sewing question???

i am going to be starting my first diy hammock and my sewing machine does not have a straight stitch pattern from what i can see. i was wondering if it makes a difference in terms of strength of the seams?

Is it a zig zag only machine? If so that will be fine.

I have no experience with commercial machines, but all the home style machines I know have straight as the default- is there a stitch selector of some sort? can you tell us maker/brand/model number? so we can give specific advice..KM

i have a brother LX3125 and has a knob toward me with a selector switch with numbers dictating sewing pattern and a description of sew pattern on machine next to that said number. I am still new to thread injectors so your could be different.

With limited experience here, a straight stitch is just a zig zag with the stitch width turned all the way down.

I had a problem stitching Zig Zag once, had the knob the wrong way.

There are three kinds of stitches available on home and as far as I know, commercial machines... Lock Stitch, Overcast Stitch, Chain Stitch (not very common unless you are closing dog food or have a toy machine. Zig zag is a variation of the lock stitch. If the machine has a stitch width control take the zig zag to 0 and you have a straight stitch. Unless the machine is vary used the symbols for that adjustment should be evident. The overcast stitch is what you find on a serger. That does not look like a normal sewing machine so I assume that's not what you have.

It looks like on that model, numbers 6-10 are straight stitches with short (#6) to longer (#10) stitch lengths. Maybe I'm seeing the dial wrong, but that's what it looks like.

thanks to everyone for the input. i was able to get it figured out. on my machine the straight stitch is a 0 setting on the stitch width set on the zig zag pattern. once again thanks to all!!

happy hanging