Today there was a thread on what to use to attach one fabric to
another. All kinds of glues were discussed. Sewing was mentioned a few
times, and in two of those posts it was mentioned that fabric stores
are the haunts of women, etc. Like the kitchen was thirty years ago.

I recently figured out how to sew. It didn't take long. I inherited my
grandmother's 1926 Singer 101 and have put it to good use. I am a
pretty good mechanic and woodworker, and I see no difference between
those pursuits and sewing, or welding, or masonry to name a few.

I have not been in a fabric store in a long long time, but I'm sure I
will be again. I am a known face in my local upholstery shop. In the
last several months, my sewing projects have included

� nine hours of restitching a $2000+ pool cover
� a kayak hatch cover like you can't buy in a store
� a wheelchair cushion zipper, saving $200
� a roll to hold all the pieces of my westy's removable seat track covers
� reupholstery of a kitchen booth seat
� a padded cover for my bulkhead-mounted Olympian Wave III in my westy

and more.

This is already over 3 grand worth of savings not counting the number
of small items I've repaired. If you are excluding the acquisition of
a sewing machine (dirt cheap) to your tool set because you think
sewing is beneath you, and you are already process-minded and
mechanically inclined, you are missing out on something that will help
you immensely.

I will soon replace the zipper in my westy poptop screen, sew a tyvek
weather cover for my westy and sew a roll skirt for my kayak.

Anything you want to know about it is on a youtube video. You can get
into it for less than $50. It isn't rocket science.

Jim