It's like anything else, practice makes perfect. When I first looked into sewing ripstop / silnylon, I found a ton of light/fast hikers messing with it and spreading a lot of FUD about how difficult it was to work with. Coincidentally most of that was from folks selling products they'd sewn with that material, to other hikers.
Id does have a tendency not to feed correctly. The foot pulls the lower layer but the top layer doesn't stay aligned well. I learned to hold the fabric before and after the needle under some light tension, then feed it thru at the machine's pace. After that it was easy.
And I also spent a lot of time at the beginning just sewing seam after seam in some fabric scraps. Most of a spool of thread just running practice. One piece looked like a gaudy pinstriped suitcloth.
The bit above about holding purses reminds me of one of the more amusing aspects of sewing. It's walking into a fabric or craft store for something and surprising the sales staff again and again by knowing what I'm after and where it is located in the store. They look at you like you are an alien. Or an invader. I take extra delight in dragging my knuckles as much as possible on such visits. Really confuses people. 'No, I'm not looking for my wife, I'm looking for some canvas duck cloth in a green shade.' was a favorite. Then there was the time I went in around halloween with some very specific fabrics in mind, had the bolts under my arm and was standing at the wall of zippers and buttons, looking for something particular. The staff were actually whispering about me.
[can't seem to find my hammock pix]
found'em
8" dobsonian telescope cover, with integral stuff-sack. The money I saved on this alone paid for the sewing machine.
