Thinking of buying a sewing machine to make new berth cushions.

graham said:
Any tips from someone who has done this ?

PS I have never used a sewing machine before.
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I bought this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001TLEHE4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

So far haven't used it for the boat cushiosn - I've never used one either so I made a sort of mock-up of a boat cushion with split, overlapping vinyl backing to allow getting the pad in and out, cloth front and canvas piping as a test. The machine went through the multiple layers no problem at all and it's a piece of cake to use.

Getting a nice straight row of stitches is going to take more practice!

The resulting cushion was good enough to be accepted by my better half and now lives on the sofa, which I think is a testament to it :) Alright for a first go anyway!

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graham said:
Any tips from someone who has done this ?

PS I have never used a sewing machine before.
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I just used my wife's ordinary, but decent, sewing machine (F-R Cub4 at the time)

I bought the thread .... you need quite a lot! ........ from the suppliers of the fabric ( Toomer and Hayter )

A good speed controller is essential ... some are not so good.


It'll be tedious but a hand machine is more likely to suit someone who has not used a sewing machine before.

Think carefully ........... there is a lot of money invested in the materials ........... if you bu$$er it up you'll wish you'd had them made professionally

You need to know how much oversize the foam filling must be to get the covers nice and tight.

Fitting the zips is tricky. Velcro etc is just a bodge.
 
I had never touched a sewing machine until a year ago - since I've made sail covers - cushions - bags all kinds of stuff - repaired other peoples sails, even reupholstered a couple of hard backed seats - just take your time , start out making simple stuff , sail bags etc - practice , practice practice

I bought a sail rite , simply because the service was excellent , back up good , lots of you tube videos and spares readily available , it wasn't cheap , but I figure the first couple of repairs I made covered the cost of the machine , after that Im in profit.

just don't tell your land lubber mates down the pub - youll never hear the last of it
 
I bought a cheap old low tech Jones domestic machine. It does zigzag, or straight.
I've made serviceable covers, mended covers, made bags sewed on bits of webbing, etc etc.
Re-covering box-shaped cushions is a job for someone pretty good with their machine, as any wonky stitching will notice.

SWMBO and I recovered the entire cushion set of one boat, it took a long time and cost a fair bit in materials, so making a hash of it would be a mistake.
But sometimes you can get some good fabric at a discount price, then 'having a go' starts to look sensible.

But if I'd got a part time bar job for the same hours, I suspect I could have paid the pro's to do it.

Top tip that I took a while to realise, do not make the covers the size of the foam, make the covers the size they should be and squeeze the foam into them.
 
I do a lot of sewing and I'd think twice about doing it even if I was just re-doing the covers on existing foam.

We have 21 cushions in all. I think I'd lose the will to live.

It would cost me a load in fabric and foam anyway. You may find the labour isn't the most expensive part.
 
Ruffles said:
I do a lot of sewing and I'd think twice about doing it even if I was just re-doing the covers on existing foam.

We have 21 cushions in all. I think I'd lose the will to live.

It would cost me a load in fabric and foam anyway. You may find the labour isn't the most expensive part.
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+1.
It did become a bit of an ongoing project we could have done without, it took much longer than I thought.

But IMHO, it looked good and lasted well.
SWMBO flatly refuses to do it again unless she retires first.
Also, it took over the entire house, you need a big room to easily work on big bunk cushions.
 
lw395 said:
Top tip that I took a while to realise, do not make the covers the size of the foam, make the covers the size they should be and squeeze the foam into them.
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Pretty good rule is that if you can get the foam in without a fight its too loose.
I went to upholstery evening classes a couple of years or so before I did the boat cushions. We were given a rule of thumb figure for how much the foam should be larger that the covers but I have now forgotten what it was . Getting the height of the cushion right compared with the thickness of the foam is important. I made a cushion for chair and did not make a big enough difference between the two... it looks wrong. I went too much the other way with the boat cushions ... that looks wrong too.


It looks good if you make sure the pattern matches on the cushions esp adjacent ones.


My efforts:

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A standard plastic armature domestic machine will do cushions. Lots around used, try the charity shops or craigslist.

