The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Doing your own stitching ?

Any of you fellas been brave enough (maybe another adjective could be used here) to get an industrial machine and stitch your own upholstery? I bumped into a fellow tinkerer at a recent auto show that did his own, and man it was beautiful.

My Uncle did one of his hotrod '30's cars by watching YouTube videos; the car interior looks incredible.

I also remember Denny got a heavy duty sewing machine for another project, but I don't recall him saying anything about a vehicle. But he'd definitely know something about the machines.

I'll post back when my Uncle lets me know what/how he went about his interior upholstering. If I remember right, he used ultra leather (or a marine vinyl) and did it without purchasing a machine. He had a helper- I do know that. I'll check back, because my seat needs a complete re-do since it had been a mouse house, and I may give it a shot this winter.

Brad

Since I'm the type that has to try and do everything my self, I
had the same idea for many years. That is doing my own
stitching, just not enough time to try all the thinks that
interest me though, especially when you up-size in your
old age:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/singer_collection
dg

Nice collection there DG. Like many around here, you are afflicted with a curious mind...hell of a lot worse things we can be guilty of. I figure with my 2 trucks, a couple antique barber chairs, boat and car cover repairs, horse blanket repairs, a saddle fixup here and there I can justify a good industrial machine.

Lot's of them out there that will do for the hobby guy worin' in his basement.
The 'Patcher' is a hundred years old but will stitch a 1/4" of leather and you can still get parts for it.


dg

DG, I restored my Wife's grandmother's Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine. Walnut cabinet. Turned out very nice. I haven't tried to sew with it yet. I'm scared of them.
Carl

They're great Carl, cuz they move only as slow as we do.
The 'Patcher' or boot stitcher as it's sometimes called, is
ideal for the home hobbyist. Some guys even put a knob on the
flywheel so they can hand crank them.


dg

Those are nice Denny. My wife is from the Philippines and when we go back to visit her family I see a lot of folks still using the old kick pedal type. New machines and the electricity to run them are just too expensive.

I fell in love with the Phillipine's back in 67-68 when I was
stationed at Clark. liked the country and the people. There
were many WWII survivors still around and we were welcome
with open arms everywhere that I went.
I've heard, now that a certain religion has gotten a foot hold
over there, that Americans are not very welcome over there. I
had a little Honda 160 so I spent most of my off time out in
the barrios away from the GI influence. Many of the people
that I encountered didn't have electricity and lived quite
simply. Of course it was much different in the city.

Amazing as it may seem to some people, often times manually
operated machines and tools are just as fast when dealing
with one of a kind projects.
These are a couple of examples of wood projects that were
done entirely without modern machines, only basic hand tools.
Boards were hand planed and scraping prior to finishing, no
sandpaper used, then french polished with raw shellac on a
fad, no brushes, sprays or poly's, hand cut joints, no modern
jigs or machines used to form them.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/woodworking

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I fell in love with the Phillipine's back in 67-68 when I was
stationed at Clark. liked the country and the people. There
were many WWII survivors still around and we were welcome
with open arms everywhere that I went.
I've heard, now that a certain religion has gotten a foot hold
over there and that the Americans are not very welcome any
more. I had a little Honda 160 so I spent most of my off time
out in the barrios away from the GI influence. Many of the
people that I encountered didn't have electricity and lived
quite simply. Of course it was much different in the city.


Amazing as it may seem to some people, often times manually
operated machines and tools are just as fast when dealing
with one of a kind projects.
These are a couple of examples of wood projects that were
done entirely without modern machines, only basic hand tools.
Boards were hand planed and scraping prior to finishing, no
sandpaper used, then french polished with raw shellac on a
fad, no brushes, sprays or poly's, hand cut joints, no modern
jigs or machines used to form them.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/woodworking

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

It's actually not too bad as long as you stay out of the far southern provinces. Mindanao and Davao are pretty dangerous for westerners, but the northern areas are still just as friendly and inviting as you remember. We're actually considering moving there when I retire. We're planning to spend next Christmas there and I can hardly wait to go back.

