![\"Rick](\"https:\/\/blog.sailrite.com\/meet-our-customers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Rick-Smith_white-awning_2-of-2-1024x768.jpeg\")
Now retired from a career in marketing and communications \u2014 including running his own advertising agency for 18 years \u2014 Rick does projects for his small sewing business.<\/p>\n
He learned how to sew growing up, and was fortunate to have not just one, but five teachers. \u201cI grew up in a big family of sewers. I\u2019m the youngest of nine kids, and my mom and four sisters sewed professionally,\u201d he told us. \u201c[They sewed] everything from wedding dresses to industrial upholstery and factory garment jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his early start in the hobby, Rick didn\u2019t do much sewing for nearly 40 years. Instead, he sailed competitively in his spare time \u2014 a pastime that began during his college days. Rick has owned more than 11 sailboats in his life, including a Beneteau 423 sailboat he and his wife purchased in 2012.<\/p>\n
Unlike the other sailboats, the Beneteau was not for racing. Instead, the couple dreamed of becoming liveaboards. This sailboat would be their new home.<\/p>\n
Preparing for Life on the Water<\/h2>\n
For a successful liveaboard life, however, Rick would need to dust off his sewing skills and get a sewing machine that could handle marine environments. Enter the Sailrite\u00ae Ultrafeed\u00ae LSZ Sewing Machine.<\/p>\n
Rick often admired the marine-friendly machine in the pages of boating magazines. \u201cI liked that the LSZ was ruggedized for such an environment, was a serious heavy industrial machine, had a walking foot, was portable and capable of using without power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It was the perfect machine for the nautical life that the couple envisioned. But looking at something in a magazine isn\u2019t the same as seeing it in person, and Rick was hesitant to make a purchase without seeing the LSZ firsthand.<\/p>\n
Luckily, two of his friends decided to go to the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland. Sailrite sets up a booth at the show every year to meet fellow boating enthusiasts, answer questions and demonstrate Sailrite products.<\/p>\n
Rick\u2019s friends brought him sewing machine brochures from the show and told him their impressions of the LSZ. Convinced that the machine was quality, Rick bought an LSZ of his own in 2014.<\/p>\n
With his new machine, Rick made a few updates to the Beneteau sailboat. \u201cThe bimini was the first replacement, and I added the dodger and side curtains.\u201d After those projects were done, Rick and his wife planned to get their life on the water underway.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the time I first purchased the LSZ, I fully expected to pack the machine in the lazarette of my 43-foot sailboat and live a life in the Caribbean, doing needed repairs and projects for myself plus picking up occasional repair jobs along the way,\u201d Rick told us.<\/p>\n But the best-laid plans don\u2019t always pan out. Unfortunately, health issues forced the couple to rethink their arrangements. They sold the Beneteau in 2018 and instead decided to make a favorite vacation spot in coastal Alabama their home.<\/p>\n Although they sold their sailboat, the couple kept their Ultrafeed. That turned out to be the right call. They quickly discovered that there was no shortage of paid sewing work up for grabs in their new hometown.<\/p>\n \u201cI live on the Gulf Coast near the Florida panhandle. Storms and extreme sun cause lots of damage, so there\u2019s lots of demand for repairs and overstitching. Many fabricators don\u2019t want to do repairs, so I seem to stay fairly busy,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n In addition to these small repair jobs, Rick has also made biminis, dodgers and covers for others\u2019 boats, as well as repairing sails. And he\u2019s no stranger to creating custom cushions and enclosures for outdoor spaces.<\/p>\n Thanks to the easy availability of sewing work in his area, Rick can create a totally custom schedule. In fact, that\u2019s what he likes most about his small DIY business. \u201cI get to pick the jobs. \u2026 If the job isn\u2019t a good fit for me, I can turn it down. Without having a storefront or a formal business, I can do jobs at a price that leaves [me and my customers] both happy.\u201d<\/p>\n It was this freedom and flexibility that led Rick to the awning project at the upholstery shop in early 2022. Although it was a huge project that required dozens of yards of Sunbrella\u00ae awning fabric, he was prepared. The couple\u2019s garage pulls double duty as a spacious sewing studio, which Rick has optimized for large projects.<\/p>\n \u201cI have 12 30-inch by 72-inch poly folding tables, plus my machine and two smaller tables, that allow me to set up a sewing surface that runs 32 feet from one end of my garage to the other. I can move out my truck and assemble the tables in 10 to 15 minutes. My sewing table is on wheels, so I can roll it to the tables at whatever point I need it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen finished, I can remove and fold [the tables] and repark my truck in the garage in less than another half hour. I have 12 4-foot LED shop lights in that section of my garage, so it gets lit like a science lab when I sew.