The next consideration after height and the ability to level to the smallest microns, would be to have the tables tops the most efficient size for your type of work. This can be very arbitrary, everyone will have their different set of standards to determine such a value, which is why sail making shops have the most unusually large tables, really just stages, or have their sewing machines sunken into the floor so that all of the walking surface is also cutting surface. In the case of the Brother, the table sizes were determined by how large the two largest cutting mats are. The two mats measure about 36.25″X60.25″ - with that in mind the tables combined needed to be at least 72.5″X60.25″. Which brings in to question why there are two tables* - the feeding issue. One of the greatest advantages of having space to sew, is to have table-tops to catch and receive the material as it feeds through the machine, instead of dropping onto the floor and pulling it erratically, or bunching up against a wall. Two tables would allow this excess to easily spread about, but also, by staggering the two tables, the table of the machine could be nestled into them, so that there was also surface area to the left of the machines table to hold up large pieces before stitching took place. Again, imagine making a sail, there is a lot of fabric that needs to be supported as evenly as possible in relation to where it is fed through the machine, thus in sail shops the machine table-tops are completely integrated with the height of surrounding platforms. The two table-tops would have a staggered stance, each having 20″ of excess to cradle the left side of a sewing table, whilst the neighboring table took up what was behind the machine head. Of course the tables could be much much larger, but because there will be little, to no, walking on them, there is no reason to make them so large that you can not reach the center with a cutting device.

The last major consideration was how much of the table actually contacted the machine, and/or it’s stand. The Brother DB2-B791-015’s stand happens to stick out from underneath the table-top by about 2″, therefore even with the stand completely against it’s neighbor, the table-top does not span across the distance (a gap is left). So these tables would be built with a 3″ over-hang on each end, this would allow them to completely meet the table-top of the Brother, and hopefully others in the future (These tables were based on this tutuorial, and still await lower shelving units).

Enough said? - A quick rundown of the overall dimensions and final materials list:

Two tables, each, -37″widthX80″lengthX32″-33.25″height. (with the Brothers table-top the length comes to 100″):
-1lb of 1.25″ wood screws
-1lb of 3″ wood screws
-two 37″X80″ OSB table-tops (cut from two 4′X8′ sheets)
-four 84″ 2×4’s
-eight 12′ 2×4’s (cut dow to sixteen 72″ lengths for ease of transport)
-eight Häfele base levellers.

*Unfortunately or fortunately, economy and means of production also play a large factor in how these things are built (were built). Possibly in the future a custom piece of lumber will be ordered that is just one single piece of the appropriate dimensions, until then, there is a lot of sewing to be done to raise the funds. Bear in mind also, that at a sail shop, they are not concerned with cutting mats (that would be one huge cutting mat), because they have more sophisticated ways of cutting their patterns - like; CNC machines & BlueStreakII’s

Needlefeed, a year in pictures; highlights, outtakes, and sneak peeks.

Of course Needlefeed.com would like to thank all of those who have supported, added comments & wisdom, and in general taken an interest in this somewhat wonkey thing. The site would not exist without all of your patronage. Also, without a doubt, the greatest and largest thanks go to the Brother.

*Done. If anyone would like to submit written essays, writings, or any other type of critical text on the topic of industrial sewing machines, and/or industrious sewing, and/or preferred industrial machine shops in cities/locations that the Needlefeed has not been able to report on - please send it to needlefeed at gmail dot com. All contributors will be credited if desired. Thank you.

Hwangs Sewing Machine is a little shop on Lawrence just east of Elston ave. They have good and honest prices for thier industrial machines, but Presser feet were a bit costly. At least there are a lot of options to choose from; they had a perfectly smooth running Pfaff 145 for about $650, very clean bar-tackers, several manual and neumatic grommet/rivet setters, and plenty of more common-place straight stitch machines sergers, etc.. Call ahead to make sure they are open, as their hours are not entirely dependable, you may also need to ring the doorbell when you arrive. They do carry needles and bolt-on folders, but not much thread for sewing purposes, the only thread they had seemed to be for sergers.

M.G. Sewing Machine Co. is an even smaller store front than Hwangs, luckily it is very organized and an effecient use of space. Although they buy and sell, and trade, all of the machines in the shop were new machines. The owner said that used machines are for sale, but on a limited basis. All makes and models are dealt there from Consew and Juki, to Pfaff and Singer. He also does very good repair work for any machines you have at home. The presser feet are generic, but a much better price than Hwangs, and the needles are a plenty, ranging in all shapes and sizes. M.G. is in the first floor retail space of an old apartment building so it is easy to miss, keep your eyes peeled and find the buzzer to be let in.

