Repairing Sails using domestic Sewing Machine.

It depends on the machine, but I do not think there are many that can cope with it, my wifes Frister & Rossman can just about manage light canvas on minor repairs to sail covers, spinnakers etc. but dacron would be well beyond its capabilities. Another problem is manouvering big areas of stiff cloth under and past the foot of a domestic machine.
 
Our domestic machine can cope with two layers of sailcloth when we have made up bags from old sails. It cannot manage any reinforcement areas. As Quandary says, the biggest problem is that the throat of the machine is too small for the size of a sail. We recently repaired a winter cockpit cover and this was the biggest problem, although the maximum width of material was only around four feet.
 
I have an old Jones machine that does well for covers.
Pointnorth.co.uk are good for thread.
Doing something that works on covers is not so hard, making it look nice is harder IMHO.
 
Jeans needles work ok.

Solent Sewing Machines will supply V69 polybonded UV white 2500mts for about 15 quid. This is the lightest of sailmaking threads but I have found it tends to be less hassle on a domestic machine. If crossing an ocean you may want to use the heavier V92. You only need white for any boaty task.

As outlined by the others, getting a sail through the machine is one difficulty. You end up wrestling with the thing so a heavy machine, or screwing it down, is key. The other problem is the slippy material which the feed dogs, and you, will find difficult to grip. Use double sided tape to fix the panels.

Having said this, small tasks on big sails or big tasks on small sails, are very worth doing and easy. I find canvas easier and have made covers larger than vyv's example but you have to plan in advance and roll the fabric carefully for the long seams.
 
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I re-sew seams, re-sew UV strips regularly on an old, heavy, domestic machine. It will easily cope with 4 layers of cloth. Where there are re-inforcing patches etc it's a case of out with the needle and palm. It definitely makes the sails last longer and has saved me several hundred pounds in sail loft charges for minor repairs over the years. Well worth picking up an old, heavyweight, sewing machine for £40 - £50.
See here for example.
 
I've repaired a few sails using a borrowed ancient and heavy domestic machine but the dacron was fairly light weight as the sails were small (for sub-30ft boats). I used double sided tape to hold the patches in place first but still found I had to hand sew across some thicker seams. My 1980's fancy-stitch-capable Bernina 1015 is quite capable of sewing dinghy weight cloth with the right needles and thread but won't manage anything much heavier very well (lots of missed stitches) plus I'd rather keep it in working order for curtains & dressmaking.

Am planning on replacing the Bernina with a Sailrite Ultrafeed to use on board when we cast off in a year or so, as it is capable of both heavier weight sail repairs and more domestic sewing.

One tip I can share - if sewing across large expanses of cloth (eg awnings, sails, patchwork quilts or curtains) roll it up from the right hand side parallel to the direction of the seam to be sewn. That way it'll be more manageable.

S
 
If using the double sided tape for the seams it will help to prevent sticking on the needle if you give the needle a touch of silicon/teflon from a spray can.
The denim needles are the correct ones to use; (note that sometimes the adhesive from the tape is picked up by the needle eye and may cause a jam hence the silicon/teflon).

My old 1950 Singer has made sail covers and dodgers up to 4 thicknesses of material with as said previously, a little help to start it off and the silicon helps this too.

All stitching though is straight stitch, no zigzag facility.,but for £10......!

ianat182
 
ferrispeterchris said:
Is it possible? Where is the best place to buy thread and what size needle do you use?
Click to expand...
Leather point needles and UV-resistant thread (thread from Hawke House if I remember right, in big spool) work well. The needles have a blade end to cut a hole rather than a tapering point.
 
no, please. Chisel end needles should never be used for sailcloth, as they can cut or weaken the threads. Ball point.
 
Sail repairs on domestic sewing machine

Just a few additional comments.
The foot pressure is often a limiting factor in thickness of cloth that can be sewn. Many have an adjustment. Crank it down to max. Even then the needle on pulling out may lift the foot.
Get some old sail cloth and practice making bags etc and you will soon decide if you can do it.
I have found that some jobs like head boards on main sail requires hand stitching using a tiny drill to make a hole and whipping twine to actually sew with. A pair of pliers to pull the needle helps too.
good luck olewill
 
sarabande said:
no, please. Chisel end needles should never be used for sailcloth, as they can cut or weaken the threads. Ball point.
Click to expand...

Most sailcloth these days has resin filler or somesuch, there are no gaps between threads for a ballpoint needle to go through. I don't think a domestic machine will push a blunt needle through any modern dacron sailcloth.
I do use ballpoints for mending spinnakers though.

In general, I've found professional sail repairs to be very good value. I only DIY for tears on old spinnakers or sails that are not worth the repair cost, like old dinghy sails kept for windy days. We do a fair amount of work on covers etc ourselves though. Most small sailmakers can do a better job than you or me in a tenth of the time.
 
sarabande said:
no, please. Chisel end needles should never be used for sailcloth, as they can cut or weaken the threads. Ball point.
Click to expand...

I know one old-fashioned professional sailmaker that used leatherpoint needles for years in domestic zig-zag Bernina machines for smaller jobs. His loft had big wide-arm double-needle industrial machines with walking foot for seams, similar big but single-needle walking foot machines for sewing on reinforcements patches on big sails, and several domestic machines for small stuff.

I have tried pointy needles and found that leatherpoint works better, less sticking. Most modern sailcloth/sunbrella type fabrics are so reliant on resins to hold the cloth together that cutting an individual thread seems to have little effect as long as you use wide zigzags. I am talking about extending the life of old sails and sprayhoods/dodgers etc. rather than making a perfect new suit of sails, though I have made several full sails for boats up to 22 ft, and have achieved very nicely setting results, and the sails lasted well, despite being sewn with leatherpoint needles.

I do though appreciate that a fine straight-stitch row of leatherpoint chisel cuts would produce a "tear along the dotted line" result.
 
As I've mentioned before, if you're planning to do any decent amount of sewing, don't mess about, get a Singer 201K. Details here: http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/201/. Basically, it will sew anything you can get under the foot. Several layers of thick sailcloth are certainly no problem. The needle size mentioned before is the right one and these are 'standard' and easily obtainable.

201's turn up all over the place, but Ebay normally has a few to offer, for example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Singer-20...Collect_SewingMachines_RL&hash=item231c65ce87 Unfortunately, some people are prepared to pay the thick end of £200 for one, but you can get them for closer to £30 (I did!).
 
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