I’m curious what it takes to do furniture upholstery. And in a completely different scope, what it takes to sew Lycra in clothing like cycling bib shorts.
I mean the secret to doing it right.
For instance, if you want to paint cars, I can tell you all kinds of levels, but the secret sauce is sticking to a single paint system from primers to clear, 3m imperial sandpaper used wet with a drop of dish soap, block sanding with guide coats, degreaser for reflections tests, a reliable air drying system for compressed air using an oilless compressor and very large tank, a full set of Sata spray guns, the best pneumatic DA sander your paint jobber sells. Then you’ll also need a variable speed buffer, fresh cut/medium/finish pads, 3m Perfect-it 2 and whatever fine finisher they sell now that does not contain oil fillers. Tape, paper, all all that is a given. Perfect automotive class paint is 99.9% prep and sanding, and only 0.1% painting. The number one rule is: when you think you should be done, step away for a break, when you get back acknowledge that you are only halfway done and get back to work. Your emotional state is irrelevant; the only truth that matters is in sanding guide coats and degreaser reflection tests.
All that said, with all of my experience, I can mix paint systems to get cheaper combinations between systems, I can spray with a $20 harbor freight gun, and polish with a sock and toothpaste in a zombie apocalypse pinch.
Does anyone here know sewing on this level? In a (coco) nutshell, what are the machines and standards to do it right?
I think it’s kind of the same. Once you get technique down a master can see with the cheep-o machine and get amazing results.
I say go get yourself a used machine and just play around with it. I made Halloween costumes out of stuffed animals and old clothes for my first project and it turned out really good.