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

doug748 said:
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.
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I bought a Jones many years ago for about £50 and it has paid for its self 10 x over. I have made boat covers seat covers etc etc. I would suggest as it is not a "walking foot" sewing machine you buy an attachment suited to your machine that has a roller foot EG http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/1709...ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80 The one shown is a short arm and they come in other lengths. Check with supplier before buying.
This will make light work of heavy material and number of layers.
 
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I managed to get my sister to make my cushions & curtains. ��

She's also good at painting anti foul paint onto the hull. ��

Unfortunately, she refuses when I try selling her services ! ��
 
I bought a 2nd hand industrial on ebay for £60. Heavy thing that took 2 blokes to lift into the car. I figured that after making the dodgers and repairing the sprayhood it would have paid for itself I would re-sell for little loss and maybe a small profit. Now made a stackpack bag as well and decided its not worth selling as I have lots more things to make. Buy industrial / heavy duty as previous posters have recommended in previous posts and you will not regret it. Youtube good for instructional vids, make sure you buy good UV resistant thread as well.
 
For what it's worth. We had our 7 boat cushions all various shapes recovered, I went to three upholsteries. one quoted £1100.00 next quoted £650
The last one quoted £200 plus material, but we had to buy the material which cost £70. Guess which one we went with?!!! The job done was superb aswell.
 
My hot tip? Even a fairly cheap sewing machine can handle quite a lot of tough stuff *if* you use the right needle. It makes such a difference. Upholstery fabric - buy an upholstery needle. It's fairly straightforward. If you're not sure, go into a proper sewing shop with a sample of the fabric you're planning on using and they should be able to advise.

Personally, I never skimp on thread either, because my machine only ever seems to jam when I use the cheap stuff and sorting out great birds' nests of cotton is not my favourite way to spend a day. If you decide to go all out with an overlocker, DEFINITELY buy proper overlocking thread.
 
Mrs H recovered all our cushions with a high quality artificial suede specified for marine use and standard vinyl bases - and all with a conventional domestic machine. She did go on a Hawke House 1 day course (a bit over £100 IIRC) on the recommendation of another forumite, and would herself thoroughly endorse his recommendation (no connection with HH other than as a very satisfied course attendee and customer for the vinyl base fabric - but not for the suede itself). She tells me that the course tutor said that a simple machine was perfectly adequate as no special stitches are required, and she used her own domestic machine. She enjoyed doing the work during the winter, and all I can say is that the final result looks very good to me.

PS I should add that the course fee also covered an excellent take home 'goody bag' of very useful items.
 
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I agree that a cheap sewing machine will do a lot and at least introduce you to the fun of making stuff. As said however often the materials cost a lot.
Older machines can be very good however I have seen machines with nylon gears where nylon gets old and fails so look for one with metal gears. The gears are under neath and in the top section coupling the needle up and down to the feed teeth. Yes zig zag is good but not essential.
What can be really good is a big area under the arm (long arm) to get lots of cloth through.
Sewing machines are usually quite robust. Just need lubrication in places. The trick is to get the thread tension right. Firstly to balance the bobbin tension and the needle thread tension then to get a suitable collective tension.
good luck olewill
 
PlankWalker said:
What can be really good is a big area under the arm (long arm) to get lots of cloth through.
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+1[/QUOTE]

If the OP is looking to buying a machine, there are 'special' ones that have an over-long arm. When working on large genoas I sometimes wish that I had one instead of my 'standard' head. Equally important is to fit a (removable) larger surface to the table. An 8 x 4 sheet of 1/2 inch ply, surfaced with a thin sheet of Melamine hardboard (less friction) and with a corner cut off so as to fit onto the 'free' corner of the table gives sufficient area for handling the material of a large project without dragging it on the floor.
 
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Leaving aside over-long arms etc which moves the process truly into the "professional" arena, do not underestimate the need for a semi industrial machine. I tried a machine that was advertised as being able to stitch sail cloth and webing but the reality was it couldnt. I ended up with a Sailrite with a heavy duty wheel. It has proved its weight in gold but even so has its limits. The vast majority of machines on eBay etc are simply not going to get through multiple layers of cloth or webbing, so make sure the machine matches your needs otherwise you will be disappointed.
 
A point on Velcro versus zips. The Hawke House boat upholstery course Mrs H took specifically recommended Velcro rather than zips, and that's what she has used - it's fine, and Velcro closures are much more convenient both to put in (especially, I suggest, more forgiving for a relative sewing novice) and to use.
 
nigelmercier said:
Nearly every zip on my boat has got a corroded slider, despite regular lubrication.
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That's interesting.

As it happens I have a cover that attaches to the spray hood that covers the remainder of the cockpit. When one of the Zips failed I decided to remake the cover and replaced all the Zips with Velcro partly because I doubted I was skilled enough to fit zips but partly because I thought they might be a better fixture. I am glad to say they have proved better on every count, ease of putting on the cover top of the list,

I am making a cockpit tent to give better stand up room and will not be using any zips just Velcro.
 
That's why it's important to get one of the older, all metal machines. Such as the singer 882 (I think) or a Jones. You don't need fancy embroidery capa bility but zig zag is necessary if you plan to do sails and a walking foot attachment. Of course, if you can afford it, a sailrite machine is the ideal but not really necessary.
ip485 said:
Leaving aside over-long arms etc which moves the process truly into the "professional" arena, do not underestimate the need for a semi industrial machine. I tried a machine that was advertised as being able to stitch sail cloth and webing but the reality was it couldnt. I ended up with a Sailrite with a heavy duty wheel. It has proved its weight in gold but even so has its limits. The vast majority of machines on eBay etc are simply not going to get through multiple layers of cloth or webbing, so make sure the machine matches your needs otherwise you will be disappointed.
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PuffTheMagicDragon said:
+1
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If the OP is looking to buying a machine, there are 'special' ones that have an over-long arm. When working on large genoas I sometimes wish that I had one instead of my 'standard' head. Equally important is to fit a (removable) larger surface to the table. An 8 x 4 sheet of 1/2 inch ply, surfaced with a thin sheet of Melamine hardboard (less friction) and with a corner cut off so as to fit onto the 'free' corner of the table gives sufficient area for handling the material of a large project without dragging it on the floor.[/QUOTE]

You've highlighted a couple of good points. The Sailrite is excellent but a bit cramped under the arm so replacing windows in large sprayhoods not easy and, working on the boat in cramped space makes it even more difficult. The larger the flat area around the machine the better. Our machine has saved us far more than the cost.
 
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