The Moccasin post, finally.

A little intro first. There have been two sheets/pieces/parts-of-hide laying around the materials bin for over a year now. This leather was received in trade for a pair of sunglasses, to be used for shoes at a later date. Both pieces together were roughly large enough for the tops of two pairs of shoes. Obviously since the leather is light-weight, soft, and sort of stretchy, it would not suffice for the soles of any shoe. So the two pieces (one which is navy blue, the other white) sat around for months. At some point they were used a little for baby shoes, but then were cast to the darkest part of the bin for many more months. Now, after some careful consideration, a bit of planning, and the encouragement of finding a local shoemaking supply store, it was finally time to put this leather to rest. Ideally, on some feet.

Best guess is that this is chrome-tanned leather, it is very soft, very pliable, and does stretch in most areas. There are a few stiffer areas, but these are pretty random spots of rigor mortis most likely. That being said, a simple pair of Moccasins would be the perfect application. This would be a good reason to test out some different sole-ing methods and materials, as well as testing the hand at sewing.

The first step was making up a pattern to work off of. This consisted of making a felt Moccasin before moving into the leather Moccasin. When laid out flat the pattern is essentially egg shaped with a flat cut across the fat part of the shell. Maybe it looks a bit more like an elongated capital “D”. Either way, once you have this, a couple of incisions are made at 90 degree angles to the flat side, when these two cuts are made it visually splits the pattern up in thirds, across that single margin. Next you bring these two outside edges together and stitch it up, leaving a little flap to get tacked into place across that seam. Luckily, because this leather is so forgiving (not stiff) it was very easy to sew on the Brother (because it was maleable enough to mash it around and get into the tight spots). All machine stitching of the upper was done with Gütermann “heavy duty” thread, which would include the strip of leather that goes around the back of the heel and houses the lacing.

Next a form was devised to be used for the insole shape and the outsole’s shape (basically a generic, narrow, foot shape). With this form, two pieces were cut-out, one from the navy leather, and one from a piece of rubber sheeting, about 3/16″ thick (ordered a long time ago from Mc Master Carr). These two pieces were stitched together to form the insole, which was then carefully situated in a central position over the inside pattern of the Moccasin (at this point the heel is stitched into place, but the toe is still flapping freely). Once this was in it’s approximate position, heavy thread was loaded up, and the insole was stitched into place to the Moccasin upper with a corresponding piece of stiff vegetable tanned leather on the bottom (outside) of the whole apparatus. Looking at the Moccasin in a cross-section would reveal; leather stitched to rubber, stitched to the leather of the Moccasin main upper, stitched to heavy leather underneath all of that, with the leather piece on the bottom having a slightly larger perimeter than the insole’s. After all of that stitching was in place, the next step was to glue independently cut rubber sole-ing to the stiff leather soles. This piece was cut from a sheet of Vibram sheet/rubber/sole-pattern, with the rough shape cut out again a little larger than the last. The idea of this is that all of these will be cut together at the end (or when all of the glue is dry), so as long as the pieces are always a little larger than the last, they will line up with room to trim them all flush at the end.

24 hours later, the glue has set up nicely and the leather sole is firmly attached to the rubber sole. The insole is stitched with all of this on the inside of the Moccasin, and the heel-cup is halfway formed. The next step was trimming off the excess sole. This was done by holding the leather of the Moccasin top tightly against the insole, and away from the sole (on the outside), and then trimming against that silohuette. The method for this is a very fresh knife blade, holding the shoe in your left hand, and the knife in your right (or vice versa if you are left handed). Going slowly and carefully, you want to pull the knife around the sole towards you (not away). While this may sound more dangerous than cutting away, it is actually much more stable - cradle the shoe in your lap for a more secure stance. If any of this does not feel natural, then reconsider your position before moving on.

