Question for any sewing gurus out here. I have a few projects I want to take on for myself, as well as for some of my friends. My aunt has experience sewing, so I want to put her to work, but she doesn't speak English, so I have no idea what she needs in terms of features and specs. Among the projects, there will be some backpack sewing (1000D cordura, webbing, zippers etc.), some stuff out of wool blankets, canvas, and ripstop materials. So I'm wondering what's a reliable sewing machine that can handle these materials. Also, if you take on custom work, let me know, I may have some projects for you. Thanks.
I use a "Brother" brand sewing machine because it was free. That said if i were to buy one i would seriously look at the "Singer" brand "heavy duty" line of machines. What i WISH mine had for outdoor type projects is the "extension table" I have found it hard to sew heavier (weight) items with the small sewing area. The extension table is a life saver. Also machines with the like 200 different types of stitches are 100 % a gimmick. https://www.singer.com/collections/singer-heavy-duty-machines
I don't know what kind of sewing content he has or how hard it would be to find, but John Willis of SOE does so many videos he has to have some on sewing.
This might help. I haven't watched this one, but in general soe videos are liable to be full of f-bombs.
I watched the video, I didn't hear any bad language in this one. He mainly suggests a walking foot machine, I think a consew 206, but they have gone to bigger juki's that are harder for employees to break.
I was thinking a walking foot would be useful for seams and zippers, I just wasn't sure about the softer materials. I think it would need to be a compound walking foot, I tried sewing some webbing on my Chinese shoe patcher. It's a walking foot only with no bottom feed. I couldn't keep the 2 layers of webbing from slipping against each other to sew it.
Yeah, the bad language doesn't bother me in the least. Would it help to stitch them together manually in two spots before sewing through them? That's how I usually sew my webbings together, just attach them in 2 spots and then go al the way across. Is that what the walking foot is for? To keep feeding it evenly?
I see the singer heavy duty as a good budget option. Under $300 for the machine and i just looked its under $30 for the walking foot attachment.
As I understand it.. The walking foot keeps the even feed on lighter materials. I have tried in the past the spot type sewing you're talking about and have not had good luck. The fabric always seems to end up wrinkling as you get close to the next spot.
A walking foot is good for going over an uneven surface. Like sewing across the end of a zipper and over seams and welts. It walks over uneven surfaces.
I guess I'll look at heavy duty Singers and go from there. Even if it's just for a few pet projects, should be worth its money.
I think I would look hard at a juki ddl 8700 clone for about $500. Depending on what you actually want to do. Or one of the little travel walking foot models, they just don't come with a table. Your aunt may not have room for a big table.
This would probably be just right. They are less than $450 on Amazon or the rex branded one is $375. It's basically a sail maker's machine. It's self powered like a domestic machine, but can handle heavier materials.
I had a post explaining different feed mechanisms, but lost it when I accidentally clicked the pixel exit link just above the predictive word box on my keyboard. Most domestic machines only have feed dogs on the bottom and the presser foot just goes up and down. If you add a accessory walking foot, it's still only going up and down. I think the foot itself just articulates in the middle. A true walking foot goes back and forth with the feed dogs.
I studied up on machines quite a bit, but I just don't know what features you actually need. You have to be sure that the machine you pick can handle the size of thread that you plan to use. You have to be able to fit a large enough needle and be able to apply enough tension. I know that can be a limiting factor for domestic machines. You might be fine with a heavy duty singer, depending on what you actually want to do.
The thickest material I'll work with is wool blankets, and the most dense would probably be 1000D Cordura (3-4 layers max, I imagine)
The biggest problem is that sewing machines just aren't very versatile. You almost always need at least 2 machines.
