sewing sunbrella

Has anyone attempted to sew their own covers?

I have many TOYS that desire quality covers so I am tempted to buy a canvas capable sewing machine and sunbrella fabric to make my own covers. I figure my savings on my first cover will nearly pay for the sewing machine. I will also be able to produce covers exactly as I want them vs nearly there when I deal with an outsider.

Have any of you gone here?

I have only sewn my hand when a wee bit of the corner of my bimini tore. I have done - and own - a little sewing here or there. I bet a machine that would sew that stuff would not be cheap. Maybe a fabric store could give you a sense of the cost of a machine that would work.

My cover tore pretty good and it was 2 weeks to get a new one so I sewed mine up and patched the hole using the bag that it came with (same material). It's funny, I was joking with a lady at work that the cheezy plastic sewing machine that I bought to work on some stuff broke and she calls me on a Sat and found this machine for me for $25 so I said sure. I get it from her and it's this Singer machine from the 1950's. I kind of laughed at it...until I used it! Perfect machine for this kind of work, if you can find one for cheap, definitely pick it up. It's a Singer slant needle 404. All metal parts, no belts or anything and the thing is a tank! I researched it a little and I guess they are great for auto upholstery because they don't have any parts that break easily.

Here's my before/after pics. Machine went through this material like butter!

it really depends on the grade of material. Most fabrics can be sewn with an average machine with the correct needle. Obviously heavier material needs a larger or better machine. FWIW, I have done 30 oz marine vinyl and 1000d coated Cordura with my old Sears machine and it did a pretty good job. My last cover was done with the same machine with zero issues. I had to modify it extensively to fit my boat.

browse craigslist for singer sewing machines. I find them on craigslist all day long for 50-250$. just find an old one with metal gears thats 30-40 years old. they run pretty good.

Thanks for the feedback.

I am tempted to buy a 50s Singer off craigslist but I fear issues.
I am also tempted to buy a new Heavy Duty Singer from Costco since they have a great return policy.

http://www.costco.com/Singer%c2%ae-5...l#BVRRWidgetID

It amazes me how this one design with maybe a few option changes remains a mainstay of general purpose sewing regardless of which badge it wears! Heavy duty is a bit of a stretch, but it will sew heavier material. Unless the guts have changed, it is pretty much the same 25 years later. One with a longer arm would be nice, but this should be just fine. I don't even think the price has change either!

Originally Posted by Iceberg

It amazes me how this one design with maybe a few option changes remains a mainstay of general purpose sewing regardless of which badge it wears! Heavy duty is a bit of a stretch, but it will sew heavier material. Unless the guts have changed, it is pretty much the same 25 years later. One with a longer arm would be nice, but this should be just fine. I don't even think the price has change either!

Frank Berg, I see that you have a "Classic Accessories" boat cover. How do you like it? Does it keep rain out fairly well? I'm looking for a new semi-custom boat cover and there are so many choices at so many price points. It would be nice to hear from someone who has experience with one.

Singer sewing machine has gone out of business 4 times (or so), each time the name was picked up by a successor, who went out of business again ... except for the last in line now.

Singer sewing machine of the 1960's and earlier resembles nothing in manufacturing materials and methods as present day Singer. You can look up the story of who succeeded who with the Singer name on the Patent & Trademark Office database. IIRC, look Singer up on Wikipedia. He was a Broadway actor and maybe had something like 19 children?

Anyone know where you can buy Sunbrella for a reasonable price? All of the internet searches I've done have resulted in prices per yard that make it more expensive just to buy the material than it is to buy a top of the line bran new Sunbrella cover. I gave up on that route long ago as a result.