Sewing is difficult, sewing machines are worse

[MJ H]

I am sewing a tarp, which is the first time I have used a sewing machine. Sewing itself is hard, but the worst part is keeping the machine running. It’s winding a bobbin, which is a skill, then running two different pieces of thread through lots of very small spaces, then fiddling with tension, then going out to find sewing machine oil, then going out to find mineral oil after not finding sewing machine oil, then starting over with a new bobbin because all the thread on the first bobbin got ruined from when the machine had no oil. Apple or someone needs to take a crack these machines

[Tim (Slowhike) Garner]

On UTUBE, type in the machine you have, and you will most likely find instruction on using your machine.

That’s a great place to learn things.

UTUBE University.

[Jerry Adams]

My mom had a sewing machine in ~1970.  There were all these bearings that you had manually clean and oil.  I used that to make a pyramid tent (that was sort of heavy and I never used much).  I think that broke the machine.  My poor mom…

My wife bought a Janome about 20 years ago but I’m the only one that ever used it.  That has sealed bearings – you don’t have to clean or oil them.  I’ve made many packs, tents, clothing,… without ever doing anything to service it.  Once something got stuck on the foot pedal so it went full speed until something ran into something else until I managed to unstick the foot pedal.  There were some mechanical things out of place, but after I unscrewed them and put them back to where they belonged, it’s worked fine since.

More modern machines work much better, although some people have the opposite opinion.  And it depends on the machine.

Maybe try a different machine?

After you figure out all the techniques, it gets much easier?

The reason I make my own gear is because I enjoy the creative process, but I think most people would rather just buy finished gear.

[MJ H]

I would have not gotten very far without YouTube. There’s just a pretty big gap between watching something and doing it.
This is just a cheap Singer that my wife got over a decade ago on clearance at Target. I don’t expect to make much gear. I was just curious and figured it doesn’t hurt to know things are put together.

[Jerry Adams]

a lot of people like Singer machines

maybe you just have to play around with it. “Practice makes perfect”

[MJ H]

I think so. If I can run the machine well after a couple more sessions, I’ll probably stick wit hit. I had the brilliant idea of putting a different color thread on the bobbin, so I could tell which thread was supposed to be on the bottom. But I only have one spool of good thread.

[Jerry Adams]

I used to use gutterman thread from fabric store, but occasionally it broke.

I switched to gutterman mara 70 thread from rsbtr which is stronger

[MJ H]

That is the thread I’m using. I’ve never had it break. I have broken a needle. I’m pretty sure that was my fault since I was trying to straighten the fabric and wound up with the needle going into the top of the foot.

[Jerry Adams]

Not good idea for needle to go into foot

I’ve done that before too

[Megan W]

Better than going into your hand (well, finger)…done that too.

[Jerry Adams]

I hate it when I do that too

[Sam Farrington]

Once found a clip of Asian workers sewing large and sometimes intricate fabric projects.  Maybe something could be found on U-tube.  It is simply amazing to watch.

In my first meddle with granny’s sewing machine, probably at age 4 or so, I drove the needle right through my forefinger.  Could not believe it was happening, and it raised quite a fuss in the family.  But got the hang of it eventually.  But go slow, not like those piece workers who wail to go fast enough to make a living.

All the same, once you’ve seen it, you know it can be done.

[MJ H]

I am still going to finish this. But I’ve had things to do. I also bought a used Deschutes Plus that required no assembly and that I took out for it’s first trip.

[Ron Bell / MLD]

It’s all about balancing the hooha, the bobinator and the cry hole. After about 10,000 hours you’ll get the hang of it.

[MJ H]

I thought I was doing good and then the tie-outs happened and sewing through the ribbon killed me. Maybe I should have started with a bivy?

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