Sewing sunbrella help

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Susan E

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2004
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Susan E
so my christmass present to Tom's parents is very very late.

i am sewing railing covers for their 44 atlantic. Sewing one layer of sunbrella material was fine but rolling the ends for a nice finish ( two layers) is not working. I just can't get the tension on the top thread tight enough to pull the loop tight. So the back side looks like a shag rug.

any advice??? needle ?? thread?? i am using thick thread for upholstery so it doesn't rot in the sun over time.


susan e
 
Susan-

I can't help you with the machine issues, but if it's the thread, Dr. Bob/Thataway says if you use Tenara thread, it will outlast the Sunbrella material.

It's probably much small in diameter for the equivalent strength, and would have a lot less drag going through the machine. I have heard that it does take some adjusting to get the bobbin tension just right.

You might try putting "Tenara" into our Search function, and see what comments it brings up (about 6-8 topics). Then try Googling it to see what the web has o say about it.

Good Luck!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
BRAZO":33fhlqcp said:
If you look closely in this picture, we have the thread spool over by the window. You can see how it pulls the thread tight:

http://www.c-brats.com/albums/album966/ ... i_2009_run

Syttende_Mai_2009_run
Click to expand...

Susan-

Just get that lazy sometimes fisherman husband of yours to put down his beer and hold the thread spool and keep the tension right! :lol:

Joe :teeth :thup
 
Wifey says "try adjusting the tension on the bobbin case".

jd
 
We (my idea, Judy sew,) just made a boat cover out of sunbrella by sewing 4' by 30' strips of material together. The result of our labor was: Judy 3 strips, Boris a broken sewing machine. Which cost $50 to have realigned.

We went to a fabric/upholstery shop in town. They finished sewing the thing together attached the tiedowns, etc for $150. Which beats the cost of a new sewing machine. And made Judy extremely happy.

So I know that you're a great seamstress, and that's a wonderful machine, but home machines aren't able to handle several thickness of awning material. See what the local upholstery shop will charge. Right now they're hungry for work.

Boris
 
nimrod":2wvl342u said:
Wifey says "try adjusting the tension on the bobbin case".

jd
Click to expand...
And jd's "wifey" knows of what she speaks. Camille sewed a nice boot for our camperback and a nice hatch cover last summer using sunbrella. Thanks Camille, great job!
 
Jazzmanic":83j8zazu said:
nimrod":83j8zazu said:
Wifey says "try adjusting the tension on the bobbin case".

jd
Click to expand...
And jd's "wifey" knows of what she speaks. Camille sewed a nice boot for our camperback and a nice hatch cover last summer using sunbrella. Thanks Camille, great job!
Click to expand...

Ditto! Camille does one heck of a quality job and is a fantastically nice lady too!
 
Patty here. I sewed a bulkhead for the 16' that had to go through several layers of Sunbrella. I don't know how the heck I managed because I have a terrible time shortening blue jeans! The only thing I can add is to be sure to use a needle made to go through heavy fabric (I'm sure you're doing that already). I have a 40-year old Pfaff with all metal parts and I'm told they don't make 'em like that anymore.
 
I don't have one of the fancy stands, but do have a heavy duty 50 year old Brother portable machine. I use a 1/4" dowl rod to hold the thread, hold the spool horizontal. Agree increase the bobin tension (the two tensions have to be balanced--and use some scrap to balance them. A 17 or 18 needle is appropiate. There is binding tape which matches the sunbrella, and since it is already salvage edged and folded it makes a nice finished edge and I think looks nicer and is easier to use.

The Tenara thread is UV resitant, (Gore teflon product) and works very well. I suspect that some of the problem is using a heavy thread. There is also a "SunGuard thread--much cheaper, and probably work fine for what you are doing. I find that many folks use too thick a thread--I like something like a 92 size thread or even a 69 size thread, with lighter materials. The plastic gear machines will not stand up--an old heavy metal machine is definately older. But most good machines will handle 3 layers of Sunbrella.
 
all great advice thanks. i am checking on how to purchase tenara thread smaller than 150yards..

JD says "try adjusting the tension on the bobbin case"

how do you do that? i only know how to adjust the dial on the front of the machine. At least it is old and all metal. is there someting to adjust underneath where the bobin is?

thanks
 
Susan, My machine has a screw on the bobin holder which adjusts the tension.
 
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