So if one wanted to start doing some upholstery at home, what sewing maching would be good to start with? Something dependable and easy to get to know.
I have a Singer 281-3. Cost me 200 bucks with a new table and motor. It has a walking foot, no reverse, no zigzag. Works real nice. If you can get a Pfaff for cheap do it, from what I have read everyone swears by them. I'm pretty happy with the Singer though. Just remember to get something with a walking foot, the zig zag and reverse are not necessary but are a nice luxury.
I USE A OLD NATIONAL. WALKING FOOT w/REVERSE HAS BEEN IN THE FAMILY FOR 40YRS WITHOUT A PROB. IF YOU CAN REVERSE AT THE FIRST AND THE LAST OF A SEWN LINE YOU WILL HAVE LESS PROB WITH LOOSE THREADS. MY 2 CENTS.
Yep! Silver Bullet is right, reverse is nice for that same reason (and I wish I had it as it makes life a bit easier). Since I don't have reverse I simply just turn the fabric around and sew through the same s***ch to lock the thread. If that makes sense...
Okay, thanks.. Will start looking.. Ive had a p***ion for this for a while. Think I might try at some interior work in my coupe soon. I might farm out the headliner..
You can do cloth upholstery with a home sewing machine if you go easy. The old foot pedal machines are heavy duty and can do vinyl once again, go easy and slow and it will work. Most shops around here use the Japanese Juki machines but Pfaff is like a Mercedes to a Toyota. My brother bought a new Chinese machine, 20 years ago, it was a piece of junk would not sew 5 minutes without stopping for adjustment. You should try and talk to some upholsterers in your area and have a look at their machines, there are a lot of different models for different purposes and it's easy to buy the wrong one especially if you are looking for a bargain, someone can **** you in on a machine that is useless for your purpose.
Are you talking about the old "tredle" type Singers that you work with your feet, no electric motor? My wife has one that belonged to her Grandmother sitting unused in the back room. If you can sew vinyl with those, I might try some upholstery work for myself.
I have used a Juki for projects. Reverse helps a lot for back s***ching. It took a while to get used to the speed and power it had though. It's a wonderful tool and I hope to have my own some day.
Something with a walking foot. I have an old Pfaff 145, that I bought about 35 years ago and it is still going.
My wife does a lot of sewing and takes in clothes for repairs.She does the occasional vinyl seat covers for my old trucks on a standard Japanese Riccar.She also has a 1940 Singer 221 Featherlight in daily use and this will also sew vinyl.But neither of these machines have the ball to punch through the seat material and piping.For that she uses her old Minnesota foot treadle machine,but it's slow going.Serious work requires a industrial machine. Sewing machines are 1870's technology in action.Hearing them reminds me of the valve noise on old Chevy 6's
I have a Phaff 1245 and its a great machine but I paid good money for it. They were made in Germany but were bought out by China. The old onea had all steel gears but the chinese use plastic so be careful whwhen you buy.
I bought a older consew 226 walking foot.. but sewing is a learned art like shooting a gun or paint.. you gotta do it a lot and practice. My machine sits idle in a damp ba*****t. A walking foot, as each side "lifts and steps" it crushes foam and thick upholstery without "wrinkling" in front of the foot.(feet). there are more adjustments in it.. and a sewing machine is like I "read" Jaguars and Ferarri's are.. needing constant tinkering.. Sitting is not good either.. no matter what you end up with, if you can't make it run, you can't sew. A servo motor can go slow.. a clutch motor is a slipper.. wot, or ?? throttling one of them is a art.. I put a huge pulley on my machine to slow it down.
i have been doing upholstery for almost 50 years.had a shop for nearly 20.i only use pfaff.i still have my 1st, its a 145.have a 1245,and anoter 145.if you buy a good machine you cando a good job easily,buy a cheap mahine,do a good job,but many times as hard.if you want to do 2 maybe 3 cars for yourself,get a good one.if you think you might only do it once,get a good one.you will always be able to sell a good one,but like all things in life the junk don't sell easy.and i have sewn probably 100000,miles.i have used other machines,juki,chandler ,rex,they would all make good wheel stops.and if your time and quality mean any thing,get one with reverse.imho
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