\u201d<\/p>\n Having a great workshop like Rick’s certainly helps. But every sewing project has its challenges \u2014 and this awning was no different. Rick had to fit multiple yards of heavy awning fabric through the throat of his LSZ every time he needed to sew a seam. \u201cI was very careful and methodical on how I staged the assembly,\u201d he said. \u201cI had the smaller panels of every seam to the inside of the machine.\u201d<\/p>\n Before starting work, Rick estimated that the whole project would take about 48 hours. \u201cActual hours were more like 50 hours to complete through assembly and took four people a total of six hours to install,\u201d Rick said. \u201cThe total time in days and weeks was one week in prep, two weeks in cutting and assembly, and a day for installation.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Rick did all the patterning, cutting and sewing by himself, installation wasn\u2019t a one-person job. He had to call in some help. \u201cLuckily, my helpers to install were all friends who were happy to work for lunch and beer,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n Once the awning was installed, though, the friends discovered a problem with the E-Z Lace that held the awning to its frame.<\/p>\n Rick gave us some background on the issue. \u201cThis is the fourth awning I\u2019ve done using E-Z Lace. Each one was one I could pattern myself and had no issues using just the lace without adding fabric for a lace pocket. This one was different. … The [frame] tubing was 1-1\/2-inch square aluminum. With just 2-1\/2 inches of fabric on the E-Z Lace, measurement proved to be too critical for a good fit.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that meant the awning needed to come down for repairs. But Rick was more than up to the challenge of adding a fabric pocket and moving the lace up by 2 inches. And since he had the awning back in his garage studio, he decided to make it even better by adding topstitching.<\/p>\n But topstitching would call for a sewing machine size upgrade. \u201cI simply did not have room in the LSZ throat to do topstitches on that many rolled panels,\u201d Rick explained. That conundrum turned out to be the reason he\u2019d been looking for to splurge on a Sailrite\u00ae Fabricator\u00ae Sewing Machine.<\/p>\n Rick ordered his Fabricator only a few days before we reached out to interview him for this blog. Since then, he\u2019s been hard at work with his new machine. \u201cNow that I have the freedom and room in the machine, I\u2019m adding topstitching over all 38 panels to sleep well at night when the eventual hurricane blows through,\u201d he told us. \u201cMy customer didn\u2019t ask me to do this, but they have been so good to me, and I feel blessed to give them a project they are proud to brag about.\u201d<\/p>\n From what Rick has told us about his hard work on the project, we\u2019re not surprised that the folks at the upholstery shop love the new awning! And they\u2019re paying their gratitude forward: \u201cThe upholstery shop is weekly sending me business for jobs in canvas they choose not to do,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n Between these paid projects and his personal to-do list \u2014 which he said includes \u201ctwo smaller awnings, a long list of re-covering jobs my wife has been patiently waiting for me to start, then some patio enclosures to be finished by year-end\u201d \u2014 Rick will never be without a job for long. Now that his workshop is outfitted with an Ultrafeed and<\/em> a Fabricator, he\u2019s prepared for every project that comes his way.<\/p>\n Thanks for sharing your story, Rick! We\u2019re excited to see what you make next, and we wish you all the best for your future projects.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sailrite is your one-stop DIY shop! We are a passionate crew of do-it-yourselfers who strive to equip you with the supplies and how-to knowledge you need to tackle your next project. Do you want to learn upholstery, leatherwork, canvaswork, hobby sewing, bag making or more? We have the fabric, tools, hardware, sewing machines and notions you need to master any DIY. And even if you’ve never sewn before, our tutorials and how-to videos are designed for beginners and experienced crafters alike.<\/p>\n![\"Rick](\"https:\/\/blog.sailrite.com\/meet-our-customers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Rick-Smith_Beneteau-boat_1-of-1-1024x768.jpeg\")
Tackling the Awning Project<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/blog.sailrite.com\/meet-our-customers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Rick-Smith_finished-awning_1-of-2-1024x769.jpeg\")
Upgrading the Sewing Studio<\/h2>\n
![\"Rick](\"https:\/\/blog.sailrite.com\/meet-our-customers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Rick-Smith_Fabricator_1-of-1-768x1024.jpeg\")
Who We Are<\/h3>\n