With the sole cut to shape, the rest of the heel cup was ready to be addressed, at the same time, the strip of leather - housing the lacing - would be installed. In this case the heel cup’s stiffener was just a bit of vegetable tanned leather cut into an isosceles trapezoid, the wider edge is the bottom side, the narrow edge is what was stitched in at the top of the vertex of the heel with the lace housing. This was done in the manner of installing bias tape, except instead of having both sides folded under, only one side is (the side facing the inside of the Moccasin). With that stitching holding the top of the heel cup reinforcement, the bottom edge is wedged into the channel between the insole and the upper leather. The reason for not sewing the heel-cup stiffener in against the outer was partly due to aesthetics (wanting to avoid excess stitching on the outside of the shoe without much explanation), and two, in-case the heel cup did not do it’s job and needed to be taken out later it would be much easier to remove. So far, the only adjustment would be in the shape of the leather piece used to stiffen the heel-cup, it could have been a bit more accurate to the specific dimensions of the heel, to cut down on it moving around independently of the upper (which is not very much, but could be better).

Installing the toe piece would be the last step. It is another pattern that has a roughly egg-shape appearance, although one end of the egg is squashed a little. This piece was two pieces of leather sewn together, the white for the outside, and the navy for the inside lining, the idea being the extra bit of material would help keep it stiff, although this is probably unnecessary. With the two pieces stitched together and trimmed clean it was then time to do the hand sewing. First of all thread; the thread to use here is a pre-waxed linen thread, the wax helps keep the thread stiff and also aids in passing through the leather pieces without all the tugging from friction. In the best case scenario you can actually shape the waxed thread and use it’s natural stiffness as the needle, however two needles were used here to make the process a little easier. With about a yard and a half of thread, a needle was placed on each end with only a few inches of excess. The pattern for stitching is to create a coil form going along the edge of the toe piece in accord with the material from the leather upper of the almost completed Moccasin. While doing this methodical stitching you have to pre-puncture your holes one at a time as you travel the perimeter gathering some of the leather from the upper so that each stitch has a little pucker on the leather from the upper. The reason for this is that the actual measurements of the two materials being mended together do not have the same length, also once you gather and pinch/pleat/pucker the materials from the bottom completely, the toe will then have it’s lifted shape creating the lip which makes room for your toes. With these stitches in place, the Moccasins were finished.

Following up - addressing the technical issues: First of all, the leather used here provided quite a bit of insight into how durable and workable leather really is. This leather was very soft and pliable, with that in mind it is even more surprsing at how much it could withstand. It appears that leather is almost un-breakable by the bare hand. After poking, and prodding at it with very tough stitching work, it is amazing that it never gave away or ripped. The only shortcoming may be in picking out the right leather to use for any given project. Although this particular leather made a very well constructed and comfy Moccasin, it probably would be better for a light-weight bag, or other small carrying container. For the Moccasins it was just a little too soft, which maybe, made it less suited to long exposures to outdoor use as we would have liked. Next time around, considering a stiffer leather that can support the foot more should help. Otherwise it is superb. Another technical issue is in constructing the soles. After reviewing the process, the entire sole-ing method would have benefited by only stitching on the mid-sole on the bottom of the Moccasin, and using glue for the insoles. That would allow the builder to make the shoe around the footprint, instead of making the footprint around the shoe. Plus, all your inside work would be consistent smooth leather. Also, when stitching through all four layers (starting from the top; leather, rubber, leather, leather) it is more difficult to determine your thread tension. This is for one main reason, whilst you can have everything adjusted for a test run on some miscellaneous spare material, it is not usually at the speed, or many curves that your actual piece’s may be. Lesson being, watch your thread tension carefully, and if you are stitching slowly, keep the tension a little higher*. For the curves, practice, practice, practice, doing them in one motion, the less you have to stop the better.

* The rule of thumb is to keep the tension on the bobbin case as loose as possible, and always adjust accordingly from the top. But, as you will see, for very fine threads, you may still have to increase the bobbin case’s tension. It is when you get to the heavy larger gauge threads that even with the bobbin case’s tension set as lightly as possible, it will still outwweigh your top thread, in which case; Don’t be shy to really crank the tension up on the top thread to get your stitching in order, it may even take a few full turns of the knob.

