Patterning a boat cover

[baileyuph]

Is there a primer that covers the subject? 

Today I repaired seats in a boat and was looking at the cover, inboard/outboard, seats in the bow, curved windshield, support pole behind the driver area,

I noticed it looked like the person patterned by cutting and sewed the side to side panels together to get his stem to transom covered.

Then, spred that over the boat and started taking fulness out by marking where the fullness darts would be cut out, then sewed the cut darts.  This general idea was how the fulness was taken out.  If I am correct this method, in general, was used untill the covering material was fitted to the boat pretty well.  I don't know if half of the boat was patterned and that was used for both sides, or one side was marked, cut, then sewed before repeating this effort on the opposite side?

There is obvious several variants to the patterning approach, pattern half for the whole, and maybe the pole (s) could be established before taking darts out (fulness that Irelated to above). 

Once the marine guy patterned the boat down to the edge, then a band was cut and sewed from one rear corner to the front and then to the other rear corner.

That is somewhat how the person made the cover by walking around and analyzing.

I think they get around $800 up for a cover like this, don't know.  There is a name for the material, it is fairly light weight, a non acrylic, some kind of vinyl coating over a cloth backing. 

Anyway, once the drop was sewed to the upper fitted cover, the banding (some may call it a drop)  is hemmed for the draw rope and snaps are put in the cover.  Hemming is probably done before the drop is sewn to the main cover?


Just thought that I would try to give an overview of what I saw today.  I am almost done with the seats.  That is a lot of work.  A primer would probably be interesting reading, one that covered patterning and such on a run - about like I am doing seat work on.

As I looked at the cover, about ten years old, the marine person sure put good thread in the cover, it is more durable than the cover material.  Suppose it would be Tenara thread?

Lots went through my mind, I wondered about running a center line (rope) from the bow to the transom, one could set the pole, and maybe pattern half the boat only, do the cuts to take out fulness, and sew on the banding for the rope and or snaps.  Boat people may call the banding a skirt? 

Again, any who, it got my attention.  I have made a few, but being diversified like I am, I never got to the point of being real efficient on the boat covers.  Boat cover work here is seasonal.

Doyle

[Mike]

odd they would have a shirt hemmed wit a drawcoard and also have snaps too.  if possible and I can make the cover with the boat on a trailer I will fit the fabric laying it on the boat and pin it to the existing snaps mark for dart ect , if its a pontoon a te cover need to tent higher then the rail so ill install the support poles  3 or 4  along the center seam of the cover material first so I can properly fit it tented high  if the boat is on a boat lift over the water the covers almost always have to be patterned with me in the boat so ill use plastic to make the pattern half at a time running strapiung tape down the center of the boat and stand on one side streaching to reach across and fit the pattern being tall helpsif its a snap on cover covering the windshield ill pattern the part on the glass separate then from the top of the windshield frame to the center tape line .  being a snap on cover there more chance that left and right arnt perfectly symmetrical.
if its a mooring cover style fit over the side of the boat with no snaps only a hen and drawcord maybe tie down straps also its a lot more forgiving to not have to be perfectly symmetrical then a snap on cover

if im doing a center console boat they here most always want no snaps on the boat to snag a fishing line and if there a t top 4 legs with a flat top 5' x 7' average  the cover fits under the top and over the console with holes and zippers to get around the tubing so doing a plastic pattern you can cut for the holes to get the plastic around then and then tape up if you make a mistake on placement   . so I always plastic pattern them trailer or not  so one day I was hot as hell sweating here doing one and decided this halfs the same as that one and half done  hey im done and saved 50% of my plastic and  transfer tape ans peppy did it all the time 1/2sies so I gave it a go