The Sewing Depot Guide to Heavy Duty Sewing
A NOTE ABOUT MACHINES
The first thing we'd like to clarify is about the Singer Heavy Duty range: while these are sturdy, powerful and reliable domestic machines, they are not industrial machines.
The Singer Heavy Duty machines have a faster motor than most other domestic machines, which means they can handle some thicker fabrics, but they are still limited, and sewing things that are too thick on these machines, whether they be fabric, trims or other materials, can cause damage to your machine and wear it out faster.
SEWING CANVAS, UPHOLSTERY AND LEATHER
For canvas sewing, we recommend using Coats Dabond thread for any projects that will need to withstand the weather outside, and Coats Nylbond for anything that will remain indoors.
When working on upholstery, we recommend Coats Nylbond 40 in most cases, however if you want a thick topstitching look we would suggest you try Coats Nylbond 20.
When sewing horse covers, Nybond 20 or Dabond V92 are the most suitable options, and for leatherwork we recommend Nylbond 40 and/or 20.
For small repair jobs or projects involving canvas, upholstery or leather Gutermann Extra Strong is a good option.
MAKING REPAIRS
If you need to sew repairs by hand, you will find a number of our hand-sewing needles are specially designed for the task: curved needles, leather needles, and mixed needle repair kits are all available.
Gutermann Extra Strong thread behaves well with hand-sewn repairs, and the Gutermann 100% Linen thread is specifically designed for hand sewing (please don't try to put this one through your machine).
Finally, for repairing sails we recommend Coats Dabond marine grade threads, which are UV treated.