Here is what was new in constructing the Mini Messenger bag:

500 denier Cordura

2″ dive belt webbing

Coats DB-92 polyester thread

For all intents and purposes this is a simple bag. The 500 denier Cordura was a good light-weight alternative to work with instead of using the 1000 denier body and Ballistics boot. Considering the size of this bag, and its intended use, Ballistics and 1000 denier would have been heavier than desired. The 2″ dive belt webbing made a much more complete bag. If seatbelt webbing had been used then the cam buckle would probably not (have) work(ed) as well. Seatbelt webbing is too thin, and with its smooth pliable finish, is prone to slithering its way out of your normal pinchers used in cam buckles. The dive belt webbing was easy to work with, with the 21 gauge needles and Coats&Clark “button & carpet” thread - not to mention (welcome the bias) dive belt webbing simply has a more secure feel, and trustworthy stance. However, as mentioned in previous posts, if you were to build a bag that had a two-sided adjustment using a larger 2″ side-release buckle (like on the Dow Bag), then the seatbelt webbing is a must, as dive belt webbing does not easily (if at all) work in a ladder-lock-sliding-type-situation. The DB-92 thread was a fantastic alternative to the previously used Güterman “extra strong” thread, it has a bit more tooth to it, was extremely strong to the pull, and the elastic quality was low*. Also, it makes a very clean looking stitch, so all the topstitching looks professional (as it should).

Overall, construction of this bag was simple. The main compartment is the basic format, with the front panel comprising a little more of the entire girth of the bag, than the back panel. Across the front is a single billowing pocket with Velcro closure, lined with some of the 18 oz. vinyl coated nylon (also used for the main body’s interior). The only thing done differently with this billow pocket from the last few made, was that it was stitched together as two separate pieces, using bias tape all the way around (instead of using a “French seam” across the top, and bias tape only on the sides). The difficulty of using bias tape for this is how to turn corners (90 degree angles or not) and keep the shape precise. Bias tape can do it, as it often does, and even here you can see that it works very easily in large radius rounded corners like that of the flap. But it seems that this will be a trial and error exercise, with a lot more practice before it is perfected (any advice - out there - would be appreciated). Either way, the bias tape is still nice and tight, and certainly protects edges** and any other fraying from happening. The flap uses the common combination of Velcro and buckles. The Velcro was set up to be minimal to ease in how hard you had to pull when opening the flap (on the Dow Bag, you really have to pull on it due to the 4″ wide Velcro). One upgrade on the buckles is that there are a second set of anchor points for the straps, for, if and when the straps are not being used. This is becoming more common on current “messenger” bag designs, and entails placing two receiving ends of the same size buckle, into the top seam of the front panel of the bag. This is a fairly good idea, as half of the time (if not more) that these bags are in use, the straps are unnecessary, and this gives the buckles a place to be tucked away instead of them dangling about. The interior of the bag uses a simple 5 pocket set up. No zippers this time around, just a bit of Velcro on the largest compartment. Also, all of the inside pockets are lined with 1.9 oz. silicone coated ripstop, to keep things clean without adding too much weight. Finally, back to the shoulder strap. The cam buckle was installed with the 2″ dive belt, which is all one long piece that runs up from the cam buckle and then over itself again to the other side of the bag. Instead of using the Coats DB-92 thread on this last component, the needle and thread were switched out for the heavier Coats&Clark “button & carpet” and the 21 gauge needle to permit the stitching to pass. With everything in order the bag was complete.

* One thing to consider in the thread topic, is how much does your thread stretch. One hypothesis could be that certain applications call for a thread with no stretch, while others call for lots of stretch. All subjectivity aside to applications like making a garment out of lycra, which would otherwise definitely call for a bit of stretch in the thread, what is more peculiar, is where and when this stretch factor might enhance the structure (or not). Take the Silk Jeans for example, that thread (100% silk Güterman) stretched at a rate of about 3% (in simpler terms, a fair amount of stretch for thread, but definitely not overboard), that was just enough to cause some of the seams to pucker up a little after they were stitched together, thus creating that somewhat specific look that factory hemmed jeans have, and often lose, when they are hemmed at home. Consider that the thread is being stretched a little bit every time it is on the uptake which means that the actual length of the thread, per stitch, is a little shorter than the length of the material stitched. Therefore when the thread is in place and pulls back against the weave of the denim (in this case) it causes it to bunch up a little (by little, that means hardly at all, but when all these thousands of stitches are added up, that accounts for a lot). The same scenario is true for very in-elastic thread, but with the opposite results. A good example is when sewing very light-weight nylon, like the 1.9 oz. ripstop used on this bag. Because this ripstop is so light it tends to be easily pulled in and out of position, so in order to keep it in place and not shift around, a thread less prone to stretching is desirable. If something more elastic were used, then when the seam is in place, the material will be pulled short from the thread contracting (because the denim was so heavy on the jeans, this factor is greatly decreased) causing poor alignment.

