Sewmanship--How to become a God of Sunbrella

Nice work.

Yup, BTDT. Currently going through the dodger and bimini enclosure replacing glass in all the panels using my Sailrite machine. Someother projects include dinghy cover for our CD10, seat covers for my dad's toon boat, extension cushions for the salon settee, patching the bimini at wear points, custom curtain for our Ericson, interior and exterior cushions for our Pearson.

Here is the latest panel I sewed. 6 more to go.

Very nicely done. If I may offer some tips:

Learn how to help the cloth through the machine by pulling gently on it as it goes under the needle. You can also stretch the cloth some as you're sewing it. Techniquish, I know, but if you learn how to do it you can get rid of the puckers which is more a function of the way a drop-feed (opposed to walking foot) machine pulls cloth under the needle.

If you're deconstructing an old piece to use as a pattern, instead of ripping the seams, just cut along the seam and remember to add 1/2" (or whatever you use) as a seam allowance after you trace it out.

When you rip seams, pick one side or the other. Every five or so stitches, cut a stitch, proceeding to the end of the line. You'll then have one side with cut stitches every five or so, and one side with an intact row of stitches. Go then to the intact side, and grab the intact thread, and pull that out, which pulls the cut bits out. You'll have less chance of ripping the cloth, and longer thread bits for less mess, and it's actually a bit faster.

You might want to mention the way needles work. Needle size and thread optimum combinations, as well as needle systems.

Great tips, MG. Why didn't I think of just cutting when deconstructing....

And sure, you can teach yourself. Not sure you need a book--you can Google any question, sewing is a vast world on the Net. Sailrite videos alone are a Great Courses regimen, and free.

What's hard is judging whether you're going to enjoy the work, and therefore whether to spring for a walking-foot sewing machine right off the bat. My 1963 Singer 237 is amazingly robust and uncomplaining. The only thing it won't do is sew through five or six layers, which you only encounter occasionally, as when a triple hem meets another hem at a corner.

It would make you laugh to see the punishment the Singer will take--"come on boy!" as I get a running start, haul on the cloth, and ram fat hems like a Greek trireme in attacking the Persians. Why they advise "all metal gears".

But looking back, I do wish I'd bought a sailmaker's machine. Did not know at the time how useful basic machine sewing skills would be, not just on the boat but in house and garage.

To predict personal enjoyment in sewmanship, a personality test is in order. Gotta like machines, enjoy details, be capable of patience in the cause of pride of accomplishment, and hate knowing nothing about something. If you tend to put on a seventh coat of varnish just because it feels right, or if your eye if offended by tiny things nobody else notices, or if you are a customizer by nature, your pathology may align with yacht sewing. Congratulations--I think.

One thing I missed when starting to learn to sew was a grandmother. They used to know all this stuff, and could teach you.

My hat's off to anyone with the patience to do all their canvaswork using Sunbrella I know I'm going against the grain here, but in the long run you can save yourself a lot of work going with a material like Stamoid, doesn't require the amount of hemming that Sunbrella does, you don't get the buildup of thickness at corners, etc...

For more intricate projects like dinghy chaps, that might require a bunch of cut-outs, Stamoid will require much less work, you can simply make the cut-outs without having to hem or bind the edges...

Well, for the amount of time I spend sewing, my '60's Japanese Nelco has been sufficient.

Here's one of my "products":



Also the bimini in my sig.

I did the tinboat cover outdoors to simplify fabric wrangling. Another trick is to make a mock sail loft by setting up a ladder on the infeed and outfeed at the level of the table. A large project can then be rolled to the needed seam and laid on the ladders to ease fabric handling. (I agree on the staples for basting.)

The synthetics are all MUCH easier than cotton canvas. To get started, pick up an old machine and an old sail or sail cover and make a bag or two. Keep fiddling until you get a good locking stitch with even top and bottom tension.