Making my own canvas cover?

[Karel]

<ul type="square">Time to think about winter-ising the boat again...

My old canvas cover that goes over the flybridge to keep the rain out / heat in is well past it's sell-by date. I could get someone to make me a new one, but I'm about to renew my annual mooring fees so money's a bit tight. Anyway, someone tried to break into the boat a while back, and I had to mend the trimmings around the side, and I was surprised to find how easy a job that was to do (once I'd sourced all the repair bits).

So, my point is that I'm wondering if I could just do it myself. I have my old canvas as a template. I have a supply of the little snap-on fixings. All I need is the appropriate canvas.

Does anyone know where I can purchase canvas sheeting suitable for cutting to size and putting over a boat?

It mustn't allow water to seep through, and it has to be cut to an exact fit, so it mustn't shrink (which happened to the last one) or stretch, and the color shouldn't fade under the sun. Cloth is preferable to plastic.

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(am I going to need a sewing machine? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif )
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[Ruffles]

I use kayospruce. Another is Point North.

The best stuff is acrylic canvas but at £10 plus per metre it will be pricey for an all-over cover. PVC fabric is much cheaper - but possibly harder to sew.

Don't forget to use UV resistant thread. Otherwise it WILL fall apart.

 

[tangofour]

Kayospruce for the materials. They have it all!

I have an Brother industrial sewing machine that I may be prepared to rent out. PM me for details.

 

[AliM]

I used Hawk House
hawkhouse
and bought a very cheap 2nd hand sewing machine for £35. I was told that the really old electric ones are up to the job, but the newer fancier ones haven't the grunt necessary. It took a weekend or two, but looks fine.

 

[Karel]

Thanks guys.

this appears to meet my needs. However I'm surprised to see it comes in 150cm widths. I'm not so confident in using a sewing machine to be certain I don't create something that leaks!

Anyone know of someone who makes these in the London area? (Maybe they're not that pricey to have made after all)

And anyone had one made recently and can give me an idea of the cost? It has to cover the flybridge of a craft identical to this one but without that contraption on top.

I'll be back on the boat tomorrow when I'll take a closer look at how the old one was made.

 

[Evadne]

My wife has made a number of covers from acrylic canvas ove the years, using her £99 singer sewiing machine. It struggles when you have to sew through three layers, so a bigger on one be better, though. We used to buy our canvas from a sailmaker in Gosport, now gone bust, but Point North are just as cheap.

There is no such thing as cheap canvas, though, and the proper thread is also both expensive and vital. Normal stuff fades in a season and wears and snaps in three.

PVC is cheaper, but is generally seen to be not as good. We replaced our dodgers a few years ago, they were of PVC, and at least 20 years old, possibly 30. How long do you want them to last?

 

[Karel]

"How long do you want them to last? " At least 5 years.

Hmm... all this trouble to make one relatively small cover...

There must be someone cheap(ish) around. Trouble is the last time I had the trimmings repaired by someone else it took 3 months before they were returned. Which is why I did it myself the last time.

 

[Ruffles]

[ QUOTE ]
I have an Brother industrial sewing machine ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Snap!

Fearsome beasts aren't they? I tested mine out on some denim folded over until it was 10mm think. It didn't even slow down.

I've done sprayhood, stackpack, dodgers, cockpit cushions, outboard cover... and I'm still on the needle it came with /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Talbot]

Sunbrella (Tm) is the right fabric. hard to get a good finish with a domestic machine due to depth of material on some seams

 

[Gordonmc]

I got materials from Hawkehouse and made up a cockpit cover on an old domestic machine.
A professional quoted £175 for the job... I did it for half that including the cost of the machine.
A couple of tips: when you order the material (I used PU coated acrylic) get a roll of double sided sticky tape which will hold hems and joins while you sew. Also, get the right polyester thread, . Use a denim or leather needle.

 

[Ruffles]

The stuff I got from kayospruce seems to have been Sunbrella. Not marketed by them as such but the Sunbrella trade mark 'S' was marked on the edge of the fabric.

 

[Constance]

I am right now making a full-length fitted cover (to cover down to the bottom of the sheerstrake) for this boat:

from acrylic canvas obtained from Kayospruce, using UV-proof thread and a Pfaff 1525 machine. Pfaff claim it can go through 12 layers of denim, it is going through (so far) up to 4 layers of the canvas like through butter. The trickiest bit is doing folded-over seams (like those inside the leg of a pair of jeans) - there is one the length of the boom. The first pass is easy, on the second you have to open the material out flat and get (in my case) 1.5m width x 4.5 m length for the central part of the cover through the throat of the machine, but it was easier than I expected. Whether it finally fits I won't know till I return to the boat! I am quietly confident though, having taken detailed triangulated measurements. One tip is, if the back of your work looks like a dog's breakfast however you adjust the tension top and bottom, use a larger needle.

 

[Rabbie]

Similar to me. I always use a needle for leather in my machine, its much more up to the job.

 

[doug748]

Canvas both traditional and acrylic sews well and any quality domestic machine will tackle it. I have done lots of stuff with an ancient hand machine, though I now use a Husqvarna, lots of these machines were used in schools and thay are bomb proof. A jeans needle can be used if required.
I had trouble getting suitable thread until I got a sailmaker to sell me a part used spool of V-69 Dacron, by far the best stuff to use for long term durability.
Have a go, you will probably enjoy it and will find loads of other stuff to make around the boat. Brian.

 

[frodo]

Hi Ruffles. What model no. is your Brother sowing machine as i want to try and make my own cover.

 

[Karel]

OMG what have I started here? It's the YBW sewing circle! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

I too am looking into making a new cover. We seem to have endless mildew issues with the current camper canopy, despite regular (x3 per year) cleaning with sail and canvas cleaner, treatments with biocide and even the local launderette's biggest machine. Any suggestions as to material apart from the straight canvas that we seem to have?

PVC would be nasty and produce condensate everywhere from experience with a previous boat.

 

[Ruffles]

[ QUOTE ]
OMG what have I started here? It's the YBW sewing circle! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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My enthusiasm is entirely driven by lack of funds. Honest!

Mind you it can get addictive. I've already reached the matching tiller cover stage. I believe this is followed by matching winch covers and, ultimately, his and hers oilies all in blue acrylic.

Anyone got a pattern for a straitjacket ??

 

[Karel]

<u>Blue Tweed</u> looks nice. You could have the stripes on everything running the same way...

Matching sails too...

But you do run a severe danger of this:<ul type="square">

"Arrghh! Where's my sewing machine??!!"[/list]

 

[Constance]

[ QUOTE ]
Any suggestions as to material apart from the straight canvas that we seem to have?

[/ QUOTE ]

Acrylic canvas, polyurethane ('PU') coated on the inside. Water-, UV- and rot-proof, and breathable. Available in 2 weights, you want the heavier one. About £11-12 / metre, 1.5m wide, in any colour you like, from Point North or Kayospruce, both are online. Use sailmaking thread for strength & UV/rot resistance, I have V92 which I now know is a size, not a quality! I bought a 16-oz reel and stand it on floor behind sewing machine, it feeds fine.