Spinnaker stitching undone - do I need to stick it before sewing?

[MissFitz]

A small length of stitching (around 4") came undone on my spinnaker during racing yesterday. I'd really like to fix it myself rather than paying someone else but am not sure what type of thread to use. Also, someone mentioned that sailmakers usually stick the seams before sewing them. Is that right?

 

[Poignard]

A small length of stitching (around 4") came undone on my spinnaker during racing yesterday. I'd really like to fix it myself rather than paying someone else but am not sure what type of thread to use. Also, someone mentioned that sailmakers usually stick the seams before sewing them. Is that right?

My amateurish attempts at canvas work and sail repair have been made much easier by using double-sided tape (basting tape) to hold the seam together while stitching.

 

[ip485]

Tape will not last, however much you wish.

For such a short piece of stitching there is no need to tape it first. Usually tape is effectively used only to keep the material together while machine stitching much as pinning a hem before sewing. With a four inch section just lining up the join and keeping some pressure on the far end with your findger will be good enough to stop the material slidding over itself and puckering. Any reasonable UV stable sailmakers thread will do the job and most machine should cope with spinnaker cloth. At four inches you could as well hand sew.

Just dont be tempted to leave it to tape, at some point it will give way and you will be faced with a much bigger tear.

PS seeing the above post by all means you can use tape if you prefer to hold the cloth together before stitching - it certainly will not do any harm.

PPS sorry didnt read the O/P properly I see you were not contemplating just using tape.

 

[lw395]

We tend to use normal polyester thread, nothing heavy.
UV stable is not really needed for kites, the thread will outlive the kite in sunlight anyway.
A ballpoint needle is best, in a machine that will do multistep zig zag.
If the material is frayed where the seam has failed, we use spinnaker tape to reinforce. Trouble is, it sometimes doesn't stick well as our kites get sprayed with silicone and/or ptfe.
We stitch the tape anyway.

 

[Boathook]

4" of stitching is easily done by hand. If the material is ok you can even reuse the existing holes in the material. I always overlap the repair as if one bit has gone another nearby section is about to fail and pushing a needle through existing stitching soon shows the faults.

 

[mogmog2]

I would use V69 polyester thread for a spinnaker.
A domestic sewing machine can handle spinnaker fabric but for such a short distance, probably not worth the effort. Sewing machines (or at least mine ) don't like basting tape- gums up the needle.
Don't forget to sew each end beyond the failed section into sound stitching.
Sailrite.com has a wealth of information about sail repair.

 

[savageseadog]

V46 or V69 Bonded UV stable Polyester thread and the correct needle size, lots available on ebay. It probably isn't necessary to glue it but it can help, if you don't want to use proper basting tape it's just as effective to use a spray glue or Bostik GP glue but stitch it as well. A multipoint zigzag stitch is far more effective than plain zigzag and tack back both ends of the stitching by reversing to secure. I agree with the point on machines/needles not liking tape, glue is better in that respect, you can use silicone spray to stop the sticking.

 

[doug748]

A small length of stitching (around 4") came undone on my spinnaker during racing yesterday. I'd really like to fix it myself rather than paying someone else but am not sure what type of thread to use. Also, someone mentioned that sailmakers usually stick the seams before sewing them. Is that right?

This stuff goes well by hand or machine:

https://www.johnlewis.com/gutermann-extra-strong-thread-100m/p875057#tabinfo-ratings

Bit pricy and only available in 100m but very handy, buy a few and keep one on the boat.

 

[ip485]

Yep I run basting through the Sailrite but it does tend to gum up the needle although it seems to cope fine just builds up a sticky ball. I suspect with less power it could be more of a problem on some domestic machines. I really cant see using tape would result in any gain for such a short tear as I find basting tape certainly doesnt add any structural strength. There are some other tapes around that are designed to be more structural. I have only tried them once before I had the machine and my experience was while they are good in the short term the glue soon breaks down and the seam inevitably comes apart again. The softer the material and the more it flaps around (all true of spinnaker fabric) the more quickly the glue fails.

 

[Daydream believer]

I think that you are already using the correct thread

PBO forum

 

[Poignard]

My sewing machine is hand-cranked so it doesn't sew very fast and adhesive build-up on the needle isn't much of a problem. Anyway it is easy to clean it off with a rag and solvent. It certainly wouldn't be a problem sewing the 4 inches the OP wants to do.

In fact, I probably wouldn't bother setting up the machine to do that small length. I would stick, pin or staple the two pieces together and stitch it by hand, trying to re-use the holes left by the missing stitching.