One of my inlaws uses her sewing machine to make windshield polishing pads from scrap fabric. All the local jeepney drivers buy them to keep the glass clean. My sister in law and her husband own a couple of jeepneys and run a route. I got to drive one around a few blocks on my last visit.

That's some beautiful woodwork. I especially like the carpenters tool box.

I used to tune up the Jeepneys once in a while outside the
main gate, got me free rides into town that way. A simple clean up of
the points and touch up the timing and carb usually made them run like
a Swiss watch, it always brought a big smile to the drivers
face when that little four banger was purring like a kitten.

A couple of girls that I knew took me out for a day on
the town Christmas of '66. Spent the day watching some sort
of religious festival with Christ carrying a cross and
bleeding real blood from the thorns and his followers were
whipping their bare backs with thorn bushes, sprayed a few
drops of blood on us as they walked by. Then we went to a
family dinner and later to midnight mass. We celebrated till
dawn. They told me it was the tradition to take a stranger
into there home and treat him at Christmas. That's one day
that I remember as clear as if it were yesterday even though
it was nearly half a century ago.

As MacArthur promised and he followed up on, I always used
to say, babalik ako, but I'm afraid I'll never be able to
follow up on my promise.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I wonder if any of the old jeep based jeepneys are still running around there? My wife says she thinks there are but she's not sure. The newer jeepneys don't have any actual jeep parts in them. They make the bodies in the Philippines and import old truck chassis from Japan. My in laws Jeepney is built on a 3/4 ton Isuzu chassis with a diesel motor. The front end sheet metal still looks just like a jeep though.

I'll be sure and take some pics for you on my next visit.

Most of the Jeepney's back 50 years ago when I was stationed
in the PI were built on the original WWII Jeeps. But---even
back then they were running short of the original parts and
some were manufactured Jeep copies. I think they were wise
enough to recognize that the originals would one day be
extinct.
Some how an Isuzu and diesel motor just wouldn't have the
same feel to it no matter how many do-dads you hung on it
or how wild the paint job was. That little Jeep four banger
simply had a sound of it's own and the loose sway of the
suspension had it's own distinctive feel.

Back to the stitching now, to sew upholstery you don't
always have to have a super heavy industrial machine
although it makes it much easier.
For simple stuff I've used my Husqvarna Viking.
Rescued a couple of shop stools from the scrap heap some
years ago and used some leather scraps I had laying around.
Nothing fancy but it just goes to show that if it's a simple
seat cover for an AD that your after, it can be done without
having an industrial machine. Took some work to get thru the
piping because of the four layers, but again, it can be done.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/projects
Now if you're shooting for Rolls 'n Pleats, well, that's a
different story.
I still need to do a restoration on that boot stitcher, which
should be a good machine for doing really heavy work.

Ahhh, so many interests and so little time!

dg

I picked up an old 1916 Singer commercial duty one (not the smaller home style). It's a 31-15. It was $200, came with table and 1/3 hp motor. When you rev it, the machine nearly jumps off the table, so it's as manly of a sewing machine as I could find. I've only just started doing some straight stitch work for practice. It should do the job, but even though its commercial duty its not a walking machine so I'll have to be careful on thicker stuff. It was previously being used to do rigging for parachutes, so I guess it's been trusted with more important things than car seats!

I have a singer 111W155 and 211 (dual needles) and they are beasts. 5-8 layers of denim/canvas is nothing to these machines.

I would recommend a sailrite machine as they have very good resale value over getting an old industrial machine and paying to have it tuned up and buying a servo motor.

Some tips on buying:
Always see the machine SEW not just RUN. Most industrial sewing machine mechanics are gonna charge $100+ an hour + parts. If you are mechanically inclined you can time it/fix it if manuals/parts lists are available.

Get a machine with at least 1/2 lift

Walking feet/needle feed/alternating feet.. at least one, preferably several if you do many layers (like 4+).

Reverse (but I would not pass up a good/cheap machine if it did not have it)

SERVO MOTOR!! Industrial machines run at 3000 stitches per minute. Much to fast for detailed/complex work or a novice.

Just buy a table.. they are like $100. Don't make one. A good table/work surface pays for itself with better results.