I have a bunch of 3/4 wide nylon strap webbing and D-rings to attach to the ends of them.  Typical put through D-ring about  1 1/2 and sew a box pattern to secure the ring to the strap webbing.  These are going on some duffle bags to help secure them and to use shoulder straps if needed. How does one get the machine to do this?  The sewing machine's drive feet don't like the nylon webbing strap material as it is fairly open weave so the stitches come out all messed up (lots of tangles and lousy thread pattern). Does one do it as a freehand stitch on the machine?  I thought about the zipper foot to get close to the D-ring part, but the rest is a mess and having not that much material to catch is frustrating. Thanks. B~

the ends of them.  Typical put through D-ring about  1 1/2 and sew a box pattern to secure the ring to the strap webbing.  These are going on some duffle bags to help secure them and to use shoulder straps if needed. How does one get the machine to do this?  The sewing machine's drive feet don't like the nylon webbing strap material as it is fairly open weave so the stitches come out all messed up (lots of tangles and lousy thread pattern). Does one do it as a freehand stitch on the machine?  I thought about the zipper foot to get close to the D-ring part, but the rest is a mess and having not that much material to catch is frustrating. Thanks. B~ Well, don't know if it will help or not, but I use a jeans needle, the regular foot which helps hold down the web, and tear-away stabilizer on the top and bottom.  I also use a spare piece of web to test the above.  You might try to adjust the tension a bit.  I use button hole twist thread too. Good luck. Liz

How does one get the machine to do this?  The sewing machine's drive feet don't like the nylon webbing strap material as it is fairly open weave so the stitches come out all messed up (lots of tangles and lousy thread pattern). Use a good quality 100% polyester thread and a 14 or a jeans needle. Make sure the tension is right.  Webbing can require more tension than most fabrics and if it isn't right, you can get tangles and uneven stitches.  In particular, the lower thread tension is important.  I find I've got to get the bobbin tension quite high to work with these kinds of materials. I don't know why you'd have a problem with the feet - those usually aren't a problem. I usually use three overlying zigzag stitches as a kind of bar tack.  I use a 1mm, 3mm and 5mm wide stitch.  Stitch length is about 1mm for all three. Two parallel lines of these stitches are all I ever need for any strength of webbing and widget I've ever sewn.  No failures yet. Mike

I have a bunch of 3/4 wide nylon strap webbing and D-rings to attach to the ends of them.   You might sew a box, or you might find that a couple of parallel bartacks across the webbing are easier - if you have a machine with zigzags. For my machines, I find that either reducing the presser foot pressure (the big machine)  or even sewing with the foot up (the little machine) is helpful. On the small Pfaff with the top feed foot I _must_ disconnect this.  Feed is still pretty marginal, so it requires some hand assistance to feed it through, maybe even dropping the feed dogs (darning mode) altogether. Once you've made one pass with a bar tack, then going back and forth is easy. The surface is smoothed out and the webbing is compressed by the first stitches. As to the stitch formation then I find no trouble sewing nylon webbing with heavy polyester thread - it's all slippery. Sewing canvas webbing though, I need to increase the top tension. I don't bother with changing needle - the needle I used to sew the bag (probably quite hefty Cordura) manages pretty well. A jeans needle is the right thing though.

I have a bunch of 3/4 wide nylon strap webbing and D-rings to attach to the ends of them.  Typical put through D-ring about  1 1/2 and sew a box pattern to secure the ring to the strap webbing.  These are going on some duffle bags to help secure them and to use shoulder straps if needed. How does one get the machine to do this?  The sewing machine's drive feet don't like the nylon webbing strap material as it is fairly open weave so the stitches come out all messed up (lots of tangles and lousy thread pattern). Does one do it as a freehand stitch on the machine?  I thought about the zipper foot to get close to the D-ring part, but the rest is a mess and having not that much material to catch is frustrating. Thanks. B~ sounds like the classic bird's nest scenario.... you don't say what kind of thread or needle you are using. check my outdoor gear sewing tips page for comments. I never use stabilizer; try tightenting your top tension and hand cranking if you don't have access to a heavy duty machine. Penny Specialty Outdoors