slomatt
Adventurer
Really nicely done! And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one whose Magma handles have melted a bit on the undersides.
Sewing Thread....A discussion on making your own adventure textile gear.
- Thread starter BritKLR
- Start date
Really nicely done! And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one whose Magma handles have melted a bit on the undersides.
BritKLR
Kapitis Indagatoris
Resurrection of the “Beast”. Pulled the old Rex out of retirement to put back into service as my dedicated tape machine. This beast is credited with creating all the original ATC designs and countless custom designs and Adventure Tool Company wouldn’t be where we are without him. Cheers Rex!
BritKLR
Kapitis Indagatoris
Cool. What machine did you get? And, lmk if you have any questions about the design. Cheers.
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taugust
Adventurer
I bought a Nelco domestic from the 1960's. That company has an interesting history. It came with a table and built-in knee control (that had a cord cut), for $25. I put the machine into the shop and it won't be ready for 6 weeks. Seems to be typical good Japanese quality from that time. It just needs to be cleaned and tuned up. Then I start learning to sew. I am now getting YT certified. One thing has me somewhat baffled: How do you decided in what order things need to be assembled? Is it only with experience, or is there some rule of thumb?
BritKLR
Kapitis Indagatoris
Great question! And, I don't really have a great answer. I've been sewing stuff for over 30 years so it just comes naturally now but I always approach it the same way. (Thanks high school home-ec class)
1) Draw out the idea. 3 dimensionally helps.
2) Break it down into its component pieces and parts.
3) Create your pattern for each piece.
4) Mark and cut out each piece with alignment cuts/marks and drill holes/alignment marks.
5) If you haven't visualized how the item goes together start putting the pieces/parts together without sewing anything until it creates the end product. (eg: sewing in zipper coils on each piece before sewing the pieces into the larger panel.)
6) Start sewing it together and remember this.......you'll make a mistake and have to rip-out the seam and start over again. You just will and its not a big deal. Once your repeated the assembly process on the same project multiple times you'll no longer make the mistake but, one-off projects and limited experience may result in having to rip-out a seam or two to get it to go together.
30 years in and I still have a sharp seam ripper and xacto knife! Good luck and post up some of your projects.
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Paul's got it right - start working through it and be prepared for mistakes. You can see upthread somewhere that I went through the same thing when I was sewing some of my more complicated projects - in those cases I actually had to write down an order of operations before I started - this, at least, kept me from getting too far ahead of myself!
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Another thing that will help is to give yourself a prototype or first-sub-project that uses some of the elements you'll be incorporating into the more complex stuff. When I did my "underbed luggage" for the van, after I'd cut all the pieces for the luggage, I realized I had several off-cuts that were the perfect size to make little zipper pockets. In my case, I wanted to have them mounted to the front/inside of the larger luggage, so it was a good first step to make the little pockets - this let me do all the "learning" on a small quasi-disposable piece without burning much material. This project was my first time doing zippers, etc. so there were some new steps to sort out.
BritKLR
Kapitis Indagatoris
Look out, on it’s way to that place that is fighting that other country in that other place….Goodluck!
BritKLR
Kapitis Indagatoris
That’s cool!Another thing that will help is to give yourself a prototype or first-sub-project that uses some of the elements you'll be incorporating into the more complex stuff. When I did my "underbed luggage" for the van, after I'd cut all the pieces for the luggage, I realized I had several off-cuts that were the perfect size to make little zipper pockets. In my case, I wanted to have them mounted to the front/inside of the larger luggage, so it was a good first step to make the little pockets - this let me do all the "learning" on a small quasi-disposable piece without burning much material. This project was my first time doing zippers, etc. so there were some new steps to sort out.
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