Good for you! I too, learned how to use my wifes sewing machine, and reupholstered my '85 Weekender. jeff 

Jeff Stewart 

----- "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM> wrote: 

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