** Because the Brother DB2-B791-015 is a needle-feed machine, the issue of using “folders” for trim/bias-tape/edging, is questionable. Surely there are “folders” for this machine, as the bed has the right anchor points tapped into it. However, that kind of tool is hard to find for such a specific machine and will have to wait until the next inflow of cash comes in, and maybe even the next trip to the Los Angeles Fashion District’s industrial machine shops. Definitely, in this case, a good “folder” for 1/2″ tape would be ideal for making bags like this one. You could use real nylon ribbon too, which would be much more durable than the cotton type we’re using now, found at the fabric store.

<<< Excerpts from earlier rambling drafts. Construction materials: 500 denier Cordura Nylon for the main body, interior pockets, and outside billow pocket - 1000 denier Cordura Nylon for the bottom boot - 1.9 oz. silicone coated ripstop for the interior pockets - 18 oz. vinyl coated polyester for the main interior - 2″ dive belt webbing for the shoulder strap - Coats DB-92 polyester thread for all stitching except for using Coats&Clark “button & carpet” for the shoulder strap and adjustment buckle. Other misc pieces are the usual side-release buckles, Velcro, bias tape, and nylon webbing (in this case 3/4″).

Although this bag was intended to be a bit lighter weight than the usual, using 500 denier Cordura was an economically based maneuver. Unfortunately due to timing and availability of the particular color set, this combo was shifted resulting in the heavier vinyl coated nylon interior (18 oz.) and of course the 500 denier in place of an all 1000 denier shell. Originally the bag was going to be 1000 denier all the way around, with a 10 oz. vinyl coated nylon interior. So, albeit a bit lopsided (material weight-wise), the bag is still a success. The 500 denier Cordura was great to use, and despite a projected shorter life when it comes to abrasion, no other limits seem to be at stake. Using the 1000 denier boot will also prevent any pre-mature wearing of the 500 denier.>>>

Call it a test, an exercise, a reduction, congealing, or protrusion; whatever those may be, can all suit what became a temporary choice to appease necessity. With the walking bag behind us, and a soon to be considered “messenger bag” on the horizon, a simple vessel would provide two things: a quick tutorial in the most fundamental aspects of the walking bag’s current pattern, and a unit for portaging parcels in the meantime.

Taking note from the walking bag, this temporary unit incorporated the most indispensable aspects of that elder bag, and then stripped everything else down to bare-bones. Some of the things lost, also provided gain in the sense that this bag was easily produced, in very little time, which alternately offered more opportunity to look at the bags flat footprint/pattern and see what dimensions would be kept, and which would be refused.

The walking bag’s main compartment when laid out flat was approximately 58″x19.0625″ which after making this second bag, was probably just right. The new bag started at about 58″x20.0625″, which is almost more bag than desired (even though the extra inch is not much), as it should be a bit more slender in it’s profile. However, this additional bit of bag may be because the newer bag does not have compression straps like the walking bag did/does. And without the compression straps the Dow Pack tends to hang straight down - at the same width as the actual rolled up top, therefore, even though it is only slightly wider, it looks much wider because nothing is compressed or pinched below the rolling point. Other than that subtle shift in the pattern, the rest of the alterations were along the line of it’s corresponding accessories and use of materials.

The two main losses of the Dow Pack are the padded shoulder straps and the side-zip quick access point into the main cavity of the bag, which the waking bag relied so heavily upon. Of course part of the back story on the walking bag is that it had excess seams due to a mishap in the pattern cutting, so to utilize this accident, a zippered section was embedded in one of those necessary, but not planned on, joints. The Dow Pack is free of this feature - with a bounty of Weathermate at hand, there is no need to make any patch-worked pieces of it to fulfil pattern dimensions, unless desired. Next, Instead of the padded shoulder straps seen on the walking bag, the Dow Pack uses very simple sections of 2″ seat-belt webbing. This was chosen to minimize build time, reduce costs, and of course to see how much of a difference it makes. In hind-sight, the padded shoulder straps had one main advantage, and that is the shape, with the straight facing-profile of the seat-belt straps, they do not end up sitting quite as close together across the chest as one may like. This does not make them a blunder by any means, it is just a choice one has to make when considering fit. Also, the seat-belt webbing straps are probably a little heavier, so if keeping the pack’s weight down is a must, then padded straps are the way to go.