A better buy if you are looking to work on sails or heavier canvas work is something with a metal armature. Something like this I bought a Pfaff 130 for $25 in Florida when cruising and it did the business.
 
I have made a lot of stuff over the years but I don't think I would tackle a full set of upholstery. A local chap will do it for £50 per cushion all in including deep buttoning and sewing up by hand (no Velcro or zips) but reusing original foam, so I don't think it's worth it for me.
However for much else a sewing machine is one of the most effective tools you can have. The model pointed out by ghostlymoron (Ebay 141780011170) is a superb model for the job.
 
If you want a recommendation for a sewing machine go for a Singer 201k. These are a semi industrial machine that looks just like your grannies old sewing machine. They were used to sew the leather seats at the Rolls Royce factory. They are super robust but only do straight stitch.
My wife has made all 16 saloon cushions, curtains, stack packs for both masts, hatch covers, instrument covers, boom covers, bean bags, shopping bags from old sails. Sun screens for the spray hood, Bimini, etc she loves the machine for its reliability and ability to punch through almost anything
 
You THINK that you'll be making cushions but I bet that you'll be making a long list of things for your boat! ;)

Go for one that will also do zig-zag and which can handle heavier fabrics than upholstery. If you wish to buy a new machine then Sailrite have a range of excellent machines at reasonable prices that I would happily buy if I were in the market for one. As has been mentioned they have a whole series of instructional videos an youtube and more on their website; I learned a lot from them. My machine is a second-hand ex-factory industrial by Pfaff that I altered to run on single-phase instead of the factory standard 3-phase. So far I have made sail-stacks and sail covers, tiller covers, curtains, snuffers, awnings, UV strips, for the boats that I have had. I have also used it regularly for repairs and alterations to my sails (and selected close friends). My latest project was a bimini for my Centurion and was really appreciated by whoever happened to be in the cockpit.

I still haven't come round to changing the cushion covers though... ;)
 
If you have the cash then a sailrite is great bit I have Singer 201K which I got from a specialist website in the UK run by a nice lady that restores them. Google "singer sewing info".

It is very solid, easy to maintain and goes through through much thicker fabric than modern heavy duty models but it is less forgiving in terms of setup, thread tensions etc.
 
I have a Singer 20U43 which is a semi-industrial sewing machine, which does both straight and zigzag. I've done sail repairs, new dodgers, new sprayhood, new cockpit canopy and repairs to stackpack. My wife has a clever domestic sewing machine which she won't let me touch so she did the boat curtains and bunk cushion covers.
 
geem said:
If you want a recommendation for a sewing machine go for a Singer 201k. These are a semi industrial machine that looks just like your grannies old sewing machine. They were used to sew the leather seats at the Rolls Royce factory. They are super robust but only do straight stitch.
My wife has made all 16 saloon cushions, curtains, stack packs for both masts, hatch covers, instrument covers, boom covers, bean bags, shopping bags from old sails. Sun screens for the spray hood, Bimini, etc she loves the machine for its reliability and ability to punch through almost anything
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My swmbo spotted one like that at the local charity shop, £50 later it is now in Portugal on the boat! Just made some chaps for the dink with no probs!
S
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
You THINK that you'll be making cushions but I bet that you'll be making a long list of things for your boat! ;)

Go for one that will also do zig-zag and which can handle heavier fabrics than upholstery. If you wish to buy a new machine then Sailrite have a range of excellent machines at reasonable prices that I would happily buy if I were in the market for one.
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You are right about sewing machines getting a lot more use than ever intended. A cheap domestic will do upholstery, but there are sew many more things to so on a boat than the cushions. I started off with a cheap second hand one, but eventually it could no longer be maintained because of lack of spares. I then got a reconditioned 2-speed metal geared Husquvarna, and within a few months the motor burned out and was going to cost £££ to replace. I bit the bullet and bought a brand new Sailrite. It cost a lot, but over a lifetime of sailing it will save its original cost many times over. I knocked up these rope tail pockets just this morning (next to one of the old ones)...

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Like IBM computers in the 70's, no-one ever regrets buying a Sailrite.
 
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