Topics

Hi guys.  It's been a while since I've been in here, but I have a question.  I have an old 111w101 with no reverse and I have upgraded to a servo motor so I can control the speed.  I finally got the thread unraveling and breaking issue that was plaguing me resolved (simple spring adjustment, $100 repair bill) and have my timing right so things are moving along swimmingly.  I have another customer that wants me to redo one of his boat seats and since I don't have reverse I think a knee lifter would help me out a lot.  Do any of you know if my machine has provisions for or can accept a knee lift?  I see the knee lift kits available for very reasonable but I'm just not sure if I will be able to install one aftermarket on my machine.

Sorry I haven't been around too much, but my trade is mechanics and electronic installs, upholstery is something I started to do for my own boat and sometimes I'm asked to do it for my customers.

Thanks in advance for any information or advice you have!

Justin

I got a new (to me) truck and the bottom of the driver seat has a tear in it with some of the foam deteriorating.  I know I can remove and patch the seat cover, and I know I can replace the foam with stuff I have in stock, but the tear is not just a tear, it's worn and fabric is missing.  My question is can I order this fabric from a manufacturer?  I just need a half a yard and don't want to pay for a seat cover that I don't need.  I also don't want to have to sway away from the factory color / texture because I don't want to have to recover the whole truck to match!  It's an 04 Ford F150 with the grey cloth interior.  This one isn't mine, but it looks a lot like it.



Thanks!
Justin

Hey guys, it's been a while, I hope everybody is doing well!  I'm back and with an old issue that I need to revisit as it's keeping me from finishing the welt on an awning which needs to go camping this weekend.

I have a Singer 111w101 and have made every adjustment I can think of, from adjusting the shaft position of the hook gear to adjusting tension on the top thread and I still get this issue.  If I run the machine by hand, the top thread does fine, but as soon as I put some power to it, almost regardless of speed, I get freying on my top thread at the needle.  Eventually it nicks the thread fibers enough that the thread breaks and I have to back up and start over where the issue began.  I thought it might have been from burrs on the throat plate so I pulled it, re-drilled the hole and polished it top and bottom so I know that's not it either. I was able to live with it on my last project, but now it's doing it about every foot of sewing.  Any theories or ideas?  I really appreciate any help you guys can give!



Thanks again!

I'm thinking about making a snap on cover for my boat, since it already has snaps on it.  The question is, would it be stupid to make it (at least a test run) out of the silver tarps available for cheap at most China tool places?  The reason I ask is 2 fold:  1, I have them already, and 2, if it didn't work out I would not be out the cost of canvas or Sunbrella.

I know I can get it cut and edges/seams right, but how difficult is it to line up existing snaps?

Opinions?

Justin

OK, in hindsight it was stupid, but just for future reference, don't use a red sharpie marker to mark the back side of vinyl when it is going to get wet.



I went to the storage this morning to look at my boat and found 2 of my seats were now polka-dotted with pink (I used yellow on the rest of them).  I guess the ink on the bottom side got wet and bled through.  Maybe it's not so permanent after all.  

I got through my boat project (mostly) and this really wasn't an issue I couldn't deal with, but now I'm working on other stuff and it is becoming problematic.  How can I get my machine to start more consistantly.  It seems like I can give it the same amount of petal every time and sometimes it will go slow like I want, other times it takes off and I don't have tome to manipulate the piece I'm sewing.  This isn't a big deal on straight line stuff but these barstools I'm working on are getting jacked up!  I have found sort of a work-around by giving it very little petal and starting the wheel by hand, almost giving it a running start, but then I only have one hand on my material.  I thought it would go away with practice, or I would get used to the machine enough to overcome it but it hasn't and I can't.

Thanks in advance for the help guys!

OK, I have a zipper on a bimini top boot that needs repair so I thought I'd ask you guys.  It is a separating zipper and the "Box" and "Pin" are missing.  I have looked on the internet and all I see is to replace the zipper, but I would rather not if I don't have to.  Is there any way that you guys know of to repair this thing?  It will zip together fine, but with no box or pin there is nothing keeping the zipper together at the bottom so it just comes apart.  I thought about sewing a hook and eye on the bottom to hold it together until I want it apart, but if the parts to fix it right are available I'd rather do that.

You guys are awesome!

My home machine just doesn't have the guts I need to do my boat project and I found a machine that I'm going to buy at lunch today.  It's a Singer 111W101 with a table.  It is a compound walking foot machine that says it can do light fabric up through heavy leather; sounds like it will work for me.  Any comments or suggestions?  The lady is going to show me some basics and I can test drive it before I buy it.  What kind of money is this machine worth?  She says it's in good condition and the pictures don't look bad, but they are small Craigslist pictures.  She's asking $150 and I told her pending the test drive I'd take it for that.  Good deal?

I know this is a bit of an ambitious project, but I'm going to do the best I can with what I have since I cannot afford to have it done professionally.  I have lots of experience in several fields, the largest part in car audio so I have done lots of custom boxes and panels; cutting and gluing carpet and vinly is not new to me, building upholstery is another thing completely and this is new.

The boat is a 1998 Starcraft Aurora deck boat that we just picked up in S.W. Florida and hauled back to Houston 2 weeks ago.  This thing is in great shape but has sat uncovered in the sun its entire life so the interior is completely trashed.  These are the before pictures:

First cushion I did


others I will do...











Here is what I did last night with the front cushion:

Removed cover


Bad shape!




Broke cover down for patterning


Made patterns, transferred to new vinyl and cut out new pieces (No pics...)

new cover stapled on:


Installed in boat



I know this would have turned out better if I had used an industrial machine and an air stapler, but all I have is my euro-pro home machine with a walking foot attachment and an electric staple gun.  I'll likely redo this one because I don't like that the seams are not straight, but other than that I think it turned out nice for a first run.  I'm also definately going to source an air stapler, this electric one just doesn't have the guts...

We just bought a boat and the interior is trashed.  I am going to try to reupholster it myself and Iknow I can buy lots of vinyl and tools for what I wouldhave to pay one of the local shops, plus none of them impressed me.  I have experience in building custom audio systems in cars, which includes custom trunk and interior panels so this is not entirely new to me, but I am also very aware that there is a big difference between spray gluing carpey/ vinyl to a car panel and actual upholstering.

My main question is this:  Can I use my standard home machine to sew vinyl?  It is a nice machine and I have sewn lots of patches and fabrics with it, but I don't know if it's going to have the guts to go through the vinyl, whick will mostly be single seams but will have some welting that will require sewing through 4 layers, along with a few top stitches.

I am looking at an older Kenmore home machine that is supposed to be heavy duty ($75 on a table) and have also found an old JUKI, appears to be a 562 for $100, also with a table.  I know that's a cheap price for the JUKI, but I think it might be overkill for what I'm trying to do and researching on here tells me I may have to throw a lot of cash at it to get it set up right if it isn't. 

Here is the boat if you want to see it:

Not too bad-


Really bad-

What do you guys think?