing and more for beginners.one with lots of pictures or diagrams and possibly a section on doing repairs?


#2 what sewing machine can sew cloth like backpacks are made from or more heavy duty stuff and is not outrageous in price? or what machine would you recommend for a bachelor wanting to sew and fix things.i was looking at ones where 'table' drops away or whatever you call it and you can do selves or slide stuff up on it etc.

sorry i dont know enough to even ask correct questions. i do have a very old sewing machine my great grandmother had.looking for something and dont really know what it is...thoughts?

What kind of money f do you have to send? A machine that is heavy duty enough to see back packs s going to be around $500 for a used machine and go up from their
Start looking on Craig’s list, Facebook marketplace, pawn shops, classified adds
You Ned a walking foot machineg

 

[Frodo]

Elkhound, re-hand sewing
What do you want to sew?
Fabric is sewn different than leather.
I can teach you how to hand sew leather
Using pictures and a couple links

 

[Frodo]

3 on the left are thread sizes
Far right is needle size
Gov is not used much

 

[Patchouli]

@DrPrepper I'm so glad you posted. My terminology and skill leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Wingnut]

In the old days, my friends & I would go to the nearest mountain shop, where gear & hardware for technical rock climbing & mountaineering were sold, and if there was no heavy-duty sewing machine there, they'd know someone who had one... an industrial machine powerful enough to do "bar tacks" on webbing, canvas, etc. Just my $.02 on the subject, otherwise I know JS about sewing, lol... Cheers!

 

[elkhound]

In the old days, my friends & I would go to the nearest mountain shop, where gear & hardware for technical rock climbing & mountaineering were sold, and if there was no heavy-duty sewing machine there, they'd know someone who had one... an industrial machine powerful enough to do "bar tacks" on webbing, canvas, etc. Just my $.02 on the subject, otherwise I know JS about sewing, lol... Cheers!

my go to girl is on the other side of the country sadly. she was the best and had multiple machines in her shop and could and would fix anything.

as far as responses in thread..thanks for all of them. i am just looking at doing more repairs and such on wide range of materials. sorry to be vague..i just dont know what else to say..i have interests in repairing backpacks to sewing furs to putting buttons on and new button holes maybe. all of it helps me for sure.

 

[Frodo]

These work very well

 

[Frodo]

How to thread a needle to sew furs/ leather

After threading the needle, bring the end of your thread up to the point of the needle and pierce the thread
pull The thread down to the end of the needle

Do this on both ends of the thread

 

[UrbanHunter]

Hey @elkhound, my wife had a habit of doing a lot of heavy sewing and ran into problems with her expensive machine, they had a habit of breaking down when she needed them most and it often took 6 months to get them repaired. During her last project her $1900 machine went down due to the heavy fabric she was sewing. We sent it in for repairs but the wife was desperate to complete the job. I bought her a Singer HD 4452 (?) for about $200, it was delivered within 3 days and she finished the project, it is a very basic machine and I am even allowed to play with it...

I know that she was able to sew denim and some of that heavy fuzzy cloth she wanted for chair cushions, she said the machine was ugly as sin, but the machine did the job that would kill her fancy machines. At $200, I figured if it died I could just order a new one......

I liked the speedy stitcher that @Frodo showed, I saw vid of a guy doing repairs to sails and it was amazing....

 

[Frodo]

Saddle stitch

To sew leather, repair leather
You need to use what is called a saddle stitch

Prepair the thread with 2 needles as shown above

Insert the 2 needles side by side into 2 side by side holes in the leather

Take the first needle and return it through the hole where the other needle came through

 

[Frodo]

@elkhound you said you have your Grandmothers old machine?
Is it a singer 66 by any chance?


8663627397. Bob Kovar. Owner of Toledo Industrial Sewing machines

Bob is one of my suppliers, super nice guy and very knowledgeable, call Bob and tell him what machine you have, what you want to sew. Ask him his opinion on the best needle thread combination to get you there.

 

[elkhound]

This thread was an off shoot from this thread i posted on 4-18-23

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/using-the-speedy-stitcher-to-sew-webbing-canvas.18428/
i am gathering up stuff and testing a few things and mostly using items i have for a project. we shall see if i can pull it off.