Something I've always wanted to play with, I keep searching trying to find a decent sewing machine to redo some of my interior with but don't know what I'll actually need. Those of you that have done it, what machine have you used and would you use the machine to do it again?

Bought one called sail-rite to do mine. Its made for taking out on the ocean for sailors to repair sails in the middle of nowhere. It can go through I believe 8 to 10 layers of vinyl. Looked at many different machines before deciding on this one. It worked amazing and lots of accessories available for it.

Sail rite is supposed to be a good machine. The factory was located across he street form me at work until they moved to the town where I live. Always thought about stopping in here to check out what hey have.

I bought an old / rebuilt Kenmore on eBay for under $100.

Google Juki 563 walking foot sewing machine. Can't go wrong with this machine.

I picked up a used Econosew Walking foot last year on craigslist $200. works great. Attachments take a little looking to find the right one but overall real good. Juki's seems easier to find attachments for. Once you get a machine buy a piping/welting foot attachment they are cheap and makes your life much easier

I have a Pfaff 545, a Consew 206, an old 70's Singer that was my grandmothers (actually a great machine) and a Brother embroidery machine. Its not real hard to find a good deal on an industrial machine on Craigslist or something, look for the following if you can

walking foot
reverse
dual needle capable (may not use it but good to have if you get the hang of it)

when looking at used machines keep in mind most industrial machines, even newer ones, tend to "look" older then they probably are. True industrial machines are extremely well build and usually all cast and heavy duty. Dont worry to much about whatever motor is on it or if its an old felt clutch, they are fairly cheap to replace. I picked up my Pfaff basically for free as the guy that had it knew it was jarred at some point giving it a significant alignment issue. A full re-con at our local industrial sewing machine shop was like a hundred twenty five bucks and the thing has been a workhoarse ever since. A complete new servo digital motor conversion kit was only a little over a hunderd bucks and is infinitely adjustable although I keep it on its slowest speed for the most part. The day I got the Pfaff back from the shop I wanted to see how good it worked so I actually stuck three layers of carpet through it no prob.

Theres also tons of youtube videos on virtually every machine ever made as well as some good instructional videos. I have been messing with the embroidery machine lately, got it a couple years ago but just recently got it to work with my laptop so I can do custom stuff (that machines whoooooole different animal lol)

I bought the machines just to mess around with and try and do my own stuff. I've made a couple covers that were decent but I still have them done professionally as well as seats and stuff Ieave to the pros. My next toy is gonna be a serger for banding the edge of carpet.

one thing Id like to add that i just thought of this morning. I agree the piping/welting foot is good to have but you probably wont use it much. Its easier and looks better to do a flat stitch on corners (dont know exactly what the double flat stitch is called but its used on everything lol), the big welting is hardly used on anything anymore.

Thanks for the info. I've had a few people say the sail rite, but they are 2-3 times what I'm seeing on Craigslist. Glass dave I see what you are saying, they all look like antiques. Is it a pretty safe assumption any of the industrial machines I see on craigslist will be able to handle vinyl?

i have sailrite machine works great. they sell all the things you need and show video how to make tops ,seats and sew zippers . walking foot on the machine is one of the things you need . i install new glass windows for my buddys at the marine and save the money. i pay$700 for brand new machine did camper top and replace a few windows it pay for the machine and some. i watch a lot of video