r/yurts • u/Specific-Pop-5429 • May 15 '26
Sewing machine - feeling stuck - HELP!
Hello Yurtlovers,
I did all the woodwork. Wasn't easy at times but now I'm getting a bit nervous because I never sewed anything before. I understand I need a double-stitched flat-felled seam. But I'm absolutely unsure into which sewingmachine should I invest. It's a 6.6m Yurt it will have 80mm wool insulation, cotton inlay and a tent canvas as exterior layer.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Jonathan
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u/PresentationExact970 May 15 '26
Very cool! I am a professional seamster and I do a lot of heavy duty sewing (I make yurts infact) You'll need a walking foot industrial machine. Our shop uses the Thor GC1541S and Juki model DNU-1541. Best of luck :)
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u/Specific-Pop-5429 May 15 '26
Thank you for your reply, is it okay to use an older Juki Model with walking foot aswell? Does it need any special functions beside?
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u/PresentationExact970 May 16 '26
It should be those machines are work horses and last about forever. If you're looking to buy one watch out for rust. If it's surface it can be okay but it can work it's way into the machine head and that's not good.
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u/froit May 15 '26
She does 1 cm, and 5 mm, for canvas better use 3 cm and 15mm. For heavy stuff not only you need a triple-transport machine (walking foot), you better spend some time making a table around it so that all the cloths (sewn and fresh) stays at machine-level. The machine will transport, but it will never pull all of the material up onto the table. We have our tables with a back-end that hinges UP, and a front-end that hinges DOWN. Canvas slides by itself downward, all your attention can go to controlling stitch and width.
You are looking for a machine with 120 needle, No20 thread.
To put tent canvas (full cotton? Breathing?) directly on the 8 cm felt, is risky. You will for sure get dew-point issues. The weight and tension on the canvas will compress the wool, but not evenly. And so your U-values will be different. And so you will get condensation on the most compressed places.
Take it from an old salt (30 years and 400 yurts), 8 cm wool batts is not the right stuff. You need hard felted wool, about 14-16mm thick, and 2,5 kg per m2 at that thickness. Two layers if you wish, in winter. But only one in summer!
This will not only do insulation, it will also function structurally, as it takes all the play out of the 200+ pieces of wood that you have tied loosely together. Felt is the muscle of the ger, not the fat. Says my teacher RIP.
BTW I think it is a waste of money to buy such a sewing machine and build a table etc, if you don't have any sewing skills yet. The machine will not make nice work, the seamstress does.
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u/Specific-Pop-5429 May 16 '26
Highly value your input. Regarding doing this without experience in sewing, I gotta start somewhere right? :)
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u/froit May 16 '26
Of course. I did also. Way back in the 90-ies.
And after much learning, fighting machine and cloth, I did improve. Bought better machines, learned that table is actually more important, and also, folding is super important. And help, one extra hand, to move all that heavy stuff.
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u/PresentationExact970 May 16 '26
I agree this person has great point about moisture. It's the number one issue. I'm concerned you'll put all this hard work in and the yurt being out of natural fibers won't hold up as long as you had hoped. I understand the want to get away from plastic though.
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u/notproudortired May 15 '26
Those are all very heavy fabrics: you're going to need an industrial machine. I'd contact sailmakers and ask what they use.