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Jo Ann Fabrics has 1 1/2 inch plastic ball tassels. Search their web site for "tassels", not "dingle balls" or "hangie down things".

gene

This will be old news for the machine experts on this board. For me it was a little trip to heaven.

I saw a sewing machine the other day. They wouldn't let me touch it. LOL

It was a Juki universal feed. It had a servo motor on the lift foot. You tap the knee bar with your knee and the lift foot goes up. Tap again and it goes down.

It had a true servo motor on the machine, not a variable speed motor. Fully computerized. I think he said $5,500.00 just for the motor.

Tap a spot on the foot pedal, and it sews at a pre-determined speed. Another spot increases the speed. Again 4 times for 4 different pre-determined speeds.

Tap a spot on the foot pedal and it stops, with the needle in the down position. Tap the knee bar, the lifter goes up. Turn your fabric. Tap the knee bar. Tap the foot pedal and off you go.

Tap the foot pedal to stop - the needle is down. Tap again and the needle and lift foot goes up to pull the fabric out.

It is designed to be able to sew without ever taking your hands off the material. Obviously made for people who sew all day long.

The guy showing me it said it increased productivity 20% the first week and the sewing folks were less tired.

It was awesome to watch!


Also, when you stop your machine to pull out the material, if you put the thread take-up lever at the top position, the two threads will come out easily. There will be no need to rock the fly wheel back and forth. I didn't know this. I always wondered why sometimes the thread came out easily and other times it didn't.

"Learn to sew your cushions right, that will be the hardest part of upholstery." Al Chambers, Upholsterer.

gene

Hey! Smiley faces have nothing to do with upholstery. Let's keep the topics on upholstery related topics.

gene   >:(

PS In case you are as thick as HR 50 foam, THIS IS A JOKE!

"Some feel this is an upholstery site and should not have anything posted here except for upholstery related discussions." LOL Now that's funny.

I would think it takes less energy to not read something that you don't want to read, than to complain about it.

How about posting Friday Funnies on Sunday? Most people do not work Sundays. This might be more palatable for those who can't stomach Friday Funnies on Friday. Now, the folks who are on the other side of the international date line might still has a cause for complaining.

gene

Thank you for your comments, and links. They are very helpful.

I still don't know which way I will go, but I have a lot more info to help me decide.

This forum is awesome.

Thanks again.

gene

It looks like it blew off the back of another boat. Good thing boats float.

gene

I have a brand new Pick Up Gripper at my shop!!!!

I love it. Fabric scraps, hand tools, a bug: no more bending over or getting on my knees to pick stuff up off the floor. It's great.

I love it so much that I'm going to buy a second Pick Up Gripper in case I drop the first one on the floor.

The only problem I now have with picking stuff up off the floor is remembering where I put my Pick Up Gripper.

gene

Mr. Mojo,

Could you post some jokes about things other than old people? I'm getting to an age where I am concerned that I might be reading about myself someday in one of your Friday Funnies.

Thank you,

gene

Hello,

If I only want customers and prospects to see my work and know what new products and services I offer and such, and I do not want to sell stuff online, it seems that facebook would make more sense than a web site: not just easier to do and keep updated but easier for folks to look at.

Anyone have any experience on this topic? I would appreciate your input.

gene

That's a good point Paul. I get some fabrics that look different colors from different angles. If I have over 1000" in welt cord, for a big sofa and club chair with extra pillows, for example, and I cut the welt cord on the bias, I need to make sure all the strips of welt cord are running in the same direction because it can be very noticeable if not.

gene

Some people like to wave back, usually with only one specific finger, though.

Yes, clipping can help, but not fix the problem.

The two fabric panels are not sewn equally in length to the welt cord. If the welt cord in that section is 8" for example, one fabric panel may be 8" and the other may be 6".

Mark both fabric panels above and below the waviness. Take out the seams and measure between the two marks.

Search this forum also. This topic comes up on a regular basis.

Good luck, it can get frustrating.

Gene

When my Rowenta Steamer died I needed a bit of steam ASAP so I ASAP'd over to Wal Mart. I was surprised that almost all the household irons have vertical steam now.

I bought a $20 beauty and it is amazing. The only difference from my old Rowneta is the price and the water reservoir. If you don't need a lot of steam, and you only need it occasionally, I don't see why I would need anything else.

gene

I think Peachtree would be second choice, but I don't know of any reason that a small business person would want Peachtree instead of QB?

You only need yearly updates if you are doing payroll and using QB's payroll service. They auto download the tax tables. I think someone on here, Stephen maybe, is still using QB 2000???

Hey Mike,

I have QB 2006. I dont' use payroll and I don't have any online banking services. I had no need to upgrade either. QB runs email through their software just to try to get you to upgrade.

You said, "I can just print the invoice, scan it, save it in my pictures, write an e-mail and attach the invoice myself."

I go to FILE, click on Save as PDF, type a name for the file and where to save it. Then I go to my email and attach the PDF file and send it to my customers. This can save you a few steps and I have never had a customer complain that they could not open a PDF file.

gene

Ass slides. LOL. If you were doing upholstery for nudists, would it be 'wipes' instead of 'slides'?

I once referred to tassels as "hangie down things". The looks I got told me not to do that again. LOL

I don't know about cars, but with furniture I have never known a situation where the nap should not run as the previous posters have posted.

I know a lady who bought a new sofa 2 years ago, cheap crap, and the nap is running from front to back on the seat cushion covers. You can tell where she sits most of the time. The nap is permanently bend back.

gene

This is a bit off the topic, but still relevant to the Toyota sewing machine.

I used to sell packaging materials to all different kinds of manufactures. I saw many companies running machines made from the 30's up through the 50's. Sometimes even from the 20's. These machine were made to last.

Many of these companies would have to have custom parts made for anything that broke because it had been decades since these machines were made.

I saw a number of companies that evolved into having their own machine milling shop. They had so many machines that it was cheaper to make their own parts themselves than to source them out.

I also saw the other side of it: a machine in very good condition sitting idle because one part broke and the company couldn't afford to get the part custom made.

gene