Finally, materials composed the largest part of the shift between the two designs. Obviously one aspect is in the seat-belt webbing shoulder straps, but the other material trades are in the main bag. These changes were to address different material options, but more importantly to work with the Dow Weathermate in a different way to test it’s capabilities further. There is one issue using Dow Weathermate; it is not the most durable material when it comes to abrasion. The Weathermate has two sides to it, one which is the “raw” Styrofoam side, and one that is coated with some type of micro-esque synthetic filament. This coating has a similar structure as the urethane coating on the back of Cordura, except that it appears to be attached in such a way that opposes Cordura’s urethane coating (please bear in mind that a lot of this is speculation, and using terms like urethane, micro-esque, filament, etc. are only for descriptive purposes and do not necessarily converge anywhere with factual information). From past experience, we assume that the urethane coating on Cordura is brushed on, like a lacquer of sorts, so it partly wicks into the material, and it’s own chemical compounds act as the glue. Unlike the ensuing hypothesis, that Dow Weathermate’s coating is actually a separate sheet of a very thin synthetic sheeting, which is glued to the surface of the plain Dow Weathermate Styrofoam. With that said, this may explain why, when the Weathermate begins to abrade and/or de-laminate, it tends to happen like peeling wallpaper. If a little has been curling up, it seems that you can then grab a little more and peel a bit off. Underneath all of this is just the Styrofoam however, same as the un-coated backside, this is how the material is both breathable and water repellent. The coated side’s porosity easily keeps moisture out, while, from the back side, moisture is absorbed into the Styromfoam and then dissipates through the tiny fibers crevices of the coating. We think. All in all, to maintain this coating, and add more life to the products abilities the Dow Pack was built with the coated sides facing inwards, which in this case means completely concealed, as all the surfaces are composed of the outside shell, and an inside lining. With the coated sides facing each other, this should greatly increase the life of the Weathermate, and surprisingly enough, the un-coated “pure” Styrofoam side is very resistant to abrasion. Top all of this off with the Dow Pack’s 1.9 oz. silicone coated ripstop boot, and you have a very lightweight, almost completely recyclable bag (there are bits of webbing and buckles that may impede that process).

This more or less concludes the current notes on the Dow Pack. It was built with Gütermann “extra strong” 100% polyester thread, a teflon presser foot for sticky areas, and only a few random pieces of 1″ wide webbing, buckle, and Velcro. So far the bag has been used almost daily with no tearing, and total water resistance. Certainly the inward facing of the Weathermate’s coating had made a big difference in durability. One thought for next time is to make the length-wise measurement at least 60″, as 58″ is a little short for adequate rolling, when the bag is designed to be about 20″ tall. Last, but not least, for the books, when making your own bias tape, trust your judgment and remember to factor in for how much material loss there is in folds and bends.

Here is a quick run down of some recent projects/findings: all of which can hopefully become thier own posts, but due to extreme lack of time, these current topics are without sufficient documentation to have complete reviews until further notice. Please bear with the Brother DB2-B791-015 in the meantime, with these incomplete but highly regarded ideas, dimensions, postulated postulations, for the chopping block - on the chopping block.

Yes it’s true. In the Chicagoland area industrial sewing machine shops do exist.

Industrial sewing on Lawrence: This is a mom and pop kind of place with sea-green carpets on the floor, a couch and coffee table in the front to watch the passerbys and a lot of extension cords and industrial sewing machines as back-drop. However, do not let this keep you away, the place has many machines to choose from and at very fair prices. Some notable machines, a Pfaff 145 walking foot that works with ease, an older Singer bar-tacker, and a truly industry only Brother bar-tacker. The couple also has - manual and neumatic - grommet/rivet setter’s, stacks of miscellaneous folders, and drawers full of presser feet. Although the presser feet were not cheap, at $17 for a generic 212 compensating foot - at least the price of the actual machines makes up for that (the gentleman was asking $650 for the Pfaff). All in all, the couple has about 1600 square feet of sales space with a homey atmosphere to offset/contradict the industrial machines. Find this shop on the south side of Lawrence Ave between Elston Ave. and Pulaski Rd. More details to come later.

