[genieskip]

When I took stock last year I found that to buy all the canvas projects I wanted for my boat would be somewhere in the 12 to 15 thousand dollar vicinity if ordered retail. That was scary. I instead opted for buying the Sailrite zig zag machine. Over the winter I made all new cushions (six large for sleeping and countless others for comfort/storage), a mainsail stackpack cover, a storm jib, all the cones for a jordan series drogue, a parachute storm anchor, FWG locker cubbies, sheet bags and some fender holders for the cockpit lockers. I'm not half way through my list of to-do's, which still has - rebuild dodger, new bimini, storm trysail, binnacle cover etc, etc, etc......

I recommend sailrite as a great place for supplies. As someone who has done a fair bit of hand sewing (rebuilding spinnakers on long ocean races after taking the lead in blowing them out was a specialty of mine - especially the blowing them out part!) but I was completely innocent of sewing machine work. I found their instructional videos invaluable, the ones on how to use their machines and the ones that were project specific. They are great if you are starting from zero, as I was. There is a confidence quotient that comes from actually seeing something being done, as opposed to reading about it or trying to reinvent the wheel by not getting any reference.

Sailrite is a bit more expensive than you could probably find on the internet if you know what you are looking for, but I love the convenience of looking at their catalog, finding exactly what I need and then ordering the part or the kit, complete with instruction and having the thing arrive a few days later.

I am no expert on sewing machines, having only used two in my life, my wife's home machine and my Sailrite. I can say that when working on large projects the walking foot feature makes life easier and I like the zig zag feature that has permitted me both to make and to repair sails. I'll post some pic soon (camera is on the boat and it's raining on the east coast for a change)