Who introduced YOU to the thread injector?

[Ramblinrev]

I surprised a few family members when they asked me what "big" item I might want for a wedding present when I said a sewing machine (I refuse to call it a thread injector)

We go through this every so often. I've been a member since 2008 and at that time you could count the number of avid DIY folks without taking you shoes off. Now you'd need several barefoot friends. At that time we were getting a lot of guys expressing interest but very wary of the machine. Not the loss of machismo, but just the nature of this foreign piece of equipment.

We avid guys started pointing out that it was nothing more than a power tool, something all "guys" (Dave Barry's definition) are comfortable with and coined the term "thread injector" to make the point. It stuck. The whole thing was tongue in cheek and I am quite sure still is. Bit it did open up a huge door into the world of DIY. It took away a lot of the mystique. So don't use the term if you don't want to, that's fine. But at least understand the history of it before subjecting it to scorn.

[Just Jeff]

I became a cloth carpenter after realizing in ~2002 that I wanted gear that wasn't being made for sale. Nobody had two-layer hammocks, synthetic underquilts, hammock socks, etc. Risk's website (www.imrisk.com) had some plans for a few projects so I grabbed the wife's PTI (powered thread injector) and taught myself. Before that, I had taken Home Ec in 7th grade and tried to make a pair of pants. Those pants didn't turn out so well, but I like my hammock projects!

And I don't sew.

[TZBrown]

Fully self taught I started also when I could not buy the gear I wanted.
I was pretty good at making scrap for a while though

When sil nylon first came on the market, I can't remember when. I had a PE coated "Walrus Treker Tarp" and made one from sil.

That started the slide into the abiss.

Now I can pretty much eye-ball an item, and fab a pattern from tyvek or paper without much difficulty.

Now I buy very little off the shelf and make what I want.
But having a fabric inventory sometimes costs more than a purchased item

[docmusolf]

Learned when I was college. I was broke and wanted a boat. Unfortunately those don't go well together. I managed to find a peach of a boat that needed lots of repairs and after doing all the work I got to the point where I wanted new sails and new canvas. Then came the huge sticker shock of the price of canvas work for the boat. So started researching on the Internet and found sailrite. It looked so easy so i bought a sailrite walking foot machine and some sunbrella and a couple of books. Not knowing what i was doing i way over built everything. A few months later the marina was smashed by a huricane and my boat was the only oat in the marina that did not have damage to the canvas. Instantly a side business was born. For next few years i did this until i graduated and a got a real job. So after the machines collecting dust in the shed for 13 years I am cleaning them up and getting them going again.

Kind of funny I seem to have collected a number of old singer sewing machines and when we have people over they always ask my wife about them and she laughs and says they are his. I now have 2 industrial machine and one residential machine all made in 1911 and they all sew amazing. Just can not compare to the stuff that is out there today.

[Beansprout]

My grandmother would buy me all the material I wanted with the rule that I had to finish one project before starting another.

Gosh I wish my Mum had taught me that with knitting. And sewing too.

Wwwaaaaaaayyyy too many unfinished (and unstarted) project in my shed...

My mum introduced me to sewing. She got me a sewing box with threads and needles for a young birthday. The sewing machine naturally came a short while after.

Loving the masculine THREAD INJECTOR, sounds much cooler.

[ZMad2000]

I taught myself with all the helpful threads here and the power of the internet. Lots of learning through trial and error.

[hppyfngy]

I had two grandmothers, an aunt and a mother who could make anything and did!

My mom always sewed clothes for my sisters, made curtains, etc.

I was always fascinated with the incomprehensible machine and used to watch with interest.

My wife was not so good at it so when I decided to learn, I basically taught myself. A project still in progress, (but I can sew circles around the missus...)

[Aven]

Sewing was a skill handed down by the women in my mother's family. Nana was Irish. Sewed everything by hand. Even tatted. She taught her daughter, my grandmother to sew. My grandmother sewed for a living. She was that woman small children and babies despised. She made the clear plastic slipcovers that were so popular in the 50's and 60's. Learned early not to sit on the sofa unless I had pants or tights on, or else you'd stick to it. Rip your skin off trying to get down. Nana and my grandmother passed their knowledge onto my mother, who in turn allowed me to used her machine and did what she could to teach me. Not easy when the student is ADD and thinks she knows it all, 'cuz you just told me what to do, I'm good.

[samiam2714]

My Dad actually taught me when I was about 10. Then in middle school I furthered my education in the sewing arts in Home economics. Which was actually just sewing class. Since the only thing we made was a chex mix candy thing. After that my aunt has helped a little. but overall its been my dad.

We have an old Singer that I absolutely adore. its sitting on the folding table next to me right now in fact.

[Oper8or]

My Grannie and my Mom both sewed. I learned to hand stitch in the Navy. After coming here and starting my hammock adventures I started sewing. So I blame yall! Honestly Rev, Shug, and Kate are the ones who convinced me that I can do it. I'm glad I took the plung and started learning how to sew. I've repaired a lot things around the house for my wife. Wait!! I just realized I am now responsible for almost all of the fix its around here. Plumbing, concrete, drywall, landscape, cars, etc.... dang it. Someone needs to learn this stuff so I can concentrate on fun stuff like making new gear.