DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

If it fits under the needle, fit a new needle and give it a try. You will soon see if it will go or not, and won't do any harm to the machine.

Sadly I've been a bit bogged down lately with some property and work projects - the inexorable need to make money to finance life, kids etc. I've been feeling a bit fed up with it all tbh. Not the cars, the work. The same problem I always give myself, of many projects on the go, and everything moving forwards in unison rather than any one thing getting completed.

Nevertheless, we have to be kind to ourselves so I gave myself some time this morning off to resurrect a little Porsche project I started 6 months ago when I got these RePa labels printed. I think it's a dye sublimation print, which isn't as good as fully woven or embroidered but really who can tell?

I stitched off the top and bottom to prevent fraying.



Using the Singer 201k for this. It took forever to get it working well but it seems good now. Turns out I was threading the needle in the wrong direction.



In the spirit of recycling I unpicked the stitching on the labels of this 3 inch 4 way FIA harness picked up from a certain 914-racing ddker at the swap meet. Judging by the misshapen redried-sogginess of the box it was in, I must have got it at the 2021 swap meet - great memories!



I suspect the cotton thread wasn't quite as strong as it should have been for this thick substrate but aside from a couple of snaps it stitched nicely.



Et voila, a pair of repro racing harnesses.



I'll try these out in the 3.2 hot rod. I need a couple of clips before I can fit them but here they are in situ.




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Nice work Rob.

My motor conked out recently, so have to buy another just to do about 12 cm of stitches to join the three pieces of the front windscreen trim (last sewing job on the car)!

So I've still not managed to get going with my mats. Mrs R tried her standard machine and that wasn't man enough. If anyone had a 201k for sale, we'd definitely be interested!

I started making some new leather handles this weekend for the lightweight 3.2 hot rod as the existing ones are a bit tatty.

The current ones were held in with screws and I also wanted something more robust. I spotted these lightweight drilled titanium bolts and washers, which i was pleased about because the weight saving makes it go faster.



The 201K wasn't feeling it so I did a bit on my daughters' modern machine, but after snapping the whole pack of 10 needles they had in the case, I ordered them some new ones and switched back to the 201. I had it all apart, checked the hook timing, increased the bobbin tension and tried a number of different tensions on the top. Eventually I had it running like a sewing machine.

I reinforced the ends with double leather, glued.



And learned off YouTube how to hand stitch leather with an awl and two needles.



Not perfect but better than what they will replace.