I restitched my mainsail cover and it went OK considering how little experience I have in recent years. I believe the PO made this cover. The string that gets wrapped around the mast to seal it from rain was stitched directly to the sunbrella and a small patch of leather. To clarify, someone had taken a sewing machine and went through all three. Unfortunately the fabric has ripped at the stitching and the string is almost detached. What are some ways to secure this in the future that would be stronger? I have extra sunbrella and leather.
A little bit of sewing help needed
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When the new leather and cord are stitched, I would use a zig-zag width set to be just wider than the cord and stitch across the cord binding the cord to the cover and leather. I would stitch the cord for a length of 3/4" to 1".
If your machine can only straight stitch, then run straight stitches across the cord going back and forth 5-6 times.
It might be stronger to use webbing instead of a string. The flat material would spread the load better and stitching through it would hold it well. Arranging it so it forms a collar that wraps around the mast instead of ending on the cover flaps would avoid point loading the ends (which looks like the reason they added the leather - to spread the load more. )
Keep in mind that I have a not so heavy duty, 'heavy duty' singer. It struggled with the thicker parts of the sail cover
RE:Keep in mind that I have a not so heavy duty, 'heavy duty' singer. It struggled with the thicker parts of the sail cover
Do you have a Speedy Stitcher?
A bit of practice, even a bit of cheating by drilling out your stitching holes in thick material (1 mm drill bit) and you can do almost anything.
In place of a drill, a hammer and a small brad will do the job.
A stitch marker wheel keeps things neat.
gary
Do you have a Speedy Stitcher?
A bit of practice, even a bit of cheating by drilling out your stitching holes in thick material (1 mm drill bit) and you can do almost anything.
In place of a drill, a hammer and a small brad will do the job.
A stitch marker wheel keeps things neat.
gary
If you really just want to stitch the braided cord to the fabric, here's a method that works pretty well:
I have used this to construct specialized dog leads where a cord needs to be attached to a piece of webbing.
- Unbraid a few inches of the end of the cord - let's say 6".
- Lay it on a strip of fabric - about an inch wide or whatever is appropriate. Here, basting tape is handy to keep it in place, but not necessary.
- Fold the strip into thirds - so in this case, the total assembly is now a 2" x 1" ... ish. Fold it so the cord is on the inside.
- Sew this to your fabric body. Make sure to sew around the edges and diagonally across the rectangle.
I have used this to construct specialized dog leads where a cord needs to be attached to a piece of webbing.
I assume that the stitch marker makes little dots in the fabric for you to follow when stitching?
This is an excellent idea!
No sense trying to band aid a poorly designed attachment point. Take a 3 1/2" piece of 1 inch webbing and fold it in half. Using a box "X" pattern (a square with an "X" in it) of about 1 inch sew the webbing to the fabric starting at the two cut ends. This will create a loop where you can tie the cord.
Or you could use 1/2" webbing. Place the webbing on one side and a piece of material or leather on the other side. Stitch all around and a cross in the rectangle. Attach velcro to the ends of the webbing. Do this instead of tieing the original cords.
There are lots of possibilities.
RE: I assume that the stitch marker makes little dots in the fabric for you to follow when stitching?
Yep. These are often used for leather work. If you want to use it on other materials (webbing, sunbrella, sailcloth) you can lay down some masking tape
and mark onto that. Using a pen to highlight the holes works too. The wheels come in a variety of spacings and they re dirt cheap.
RE: There are lots of possibilities.
Maybe Rich , but the one possibility that I would avoid is Velcro. The sun kills it.
If using webbing, I would go for a simple "buckle clip."
Gary
Yep. These are often used for leather work. If you want to use it on other materials (webbing, sunbrella, sailcloth) you can lay down some masking tape
and mark onto that. Using a pen to highlight the holes works too. The wheels come in a variety of spacings and they re dirt cheap.
RE: There are lots of possibilities.
Maybe Rich , but the one possibility that I would avoid is Velcro. The sun kills it.
If using webbing, I would go for a simple "buckle clip."
Gary
Velcro wears out when outdoors or becomes "clogged".
I like the idea of webbing but it always ends up really dirty compared to the rest of the cover. My little motorboat cover has a dozen webbing straps with plastic buckles. It's three years old and already feels pretty gross. They can be washed but it's yet another higher maintenance item.
When I get a chance, I'm going to give @Foswick's idea a try. If that doesn't work, then I'm going to reinforce the patch; fold a piece of leather in half and sew/glue the string into the fold; unfold it as much as it can and sew it to the sailcover. In otherwords, the string will have a 360 coverage in leather and the tabs of that leather will be sewn to the cover.
I like the idea of webbing but it always ends up really dirty compared to the rest of the cover. My little motorboat cover has a dozen webbing straps with plastic buckles. It's three years old and already feels pretty gross. They can be washed but it's yet another higher maintenance item.
When I get a chance, I'm going to give @Foswick's idea a try. If that doesn't work, then I'm going to reinforce the patch; fold a piece of leather in half and sew/glue the string into the fold; unfold it as much as it can and sew it to the sailcover. In otherwords, the string will have a 360 coverage in leather and the tabs of that leather will be sewn to the cover.
You can always try a shoe repair shop.
when I used to work in one we often did a lot of stuff not related to shoes
when I used to work in one we often did a lot of stuff not related to shoes
Yes they do, especially if you get everything ready for them and have all the materials on hand, then for a small project it will not cost much, if y pu can add more pics I could give you a few pointers, I learned my trade as a boat canvas shop owner at a good show repair shop
When I worked there, we did car upholstery, replace Jeep plastic windows (very often) repaired luggage, a LOT of sport equipment, skate and knife sharpening, zipper repair or replacement on anything needed, custom jobs, canvas repair of any kind and a few shoes.
If you are lucky to find a good one, you will be happily surprised.
As I mentioned above, with more pictures, we can find the best solution, and you might be able to do it yourself depending on what you have on hand
If you are lucky to find a good one, you will be happily surprised.
As I mentioned above, with more pictures, we can find the best solution, and you might be able to do it yourself depending on what you have on hand