Is walking foot necessary?

[dmksails]

I am looking for a sewing machine that can handle sunbrella type fabric. I plan to make hatch covers, sail covers, etc. No sail work.

Is a walking foot needed for projects like this?

BTW - I do not sew, yet.

[UNCIVILIZED]

You may find some helpful information on the Sailrite website for your projects, as well as here Cruisers & Sailing Forums - Sewing Group. Boat canvas projects

[Frankly]

I have a Sailrite walking foot machine and have used it a fair amount for the last 10 years (sailcover, dodger, bimini, ect). I believe it would stitch through a 2X4. Before that I used a home machine and it worked just not on more than 2 or 3 layers of Sunbrella. In my opinion the real trick with Sunbrella is to use the canvas basting tape that Sailrite sells. This tape keeps the layers of Sunbrella from slipping.

The next issue you will face is the long lasting thread (Tenara ect). Expensive, long lasting, but slippery. Have to fiddle with most machines (Sailrite included) to keep the skipped stitches to a minimum. Never tried Tenara on a home machine. Borrow a home machine (stay away from the real expensive jobs) get some Sunbrella scraps and give it a try.

I rarely use the zig zag feature on my Sailrite, so if canvas is all might consider saving a few bucks with just a straight stitch machine. The life of the Tenara is real. Sunbrella after 6 to 10 years is about shot but the thread is still fine.

[sapient sue]

A walking foot will surely make your task easier. When we first started cruising I used a Bernina hime machine which sewed any canvas material just fine. However - I discovered I could purchase a walking foot for it and my sewing became more professional. When we cruised to Alaska I eventually purchased a sailrite machine and now I can sew multiple layers of sail cloth as the industrial machine is much heavier than the Bernina.

I agree that getting used to sewing with Tenara thread is frustrating but well worth the expense as it will save having to resew projects in the future.

Happy sewing - Cheers Sue

[charliehows]

was in spotlight yesterday - sewing machine for $99 - I have one I paid $190 for a few years ago - thought sunbrella, canvas and sailcloth would kill it pretty quick but its taken a lot of abuse and still works perfectly. I,ve used it to; re-sew the weather strip on the genoa (definitely thought that would kill it but; nope) fabricate a lazyjack sailcover for the mizzen, sew heavy canvas awning for cockpit, repairs on main sailbag, not to mention making curtains, squab covers etc and probably a dozen other small jobs i dont recall just now.

couple of tips; for sewing large areas of heavy canvas etc. I set the machine on a cheap woodworking saw bench using the plastic jaws to hold the machine in place; I put a dining room table next to this so theres a large area to support the material - makes life a lot easier.

for thread I use an upholstery thread (it is visibly thicker than standard thread and requires replacing the needle on the sewing mach. with a size 100 needle) which should be available in most haberdasherys - it seems to last quite a number of years (so far nothing I've fixed with it in the last 7 years has needed re-stitching
good luck

[JPA Cate]

dmksails,

No, you don't NEED a walking foot. I didn't have one till last year, so on the order of 35 yrs. or so, sewing mostly boat stuff on my Mom's old Pfaff 130.

Sue's right, the results will look more "professional" when you have a walking foot, but it's really not necessary for sailbags, weather cloths, cushion covers, lee cloths, fender covers, and such. Any good old heavy duty machine will do.

I, personally, have had zig-zag capacity since my mom gave me her machine in 1960, and have used it for a number of purposes. I like having that ability. Zigging seams after straight stitching them makes them fairly well bulletproof, and prevents raveling, especially handy if you don't have a hot knife. Also, zig-zag is much easier to rip out if your fitting something fiddly, and made a mistake. Basting tape is your friend, too, but try and place it where it won't foul the needle with stickum.

Go for it. We have lots of guys on CF who sew, and one personal friend who has sewn all his camping equipment.

It is always a luxury to work where there is a big table, but you can work it out on the boat, not for sail repair (for that you need a large flat area), but for most things.

Ann

[foufou]

If you don't have basting tape an alternative is to staple the pieces together so they don't creep. Works well. Just avoid hitting the staples with the needle. Happy sewing

[TeddyDiver]

Tape, staples! Am I alone using good oldfashioned pins???

[Hunky Dory]

I bought a singer industrial sewing machine not a walking foot with a commercial table. The motor is a the size of a car engine and the table weights a ton. I found the machine had the power to sew multiple layers of material, but it was way to fast, I actually had smoke coming from a seam once. I bought a Titan Walking foot portable machine, it looks the same as a Sailrite. I find I can slow the sewing speed down and it has the torque to go through the material at this slow speed. I am not a sewer and my reflexes were not fast enough for the commercial machine. The heavy duty machine (Titan) makes sewing a straight line a lot easier. I highly recommend the small heavy duty machines.

