I believe that you will want a heavier needle as well. I’ll defer to Mary on this.

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Ann in PA

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Jaya Srikrishnan
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2020 4:28 PM
To: yarnmongers <[email protected]>
Subject: [yarnmongers] Upholstery fabric

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I need to make a couple of small covers to cover the sofa cushions where they shrank on washing. I have a 100 or 110 needle and plan to use a walking foot - which I got after all my placemat hemming in Jan.?

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I assume I increase the stitch size? I have some strong Coats thread that I used to sew the casing on the carpet that I hung on the wall. I’m planning to use that. It is thicker than regular sewing machine thread.?

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Any other tips?

--

Jaya

Jaya

I’ve done several upholstery projects.? A 16/100 should be plenty heavy needle for woven cloth.? If leather or vinyl, get a leather needle. ?

Sts per inch should definitely be longer.? I’m guessing 8-9 sts per inch.? But a sample swatch will tell you what looks best. ? ?Too small of stitches will tend to “cut” the seam. ?

Go slowly.? Use 1/2” seam allowances in general.? Trim corners before turning inside out

Good luck!

Connie

On Jul 11, 2020, at 4:28 PM, Jaya Srikrishnan <ermabom@...> wrote:

?

I need to make a couple of small covers to cover the sofa cushions where they shrank on washing. I have a 100 or 110 needle and plan to use a walking foot - which I got after all my placemat hemming in Jan.?

I assume I increase the stitch size? I have some strong Coats thread that I used to sew the casing on the carpet that I hung on the wall. I’m planning to use that. It is thicker than regular sewing machine thread.?

Any other tips?

--

Jaya

I think Connie's in the ballpark.? I did cording with some velour for a couple of arm chairs and the 16/100 worked fine.? One thing to remember is that you'll need a longer stitch length.? Experiment with a 3.0-3.25 first and see how that goes.? I didn't even use thicker thread.? I just used all purpose Polyester.? Don't use cotton.? It won't perform well, long term on this kind of project.

With needles, it's like the Three Bears.? In this instance, you'll need something a little bigger, but not too big. Any extremes in needle size will cause stitch quality issues.?

If you have upper tension issues with the thicker thread, I'd just go with the standard all purpose.? Depending on your construction, you may be sewing over those seams a couple of times anyway and remember Polyester thread is very durable.

Good luck!

Mary.

Post pics!!!

And evidently you are not the only one who has trouble opening the needle cases. ? If you go to the SCHMETZ website, they have a little video there showing you how.?

Connie

On Jul 13, 2020, at 5:58 PM, Jaya Srikrishnan <ermabom@...> wrote:

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I just finished sewing the covers. It was easier than I thought. The fabric was not as thick as I expected. I used the walking foot and a st length of 3.5. Regular polyester thread worked.?

I ended up using a 90/14 because I couldn’t figure out how to open the Schmetz cases. Isn’t that sad??

On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 2:42 PM mary_007usa via <sewgood5=[email protected]> wrote:

I think Connie's in the ballpark.? I did cording with some velour for a couple of arm chairs and the 16/100 worked fine.? One thing to remember is that you'll need a longer stitch length.? Experiment with a 3.0-3.25 first and see how that goes.? I didn't even use thicker thread.? I just used all purpose Polyester.? Don't use cotton.? It won't perform well, long term on this kind of project.

With needles, it's like the Three Bears.? In this instance, you'll need something a little bigger, but not too big. Any extremes in needle size will cause stitch quality issues.?

If you have upper tension issues with the thicker thread, I'd just go with the standard all purpose.? Depending on your construction, you may be sewing over those seams a couple of times anyway and remember Polyester thread is very durable.

Good luck!

Mary.

--

Jaya