Sewing Kit

[NCK]

I need to teach myself some good hand-sewing techniques for when I'm on the road (youtube should be great at that) and am looking to learn a bit about threads and needles that would be the best for me to carry.

Anyone have a great hand-sewing kit they could point me toward?

There are a bunch of great threads on this forum (if you search) on sewing, but the all focus on sewing with a machine whereas I want to be skilled at field repair. My sense is that some tougher-than normal thread is in order (function heavily outweighing style here) but don't know much about this!

Thanks!
Nate

[marksbonneville]

Just get a couple of these freebie kits and toss em in your tank bag or pocket. You don't need heavy duty thread and needles as you are typically only doing field repairs plus the smaller needle and threads could be used to stitch a larger skin cut closed if unnecessary.

[bomber60015]

Originally Posted by marksbonneville

Just get a couple of these freebie kits and toss em in your tank bag or pocket. You don't need heavy duty thread and needles as you are typically only doing field repairs plus the smaller needle and threads could be used to stitch a larger skin cut closed if unnecessary.

I've used one of these for on the road repairs for years. . . . . .they work great for anything you wwill want to tackle up to but not uncluding your riding gear (and, perhapsa, soft luggage) . . . for that, a Speedy Sticher will take care of you.

http://www.speedystitcher.com/products.html

[tommymerle]

get a sail patching kit, big strong needles and thread so you could even sew up leather if needed

[NCK]

Originally Posted by bomber60015

I've used one of these for on the road repairs for years. . . . . .they work great for anything you wwill want to tackle up to but not uncluding your riding gear (and, perhapsa, soft luggage) . . . for that, a Speedy Sticher will take care of you.

http://www.speedystitcher.com/products.html

BOOM! I love Advrider.

[NCK]

Originally Posted by marksbonneville

Just get a couple of these freebie kits and toss em in your tank bag or pocket. You don't need heavy duty thread and needles as you are typically only doing field repairs plus the smaller needle and threads could be used to stitch a larger skin cut closed if unnecessary.[/IMG]

Thanks for chiming in!

[SnowMule]

Carry some floss too - packaged well for travel and a much higher tensile strength if you need to repair something heavy. Make sure it'll thread through the needles before you get too far away from civilization.

[Walterxr650l]

You might want to cosider a sewing awl, like this Speedy stitcher.



Walter

[S/W]

I learned to sew in aircraft school and then have learned to make boat canvas, bike seats, back packs, gear covers, and even a down filled parka. Go to this site; http://www.sailrite.com/ . It will have everything you need to fix anything you need to sew on a trip. They also have books on sewing. A book on canvas work is a good place to start. I carry heavy duty sail thread and sail needles in my kit for repairing heavy duty fabric. A sailors palm really helps out when pushing needles into heavy fabric also. A large fabric store might have what you need also, and will give you advice.
The little sewing kits such as from a previous post are good for buttons and light material, but, it isn't much more money to carry the needles and thread for heavy jackets, saddle bags, or a seat. Plan for the worst case repairs.

[jules083]

Originally Posted by SnowMule

Carry some floss too - packaged well for travel and a much higher tensile strength if you need to repair something heavy. Make sure it'll thread through the needles before you get too far away from civilization.

Yep. I sewed an army duffel bag handle on with dental floss, its still holding. Been overseas with it twice now, plus a bunch of other use.

Carry dental floss and a couple of good needles, you'll have enough to do field repairs. The needles can be carried in about anything. Tootbrush case, pen, etc.

All typos and misspellings blamed on my phone.

[keiji]

A sewing awl is nice, but it takes up too much space. I prefer set of needles, scissors(knife) and a spoolof 100% heavy duty nylon or polyester thread - the kind you would make a heavy backpack with. Cotton thread tears too easily - if you are going to fix something, might as well do it once.

http://seattlefabrics.com/thread.html

Learn to back stitch - it is easy, durable, and if you do a good job, will look like a machine stitch from the outside - this is probably what I use the most to patch stuff and sew connection zippers on mis-matched riding gear.

[going south]

Originally Posted by Walterxr650l

You might want to cosider a sewing awl, like this Speedy stitcher.



Walter

I have had one of those for years, it is amazing what you can fix once you get the hang of it, it goes with me every where.

[vagueout]

Originally Posted by Walterxr650l

You might want to cosider a sewing awl, like this Speedy stitcher.



Walter

Absolutely one of the most useful ebay purchases i have made. You tube showed me how to use it, and it more than paid for itself on it's first repair (tank bag).

[SgtDuster]

I bought myself this sewing kit but I could consider this speedy thingy.

[NCK]

It's threads like these that make this forum invaluable. I can't thank you all enough for your input!

I ended up buying a Sewing Awl (for only $13, I might as well know if it makes sense for me or not re: size and packing for my RTW), along with some additional sailing thread to repair the tough stuff.

Pumped to learn stitching!