[evm1024]

I use a sailrite sailmaker. No walking foot. It works great as it is and as noted above using basting tape keeps seam creep to a minimum. Thus when you get to the end the ends are still aligned.

If I were in the market for a new machine I would buy a sailrite walking foot machine. The upfront cost would be quickly forgotten and the ease of use would show in every finished piece.

Zigzag is nice. Las ripped spinnaker I fixed got zigzag stitches.

Regards

[wingless]

My Juki DNU-1541S w/ Consew CSM550 servo motor and K-style table has been very useful for my sewing projects.

My complete-novice zero-experience starting point, to several complex, completed high-end projects was full of lots of learning.

One big benefit I found were the custom castors I made for my table, so I could re-position the table in different orientation to my adjacent pool table. I would feed from the pool table or to the pool table, as-required for the larger sub-assemblies.

The servo motor is VERY useful, to bang a single stitch, or to go very fast, as-required.

The Juki would punch through minimum layers of fabric to over a half inch of different materials w/o even breathing hard. This was very useful on intersections of full felled seams.

All of my projects were completed w/ HPFE thread. It is very slippery. On my overhead Bimini tops I used basting tape on all the seams to prevent the exterior rain water from following the thread holes to the interior. That method worked great for a leak-free interior.

[oleman]

I have an old American Built Singer 401A, from about 1959.
Probably built as a high end home machine. It is an analog cam driven multi-stitch machine. Its best feature is it is totally gear driven with the drive motor mounted inside the cast aluminum body, just whines a little as it sews. It has a slant needle, needle comes toward the operator at about 20 degrees. There is nothing on this machine that is plastic except the little stem that holes a small spool of thread. There were many attachments from Singer and the after market for this machine, AND still available on ebay where I got it, including a walking foot adapter that I have not tried because it does not appear to be need for the sewing I have done.
I have sewed anything you can think of other than shoe soles with it. So long as it can be sewed with a #18 needle and 70 thread, the largest size that I have been able to get to feed properly. I have not tried the life-time threads because of their cost and have not determined the need.
I got a basting adapter from Sailrite and use their threads and basting tape. Also look at many of their "how-toos". Beware that the basting tape only works well with the "worsted" thread that Sailrite sells. I tried cheap thread from ebay and the machine would jam-up after a dozen stitches when sewing the double sided tape.
My next project is a cover made from Sunbrella in pacific blue takes 6 yds of 46". Looks so good I almost hate to carve it up.
The only fault I find with the Singer 401A home type machine is the small bobbin size.
You can get large spools of #70 but the bobbin will only sew about 15' in Sunbrella.
I did break the machine about 6 mths ago, I overfed the material and caused the needle to miss the needle hole in the bottom plate, my fault, repair parts were available from several venders on ebay. I basically overhauled the bobbin drive assembly and foot-feed for about $30.
If money was no object I would still own and use this old Singer.

[CarinaPDX]

There is quite a range of choices, from mostly plastic modern home sewing machines to powerful metal commercial walking foot machines with long arms. The plastic ones are not likely to be very satisfactory for our use. Of course if money is no object then a walking foot on a solid metal machine, such as some Sailrite models, are ideal. But there are other satisfactory choices. I picked up a used Reed's Sailmaker, which is a high quality Japan Standard (metal body) built with heavy components (motor, flywheel, springs) and it works very well. Others have used the old Pfaff 130 rotary and upgraded the motor, flywheel, and springs to get a very capable machine. Most metal-bodied machines should be suitable for our use, with upgraded motor/drive, flywheel, and springs. Take a visit to a nearby sewing machine repair shop and they should be able to upgrade a heavy machine, and may have appropriate used ones for upgrade.

BTW when sewing Sunbrella it is recommended to use long straight stitches to avoid puckering. You might check to see if a prospective machine can do 5mm or 6mm stitches.

Greg

[PappysSailing]

I've made a thousand, maybe a million reapirs w my big Consew 190, but went to a walking foot and did notice the improvement in sewing ease re pushing the material through. But what I didnt like with the Sailrite look alike was the short, low arm. Really hard to roll up a full sized bimini and work in that tight space... limited clearance. So, to answer, I keep both machines handy.

[PappysSailing]

Sorry. Repairs and new fabrications made on the Japanese made, Consew 290, a heavy-duty straight stitch w a 1/3 h.p. motor and auto oiling system.