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Most of the boat covers I've made have been cockpit covers or snap on full covers for smaller boats. This is the boat I'm making a full cover for next week (minus the enclosure):



Would you go over the rail in the front, or make cutouts for the bars? Also how far down would you bring the cover - it will have grommets for the tie downs.
Thanks for any advice. Pics of anything similar you've done would be really great too. Thanks!
Jo

Hi guys,
I do mostly marine (upholstery and canvas), but yesterday I repaired cigarette damage on the rear seat of a 2007 Camry. It was quick, easy and lucrative, which got me thinking, why not market this type of work?
But the rear seat was easy to pop out and I didn't have to worry about what scares me most about auto upholstery: airbags.
How can I learn about the location of airbags in various models? I know that late model cars have very sophisticated systems, and I fear my lack of knowledge. Is there a course I can take for this?

So I made the mistake of taking a job replacing the rear window zipper on a jeep top.
I bought the zipper from ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jeep-Zipper-YKK-Jeep-Zipper-10-Coil-2-Heads-Black-/350485161721?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D1259930058794193651%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26

I was led to believe that this was the correct zipper, but it only has one slider (even though the ad says "double head". It's a #10 coil separating zipper. The original has two pulls so that you don't have to take the whole window out, and you can roll it up.

Is there a way to get another pull on the zipper? I'm afraid I have to track down the proper zipper and re-order.  :(

I know I'm sometimes harder on myself than I should be, but I have something leaving the shop today that frankly, if I wasn't on a deadline, I'd take apart and do over again. It's not hideous, but it's not perfect either.
Now I'm thinking if the guy doesn't say anything, it's just because he's being polite. (not a big ticket item).
On the other hand, if I offer right away to re-do it on the off-season, maybe I'm shooting myself in the foot because he thought it was fine.
Drives me nuts. Guess I won't say anything and guiltily take the money.
Anybody ever have these feelings?

Hi Guys,
I did a cover a couple of months ago for an old fishing boat. I used laminated vinyl for the reinforcement patch at the windshield, but within a few weeks of the customer travelling with the boat, the sharp corners wore right through the vinyl and the Sunbrella!
Is there a stronger material I should be using here?
Thanks in advance.

Well, not exactly a rebuild, but I'm installing new skins on the seats from a 1968 GTO.
The foam is in pretty good shape, and under the foam is cotton batting, which is hand sewn to burlap (which is deteriorating), then another layer of burlap under that, and of course springs on the very bottom.
Is there another way to re-do this, or should it be done as original? Also, I can't get any batting that looks like that locally, can I just use polyester batting?
Thanks in advance!

Just curious, how much would you guys charge to install pre-made skins on a 60's GTO? Bench seat bottom and back, two buckets, and 4 door panels? Or should I ask how long would it take to do it?

Thanks!

Hi guys,
I'm trying to duplicate these panels (minus the wrinkles, of course). Never done this type of thing before. Here is the outside view of the mesh.



Here's the inside:



and the view under the zipper:



So how do I start? Cut out the shape in the canvas first, or sew down the mesh first and then cut out the canvas?
Also, you can't really tell from these pics, but it just looks messy all over...too many stitch lines on top of each other, ugly raw edges on the inside, weird small metal zippers.
It looks like they cut out the mesh shape, then bound the edge then sewed it down on the outside. It seems so convoluted. Is there an easier way, and if so, does anyone have some photo examples I can copy from?

Thanks so much!

Had to fit side curtains in 100 degree weather (about 200 degrees inside the enclosure on the boat).  Put the bimini on, which looked great, then started to fit the windshield and side curtains. Got about 2/3 down one side panel before I realized that one of the set screws on the crappy old aluminum frame wasn't firmly in place and had moved at some point during the fitting. It probably moved a couple of inches but so screwed everything up! :'(
I'm not real confident in this aspect of marine canvas; most folks around here want covers for their small boats or the seats re-done.
And to top it all off, there's something weird happening with my knee. Swollen and black-and blue.
Ok, just needed to vent. Thank you. That is all.

Just finished patterning a boat cover. It has one of those poles designed to go through a grommet, but I don't know what size grommet to use....it's just a 20' Rinker boat, and the pole (as I remember it) looked like a standard adjustable pole with a pointy tip. Anybody know what size grommet? Thanks guys!

Hey guys,
Just curious..have any of you used both the dot method for patterning a bimini and the old-fashioned method of clamping the fabric blank to the frame and drawing the lines and marking the darts? If so, which is better? It seems like the old fashioned way eliminates a lot of steps, but maybe the dot method is more precise? Or can you get the same exact results both ways?

Yeah, it's a 16' steamboat.
And the stack is 6 feet high. So, how would one go about making a cover?  Here's another view:

To post something I have for sale here? I have some marine canvas training dvds that I no longer need. I can't find anything that says it's against the rules to post, but if it is, I apologize and will delete the post. It just seems like it's hard to find a market to re-sell these.
Thanks,
Jo

Ok, so I'm doing a cockpit cover for a cute little Four Winns, and at the back there are three of these plastic thingys that hold a small loop of shock cord:



I pried one apart, but there seems to be no way to reuse it, because there is no way to rethread new shock cord in there. (the shock cord is worn out on all three). 
So what's an alternative? All I could come up with is to sew the shock cord loops under a piece of webbing, or has anyone ever seen these devices for sale somewhere?
Thanks guys!

Hi guys,
I'm doing a cockpit cover for a Bayliner Capri. The snaps are on the top of the windshield, but so are three common sense fasteners which hold part of an enclosure in place.
It doesn't seem like I can do cutouts for the common sense fasteners because that would leave gaps.
Won't the cover look goofy going on top of these studs, or should I just try to make teeny tiny cutouts? Or should I incorporate common sense eyelets (?) into the cover? Anyone ever do this before?
Thanks,
Jo

Do most of you use 30 or 40 gauge for enclosures when you're buying off the roll? Is either ok, and is one better than the other or just thicker? Thanks!

make a bimini pattern from the old one, provided it hasn't shrunk, or does it absolutely have to be done from scratch and patterned on the frame? Thanks!

are captains chairs really, really difficult to cover? This is only my second one, and I can't shake the feeling that I'm doing something wrong. I'm sure my sewing is correct, but when I put the cover on and begin to staple, I get a small wrinkle on the inside back curve. Any suggestions? Should I use glue in that area?

Hi guys,
I have a 1989 Sea Nymph GLS that needs a cover. It's an aluminum boat, and I've never screwed snaps into an aluminum boat before. Can or should this be done? If so, is there any special precautions/procedures?

Just opened a roll of Sunbrella Surlast that arrived today, and the stench coming off the fabric is unbelievable!! Has anyone ever experienced this before? Will the smell go away?