Winter Covers

[JuneC]

No offense, Peppy, but if you brought me that pile of paper to reproduce in canvas I think I'd quit.  The best luck I've had with very large covers is by making a semi-fitted canvas, then marking and finishing.  For instance, when I do a large center console boat with a t-top, I make 4 panels large enough to hang from the t-top but don't join them.  Take them to the boat, hang them up, drape over the sides, then get inside the tent and staple/mark.  I do use triangulation to get the bow and stern portion of the canvas blank, though since they're not just rectangles like the sides. 

June

[Peppy]

She thought about quitting ;)

This was 3 pieces zippered together; back, hardtop, front. She finishes (hem, velcro, loops ect) each piece before sewing it to the big piece. The nice thing about a pattern is you don't have to go back to the boat until it's done. I had 4 hours to pattern and 2 hours to tie it on. She had a weekish.

[bobbin]

Most of the covers I've stitched up have been sort of a hybrid of the two methods, starting out as June does with with fabric "blanks" that are cut to the basic shape of the portion of the finished cover.  Sometimes, if there's something really funky to incorporate there will be a pattern made from the woven plastic.  I work from measurments a lot, too. 

As for framing ,the best has been fashioned from PVC pipe and has been pretty basic.  Most of the covers I've sewn up have been made from Stamoid, something that will shed water and snow pretty readily. 

I cringe whenever I get one of those big, canvas Fairclough covers to restitch.  ;)  I am rapidly heading toward the end of my "muscle it around the shop and under the needle" career!  I don't object to dirty, but big and heavy are not my favorites.  Crawling around on the floor to get the layout is a drag, too.