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Posted by Chris in San Diego on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 12:52:40 :
Hey, for $25, how far wrong can I go?
So, while sewing a pair of fitted, pocketed fender covers and a bed cover, I've learnt a couple things.
You'll need special needles, the ones for leather. Called a 'wedge point', they are made like a bayonet on the end. That's so they cut a little slit, and let the needle and thread move through the vinyl easier. Jo Anns had them, Schmetz brand, 130/705H-LL. And use the 'heavy polyester' thread. Stronger that way. But 'button & carpet' thread is too thick to fed through the gismos in the machine.
Plus, on a zig-zag machine, use the needle plate with the single hole. It supports the fabric better than the big slot for zig-zagging. A single-hole foot would help too, if you have one.
It's still beyond the limit of what is recommended for the home-duty machine. Lot's of broken thread, goofy stitches. Okay for utilitarian stuff, like to protect the new ed wood from the elements.
My fender covers are made from vinyl with the fleeciest back I could find.
And my bed cover is made from a surplus bill-board sign. They use a heavy vinyl, tons better than those cheap tarps. I guess they use a giant plotter to ink-jet print HUGE sheets. The one I bought was 13x24, for $20. The Corona beer sign was HUGE, 16x50? My cover has a 5x8 face on the inside. So heavy, I didn't use grommets, just a punched hole for the bungees. The sign companies just cat a slit in the doubled up edge. I folded mine twice as I hemmed, so the bungee is hooked through three layers.
Billboards are all over the country, junk tarps ought to be available cheaply...
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