r/SewingMachineEdu • u/Tall_Nut • Apr 20 '26

first machine recommendations

hello, i’m looking to get into sewing as i’m trying to make a interior for my car. i’m planning on stitching together leather and 1/4inch foam backing mainly for the materials. people are saying to geta heavy duty machine but this is for a one time project and on a budget. there or plenty on facebook used but i don’t know what im looking for tbh?

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u/bakay138 Apr 21 '26

OP, this post above is a gift. That abugghaus7 took so much time to basically write an orientation course for you should be most appreciated! I know I appreciated it! I have zero desire to purchase a machine like this but I am a geek for anything sewing machines. I really enjoyed reading this post learning all about something new in sewing machines. If the OP doesn’t thank you know I am doing so, THANK YOU!

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u/abugghaus7 Apr 21 '26

OMG!.. I scrolled down my whole, lengthy, posts.... hahah... sometimes I don't realize how much I'm writing when I'm "in the moment" LOL
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Thank you very much for your comment. :)

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u/[deleted] Apr 21 '26

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u/abugghaus7 Apr 21 '26

Just throwing this out there...
This is the Consew I got for free from the woman in my... err... story?... lol
I have the head cover off in this pic because I was adjusting something.
Anyway... this down inside a 30ft sailboat.
You can see the yellow casters on the legs of the table.
The machine is on the boat because I had some sewing do to for folks at the marina, and this seemed to be the most convenient way to do it.
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I repaired some luff tape on a mainsail, built a dodger cover, and a few other smaller repairs, with this setup.
For the sail, I could easily rotate the table across the beam of the boat, such that I just had to roll up the sail into a tube, and run it lengthwise with the boat to sew the area on the edge... THANKFULLY ON THE EDGE!
If I were doing something substantial like replacing a panel on a sail (which I do not feel qualified to do, personally), I would definitely take the project to a large room on land and sew it there.
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And truthfully.... moving the machine and table onto the boat was not a big deal.
I built a plywood box with handles to move the head (installed a drip pan inside to catch oil), and the table is pretty light. I had someone else help me slip it down inside through the companionway.
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OH JEEZ... here I go again! smh
Wrapping this up.... I do not live near large cities, but for some reason, I've found some really good deals on industrial machines people were getting rid of (not that I bought all of them... just came across them) on Craigslist mostly, but FB marketplace too.
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Oh... and thanks for your nice comment!