Industrial sewing on Irving Park: Open on Saturdays till 1pm, this older fellow has a very organized 800 square feet of space with some of the best new industrial sewing machines. He has everything from Pfaff to Consew to Juki, and even Singer. Some used machines are delt out of the doors also, but on a limited basis, so be in touch with him directly if looking for something specific. With the entire east wall - top to bottom, end to end - ladden with drawers and shelves like the study of a great author who’s books are instead sewing machine parts and miscellania, this guy has his system down to a “T” . Two generic zipper feet, and a ten pack of #23 gauge needles were purchased for $11.50, which at this rate is the best deal in town*. Look for this shop directly across the street from Independance Park at the corners of Avers Ave. and Irving Park Rd. in the botton of an apartment building. More details to come later

Shoe making supplies on Roosevelt: Okay, this shop does not do any trading of industrial sewing machines, but instead is a small mecca to the local Cordwainers and Cobblers. I. Sachs Sons, Inc. is a store completely devoted to shoe making and shoe repair. They provide everything from Barge glue, to leather pelts (vegetable-tanned, chrome-tanned, and rawhide), leather and rubber soles (both cut and sheet form), Velcro, laces (cloth and leather), linen thread (waxed and not waxed), knives for skiving, needles for running thread, etc., etc., etc. Because the Brother DB2-B791-015 is invested in shoe production this is a major staple of it’s diet and will continue to shape some of things being made here, and written about here (thus the change of title recently, as hand sewing is becoming more common). The shop is located at Roosevelt Rd. where Desplaines St. t’s into it, beware though, the hours of operation aren’t for the masses; Mon-Fri 7am-3pm & Sun 7am-2pm (i.e. closed on Saturday). More details to come later.

What The Brother? Footwears, and a new Dow Weathermate bag.

Dow Weathermate Pack: This is a response to some of the “short-coming’s” of the walking bag. The Dow Pack was made to test out a simplified version of the walking bag, which basically means taking the materials issues of that bag and putting the pattern into a concise regularized piece/plan. Whereas the walking bag was segmented together in an effort to use up old bits of Cordura denier 1000 and Ballistics, the Dow Pack would be single sheets (of the appropriatley adjusted dimension) of material - on the whole - about 58″x20.0625″. One thing to note, is that the Dow Pack was made with the non-sheen side of the Dow Weathermate exposed to the elements, instead of using the sheen side as the exterior (it has shown some wear by abrasion, unlike the non-sheen side which appears to hold up a bit better). The Dow Pack, has a liner too (also Dow Weathermate), and a bottom boot made of 1.9 oz. silicone coated ripstop. As for the layout of the bag it is everything the walking bag was/is except the compression straps, outer quick acces (to the inside cavity), and lastly the inside section to hold a stiffener for the back support - have been omitted. Instead of the pampered padded shoulder straps, the Dow Pack uses 2″ seatbelt webbing, without a sternum strap. So far so good, this is a very simple, very dependable bag. More details to come later.

Moccasins: After discovering I. Sachs Sons, making a pair of shoes had to happen. With some materials already at hand: two types of very soft and pliable leather, which of course suits Moccasins very well, there was only one choice to go with. At I. Sachs Sons some waxed linen thread was purchased along with very heavy hand-sewing needles, a sheet of Vibram rubber sole and a few leather-midsoles. With the proper tools available, construction was actually pretty simple. Some time was spent working out the pattern for the in-sole, and the heel cup, but all in all these were quick and easy. Of course in hindsight there are many things to be altered to make a superior shoe for next time. The main consideration now is how to line up identically cut in-soles, to their corresponding soles, when there is an opaque material between them. Also, cutting technique has been raised as a serious place for the success or failure of any shoe, because a lot of the sole is cut in one motion across the entire path of the soles perimeter, this is something which will require patience and time. The Moccasin set is/was a great test for some hand-sewing techniques too around the toe, as the toe and top of it’s area are two separate pieces that get mended together. This long-winded discussion will be revisited.

Chukka Boots: These are not completed yet, but they will be very soon. The Chukka Boot exploration is the first run with more advanced shoe making procedures. Most of which right now is in cutting of the sole, glueing of the soles, and shaping/stretching leather. Unlike the Moccasin, this pair of shoes/boots have mostly been stitched on the Brother, with only a small amount of hand-sewing around the arch of the foot, which has yet to happen. The boots primary material is actually rawhide, which is supposedly not the material of choice due to inconsistencies in the grain and it’s un-predictable ways if and when it’s exposed to other outside forces, however this is the least expensive choice for now, which makes it easier financially and mentally, as it sucks to make a pair of expensive shoes that don’t fit in the end. But, for now, the rawhide has been very cooperative and shows a lot of potential for future deployment. The next few steps are: trimming of the last layer of out-sole (Vibram rubber), soaking the tops again and using some handmade forms to stretch the toe area out to approximate dimensions, hand-sewing the mid sections (where the toe materials meet the heel’s materials), placing the eyelets for lacing, preparing and installing an in-sole, and then finally any polishing or treating of the leather once the boots are ready to wear. Gulp.

