Walking foot sewing machine

Posted By: Jim I, 94 S25 'H2O', Wilmington, NC
Date: 3/25/09 4:40a.m.

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In Response To: Home Made (Joel Wasson)

Joel, I am in the process of a bunch of sewing as well. (Never thought I would actually be putting those words in print) I lost out on a few old sewing machines off Craigslist etc as they sold quick. I found a brand new walking foot sewing machine on ebay that is a Sailrite clone. A guy out of Norfolk markets them as NEW HEAVY DUTY INDUSTRIAL WALKING FOOT SEWING MACHINE. He offers a two year warranty and builds an auto lube system into the machine. They are the identical straight stitch machine that Sailrite sells but he at a third the cost. Straight stitch is fine for canvas but you will need a zig zag stitch for doing sails. They are a lot more bucks and I do not plan on doing sails. If you are looking for a machine, look for one with all metal parts and the walking foot. Most machines are based on the old Thompson mini walking foot design. The walking foot is necessary to stitch through multiple layers of fabric. Sailrite offers a monster wheel that gives the machine more punch and comes with a hand wheel to do sewing on the boat with no electricity. I may add one to the machine I bought someday. An old machine like Rodger found would do the trick if you can find one. The deals are harder to find because there are people out there looking for the old Pfaff 130's etc to sew thick materials. If you find one, buy it! I also purchased all the sewing materials I needed from Sailrite. They are even having a 10% off sale for one more week to celebrate 40 years in business. I am finishing a dodger, bimini and stackpack and hope to be posting the finished results soon. I second what Rodger said about the basting tape, it allowed me to attach the materials together to sew. I even replaced the vinyl window in our dodger with Strataglass. Jim