I have my machine in a cabinet with a back support but I also will pull out my drawer to the left of my chair and cover it with the wood insert so I have another flat surface to the left to support the fabric and I have also used my ironing board as an additional surface to support the fabric. When I was making pleated drapes with pleating tape...yikes...many layers to stitch through...I did use a larger needle, my walking foot, and all the flat surface I could make. I also tried several of my machines....don't have a lot of vintage ones...but the only machine I had that could handle the job was my old Viking D1...computerized yep....but also a workhorse for utility work....I am gong to miss it greatly if the computer boards in it ever go down as there are no replacement parts for those.