*Neither of these above mentioned shops carry thread of any sort.

* This book is available in hard-copy form, from Dunlap Sunbrand International, which there is a link to in the side bar of this site.

This is the next installment of the Parts Book. Notice again, that every two pages compliment each other: first the diagrammatic view, then the list view. Sometimes there are repeated diagrammatic views, because the list view needed one more page to itemize the corresponding parts. More to come, in the Parts Book’s final installment, which will have a very complete run-down on standard presser feet sizes/dimensions.

* This book is available in hard-copy form, from Dunlap Sunbrand International, which there is a link to in the side bar of this site.

In the meantime, some passing thoughts on needle gauge and heavy vs. light-weight vs. heavy vs. light-weight.

First off, two new packs of needles were purchased recently, a set of #19 gauge needles and a set of #21 gauge needles. The #19 needles were purchased to use with the Gütermann “heavy duty” & silk threads (used for the recent pair of jeans) - these #19’s are still in the box. The #21 needles were more or less purchased for the same reason, except they would be used to test out the heaviest weight Coats&Clark “button & carpet” thread, which we have never had much luck with here - around the DB2, or with the old Singer 600WI. So, with the heavy thread in mind, and the new #21 needles, a material situation had to come about. With the last two Dow bags (the “messenger”-style and the walking bag) finalized, ideas for the next generation of bag brought up a good scenario to test the new needles and thread to see what the Brother would do. Is everyone still on target? - As this conversation is going back and forth between heavy thread/needle, and older bags making way for new ideas (which will test this needle-thread combo). The new bag will be calling for a shoulder strap system, that will hopefully use “dive” belt webbing as the main strap. However, “dive” belt webbing has provided many obstacles in the past. Unlike seat-belt webbing which has become somewhat of a standard material for shoulder straps in “messenger” bag production circle’s - “dive” belt webbing is much more dense, and stiff. Such, could be why seat-belt webbing has become the norm for these recent bags, it is soft and flexible, and easy to work with*. But “dive” belt webbing seems to have better load distribution qualities, and is also inherently stronger, and can withstand much more abrasion - thus it may be a better material for the job. The difference being (to bring the mono-conversation back) it takes more umph (technical term) to sew through “dive” belt webbing. This is where the #21 needles come in, surely, the Brother will be able to feed the material’s thickness, but it is the puncturing, and thread allowances that have hampered the process in the past. Also, the needles added thickness will provide a more accurate feed, as the needle will flex less when pulling the material, so there will be less lag time (and more consistent stitching). Now, to the thread side of things, in the past when trying to (always un-succesfully) sew through “dive” belt webbing, we have used the Gütermann “extra strong” thread, and inevitably it would break at some point in the run of the stitch, but not due to core strength, but rather abrasion, from being passed through such a dense, coarse, stiff material, the strap’s fibers are more than likely actually harder - equalling rougher areas to pass the thread through. Anywho, the Coats&Clark “button & carpet” thread was chosen, this is/was the densest/hardest thread available (at the moment) and would ideally be more abrasion resistant (imagine a climbers top-rope hanging from a mountain rubbing against the rock). Long story short, success, the coupling of the needle and the thread has alieviated any pains or concerns, the pass took two layers of “dive” belt webbing, plus two layers of vinyl coated nylon. Whilst not the most exciting thing or controversial result, it seemed like news around here.

Another topic, about heavy vs. light-weight came up after making the walking bag, and wondering what it would take to make something very light-weight. Obviously light materials would be a start, however this means a slight re-tooling of the Brother, the challenge is then, how light can it go? For the most part industrial sewing machines only do one thing well, and that is whatever it has been delegated to do. But, maybe the Brother could sew some light nylons too with a little attention to it’s internals - needle-bar-height adjustments, a finer feed-dog, and maybe even a different hook. The lesson being proposed, when do you decide to move to lighter materials, and does the machine influence a resistance to this?

Your patience is appreciated, and concerns heard.

*One thing to note, is that the companies that almost strictly use seat-belt webbing, usually incorporate some kind of additional padding system, what this is to accomplish can be mysterious (old-timers will probably tell you this is unnecessary hoo-ha), it could be to distribute load more effectively due to the very pliable nature of seat-belt webbing which could use added stiffness, or maybe it is just to be gentler on the body?